2006 Program Season Sees It All
4,800 people explore (and
clean up) the watershed with us By Hugh M. Carola, Lisa Ryan and Nick
Vos-Wein
We know it sounds like a cliché but this year's Eco-Program season was another great success, both for us and for the thousands of people who participated in our Eco-Cruises, Eco-Walks, Guided Paddles and River Cleanups. Of course there were a few hitches here and there. For example, the batteries and throttle cables on both pontoon boats had to be replaced, we had miserable weather for our first two "rain or shine" cleanups (whose idea was that?), no hawks flew past the hawk watch and two "intrepid" paddlers ignored Nick's advice and were carried far downstream by a strong current. Fortunately they put ashore in Jersey City before reaching Newark Bay and called a friend who drove them (and the canoe) back to our Paddling Center at Laurel Hill Park. Other than that, it was pretty much business as usual as you will now see… Eco-CruisesAs always, our signature program attracted the greatest number of participants. Although we fell a little short of our annual goal of 3,000 people, 2,625 folks did get the chance to explore the Hackensack River and the marshes of the Meadowlands from the decks of the Robert H. Boyle and the Edward Abbey during 175 Eco-Cruises. Of that number, forty-one were Open Boat trips and the rest were Group Charters. In addition, we provided five trips for the Third Annual NJ Meadowlands Festival of Birding and two for the Nature Program Cooperative.
In any given year, roughly one-third of our Eco-Cruises are conducted for Scout and school groups and 2006 was no exception. We took out the entire fifth grade class of the Edith Bogert School in Upper Saddle River, NJ over a series of seven Eco-Cruises. A total of 556 students and teachers took part in our Eco-Cruise/Eco-Walk Combination Programs. In addition to the usual mix of elementary, middle and high schools we served, we also conducted trips for Bloomfield College (two trips), Cook College, New Jersey Institute of Technology (two trips), Princeton University and Rutgers University (three trips). Also, see page 11 for Nick's report on our successful Urban Watershed Education Program.
Unfortunately, weather will always be a factor and for the second year in a row, thirty Eco-Cruises (which would have served up to 450 people) were cancelled due to bad weather, including one that was called off for excessive heat in August. Perhaps our biggest weather disappointment came during MeadowFest on June 10. That day, our boats and four NJMC boats were sidelined due to constant, sustained winds of 30-40 MPH. As annoying as the weather can be at times, you can be sure that we will always err on the side of safety. Eco-WalksThis year 665 people went walking with us. As in recent years, the majority of Eco-walkers were the 556 students and teachers who took part in our Combination Programs. We always provide an age-appropriate activity that gives participants an up-close and personal experience of the watershed. Sometimes it's a riverside walk, at other times it's doing water-testing and often at low tide it's turning over rocks and looking for macroinvertebrates (fiddler crabs and such - which are ALWAYS released unharmed). We also conducted several Group Eco-Walks at Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst and at the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale for schools and Scout troops - both great places for beginners to learn the joys of birding. Our scheduled Eco-Walks have been steadily gaining in popularity and 2006 was no exception. One thing we discovered this year is that the Mill Creek Marsh Trail has come into its own as a Meadowlands birding destination. It has become such a popular a place that we had to engage a second guide - our good friend and birder Diane Saccoccia - for our October 15 walk there. Between Mill Creek and the ever-popular Celery Farm, over fifty people walked with us at those two locations. Eco-Walks at DeKorte and the Mehrhof Pond Nature Trail also attracted good numbers but our first-ever hawk watch at State Line Lookout in Alpine, NJ was washed out by rain squalls and a strong southeasterly wind on September 23.
We're hoping to expand the Eco-Walks we offer in 2007 but we need help to do it. Our staff is stretched pretty thin from mid-April through early November so we need you. If you're friendly, well-spoken, a birder, and would like to help expand Hackensack Riverkeeper's outreach, please call Hugh at 201-968-0808 or send an email to Hugh@hackensackriverkeeper.org and find out how you can. Paddling Center @ Laurel Hill Park
Twenty-one Guided Paddles were listed for 2006, with three additional trips added in September and October to accommodate the late season demand. Of those only six were cancelled due to inclement weather, meaning that a record 150 people participated in this popular program this year. As in previous years, many novice paddlers took advantage of the excellent instructional and educational opportunities that our Guided Paddles provide. We hosted an additional twenty-three group trips for families, schools, Scouts, and community groups. Some of the folks that paddled with us this year included the Jewish Outdoor Club, a biology class from Rutgers University and the Bergen County Department of Special Services. New this year was a special series of three guided paddles for the Jersey Shore Sea Kayakers Association. Our popular canoe and kayak rentals allowed another 370 people to independently explore the marshes of the Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area and beyond. With plans to schedule even more Guided Paddles next year, we hope that you will help make 2007 our busiest season ever. See you @ Laurel Hill. River Cleanups2006 was a huge year for River Cleanups. It all began in late March (silly us!), when we partnered with Starbucks of Englewood and Fort Lee at a (freezing cold!) cleanup at Overpeck Park in Leonia. These coffee mavens were no slouches, though, when it came to picking up trash, and they filled a dumpster AND fed us hot drinks and goodies to boot! A month later, on Earth Day, the weather gave us a repeat performance AND it rained, but that didn't stop Whole Foods Market and Starbucks of Hackensack and Englewood employees and a slew of our dedicated volunteers from stepping up to the plate and getting the job done, again amidst gorgeous platters of donated food and drink. The season moved along peacefully from that day until our cleanup and summer solstice barbecue at Laurel Hill Park in June. It seemed like a calm day, until we all turned out backs for a minute and a microburst (or a gremlin) knocked over two burning barbecues and sent our two display tents flying into the air and crashing down. Fortunately, Captain Bill is a hardworking, resourceful guy, and he soon had them repaired at very little cost. Aside from the fact that we had a couple of tippers this year (people love to lean really far out of their canoes to reach that one little piece of renegade garbage), the rest of the season was uneventful but inspiring. In total we had 650 volunteers participate in 15 different cleanups. We saw literally hundreds of new faces, and many of them came back for more! We were very pleased to partner with several companies who gave their employees time off of work to pick up trash with us. These companies also made sizable donations to Hackensack Riverkeeper, allowing us to update and replenish our equipment and supplies (waders with holes in them just aren't a good idea!), pay for dumpsters, and provide food and refreshments to volunteers. Thanks again to Starbucks, Whole Foods, Panasonic, Genzyme Biosurgery, Lexis Nexis, Goldman Sachs, PSE&G and Amanda's of Hoboken for supporting our River Cleanup project, and thanks to all the volunteers who work so hard, allowing us to accomplish so much - see the ad on page 9 for your party in February! A
Couple of Final Notes First off, don't let the cool weather keep you from exploring the Hackensack Watershed and learning about the river! Give us a call to schedule Captain Bill or Hugh Carola to speak at your function or to your group. We have a wide selection of topics to choose from and are have all of the equipment necessary to include either video or MS PowerPoint slideshows. Plus, our requested honoraria are among the most reasonable for any environmental program in the region. Secondly, we're always looking for opportunities to set up our traveling Riverkeeper display at conferences, fairs and other such activities around the region. If you or your organization would like to have us participate, we'd love to hear from you. Lastly, we can't think of a better way to deal with the off season than by thinking about our upcoming 2007 Eco-Program Season and giving Hackensack Riverkeeper Gift Certificates for Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa. There's no expiration date and they can be applied to any program or even to purchase some of that brand-new Keeperwear (http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/keeperwear2.html).
Thanks for another great year and we look forward to seeing you at the river in 2007! |
Once again, we conducted a good number of trips for public
officials, government agencies and our colleagues in conservation. They
included Eco-Cruises for Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ9), NJ Assemblywoman
Charlotte Vandervalk (R-39), the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, NJ
Office of Travel and Tourism, NJ Audubon Society, NJ Conservation
Foundation,
Our canoes and kayaks sure got a workout this year! By the
end of October, 950 people had seized the opportunity to explore the Hackensack
River and Meadowlands either independently, or by joining us on one of our
scheduled Guided Paddles. All told, the 2006 Season was our second-best ever;
here are the details: