FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dutchess
County Environmental Management Council Wins Statewide Award
MADISON
COUNTY, NY. On October 13, the New York State Association of
Environmental
Management Councils awarded the Dutchess County Environmental
Management Council
the EMC
Outstanding Project Award for
2004 for the Fishkill
Creek
Streamwalk Study.
Streamwalk
studies are designed to assess and evaluate the natural resources and
problems
of a stream while walking through it. The distinguishing feature of the
Fishkill
Study was its scope. During the course of Fishkill Creek Streamwalk
Study,
thirty-seven volunteers assessed approximately sixteen miles of the
Fishkill
Creek, the second largest watershed in Dutchess County. This level of
volunteerism was exceptional for a project of this nature,
demonstrating the
enthusiasm of local residents and the Dutchess EMC to gather
information and
assess the condition of Fishkill Creek, the County’s second-largest
watershed.
Volunteers
participating in the study donated approximately 477 hours in the
field.
Volunteers attended mandatory training sessions before participating,
allowing
them to gain a detailed awareness of the environmental characteristics
of
streams, including knowledge of hazards that were potentially dangerous
to the
health of Fishkill Creek. Overall, the Streamwalk brought volunteers
into
direct contact with the creek and created the opportunity to better
understand
how the resource functions as well as its relationship to the larger
community.
In addition, to the significant
contribution of
volunteer
time, in-kind services were provided by the Dutchess County EMC and the
Dutchess County Soil and Water Conservation District. A small grant of
almost
$2,000 was also secured to help support the project that in actual
costs has
been estimated at nearly $16,000. In the end, fifty-five impaired sites
were
identified. The entire project was successfully documented with over
700
digital photographs and 90 Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates
identifying dams and impairments. The digital photos and other
information
related to the project have been posted on the Internet at: sw/index.htm.
According
to Mikel
Shakarjian, Vice
President of NYSAEMC, this project was chosen as
outstanding “not simply because of its
scope and positive impact on the environment, but also for its
demonstrated
ability to
raise public awareness locally and throughout the state by expanding
volunteerism efforts. Other counties looking to conduct streamwalk
studies have
much to gain by evaluating the success of Dutchess County’s Fishkill
Creek
project, and by using it as a model.”
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For more
information,
please contact David Burns, Watershed Coordinator, Dutchess County
Environmental Management Council, 845-677-5253