Tag Archives: Robert Barossi

environmental volunteers, lake sturgeon, Michigan, Robert Barossi

Volunteers and the Lake Sturgeon

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IMG_0214

(photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

The images and messages created by environmental organizations often use iconic and instantly recognizable species. Polar bears. Pandas. Wolves. Eagles or birds of prey. These species are often beloved and revered, and there are certainly good reasons for their status and their use as a conduit for environmental messages. On the other hand, there are thousands of other species that, while far less recognizable and beloved, still need our help. Numerous other species need protecting and preserving and volunteers are an essential part of this important work. This great story out of Michigan details how many volunteers of widely varying ages and demographic backgrounds work together to help protect the lake sturgeon. These aquatic animals have very long life spans and can grow to be rather enormous. They’re not necessarily cute and cuddly or what some might think of as “beautiful,” but they are an important and endangered species, one which is receiving  a measure of protection from a large group of dedicated volunteers. That protection may be paying off, or at least helping. According to National Geographic, the lake sturgeon, “has made something of a comeback. Strong efforts at righting environmental wrongs in the Great Lakes have improved conditions, and concentrated efforts to protect the fish have turned sturgeon into a spotlight species.”

If you’ve enjoyed the stories on this blog, check out my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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environmental volunteers, Great Lakes, Michigan, Robert Barossi, water quality monitoring

Volunteers Monitor Great Lakes Streams

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Underwater Leaves

(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted a story on here. After such a too-long hiatus (mostly due to moving and some health issues), I’m hoping to be back on here regularly, posting at least a few times every week. So, without further ado…

The Great Lakes have been in the news a lot lately, for a number of environmental reasons, from algae blooms to invasive species. This story out of Michigan focuses on how volunteers are an enormous part of the effort to monitor the streams which connect to the larger lakes. While the article puts some emphasis on the Michigan Clean Water Corps, it includes a number of other interesting  and important aspects of stream monitoring in the area. One is that the volunteers are often monitoring populations of insects and small aquatic species, rather than chemicals. It’s an interesting switch from other monitoring practices that focus on testing for things like phosphorus or dissolved oxygen (in a sense, a way to test the water’s quality and collect data which focuses on biology rather than chemistry). Also important is the fact, as the article mentions, that volunteers are doing these kinds of monitoring tests across a number of states (five are mentioned) and for many different organizations, from nonprofits to government agencies. It’s more evidence of how a task as big and daunting as monitoring the waterways connected to the Great Lakes takes many people working in many places, and most of them are volunteers.

If you have enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, read more in my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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American kestrel, Cape Cod, environmental volunteers, nest boxes, Robert Barossi

Volunteers Helping Kestrels on Cape Cod

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(photo by Gualberto107, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

by Robert Barossi

Many raptors are iconic species, instantly recognized and often beloved by us human beings. They are also an important and essential part of the ecosystem in which they live. Here in Massachusetts, specifically on Cape Cod, there is an effort to bring more American kestrels to the area. The region’s population of this bird, the smallest falcon species, has been decreasing in size for some time. While the reason is not known for the declining numbers, there is something that people can do and are doing to attract more birds to the area: nest boxes. Like the volunteers and environmental organization staffers in story linked above, people everywhere can erect nest boxes that will provide the kestrel with a place to call home. Doing so is even encouraged by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, on their fact page about the American kestrel. On Cape Cod, volunteers will continue to work as monitors, keeping an eye on the birds who may inhabit the nest boxes. All of this work, and the other boxes built by people everywhere, will hopefully help keep this important and beautiful raptor species alive and thriving.

 

If you’ve enjoyed the stories on this site, download my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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environmental volunteers, Oregon, Portland, Robert Barossi

Many Volunteers Working Together

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Up a Tree(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

As I’ve mentioned many times on this blog, collaboration and cooperation are essential elements to volunteering. People who volunteer don’t just work with the organization they volunteer with, they also often work with other volunteers from other organizations. This article from Clackamas, a suburb of Portland, Oregon, caught my eye because of just how many different organizations are involved. There are at least eight different organizations mentioned in the story, which covers a number of events happening around Portland to restore the area’s watershed during Earth Month (April). At each of the events, different organizations (two or more working together at each event) brought together large groups of volunteers who made a huge impact.

If you’ve enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, check out my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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environmental volunteers, Green Forests Work, Kentucky, Robert Barossi

Volunteers Rebuild Forest Destroyed by Mining

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P1000239

(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

Mining operations in the United States have the well-known and well-earned reputation of being environmentally devastating. Strip mining and mountaintop removal mining have destroyed vast areas of wilderness. The impacts of those operations, whether in the past or still ongoing, are felt every day by the humans and wildlife who live around the mining sites. This great story out of Kentucky features a group of volunteers who are helping to reclaim the strip-mined land for the forests. They’re doing so one tree at a time, planting seedlings that will grow up and repopulate the area where mining wiped out the majestic forest that once occupied the area. Green Forests Work is the organization leading the effort in the hopes that future generations will be able to enjoy the eastern Kentucky wilderness the way it once was, before modern industry destroyed it. Of course, that effort will not just benefit humans but also benefit the numerous wildlife species who once made, and may still try to make, this bioregion their home.

If you have enjoyed the stories on this site, you can read more in my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day.

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environmental volunteers, river cleanup, River Cree, Robert Barossi, Scotland

Volunteers Protect a Scottish River

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ID-100581(Image courtesy of James Barker at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

by Robert Barossi

I will freely admit that Scotland is one of my favorite places on the planet. When I spent a month living there during college, during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I quickly fell in love with the city of Edinburgh, the country of Scotland and pretty much everything about it. While it was only one day, we did have an opportunity to visit the Highlands, still one of the most beautiful natural landscapes I have ever seen. This morning, I came across this great story out of Galloway, highlighting the efforts of a number of volunteers to preserve and protect the River Cree. a local organization, the River Cree Hatchery and Habitat Trust, has been leading this effort, which the article says has “rejuvenated” the river.  The Trust praises their volunteers, young and old, who have participated in a number of important initiatives, from removing fallen trees to building fences to protect the river’s banks to a number of projects which will assist the fish along their migration routes.

 

If you have enjoyed the stories on this blog, check out my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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Arcata Community Forest, California, environmental volunteers, redwoods, Robert Barossi, trail building

Volunteers Building Trails

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(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

This story isn’t so much about one particular volunteer or group of volunteers. Instead, it highlights one of the most important activities that environmental volunteers take part in: trail building. The focus here is on a redwood forest near the city of Arcata in northern California, tucked in along the coast and not far from the redwood-filled national forests that dot the landscape of that part of  The Golden State. Volunteers are playing an essential and vital role in the building and maintenance of trails in the Arcata Community Forest as well a newly designated community forest, the McKay Community Forest, which is in nearby Eureka. In that new community forest, volunteers will be helping to build new trials, with a planned opening for public use some time early this year. Here in the frozen northeast, volunteers will be just as busy, as the snow and ice begin to thaw and they head back out into the local forests to repair and maintain our area’s trails. It’s the same kind of dedicated work performed by environmental volunteers year round, around the globe.

If you have enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, check out my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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environmental volunteers, invasive species, lionfish, National Geographic, REEF, Robert Barossi

Volunteers Vs. Invasives

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P1000305(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

One sentence in particular caught  my eye when reading this environmental volunteer story: “REEF volunteers armed with filleting knives sliced up the carcasses, carefully avoiding the fish’s venomous spines.”

How can you read that and not want to see what these volunteers are up to? In this case, they are working along with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation to reduce populations of invasive lionfish. Check out the story, courtesy of National Geographic, to see just how successful all that knife-wielding volunteer work has been.

If you have enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, check out  my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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Environment Canada, environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi, weather-watchers

Volunteer Weather Watchers

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P1000054(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

Ten days later and it’s still freezing outside. The snow has stopped, at least, after six feet of snow fell in just a few short weeks, leaving enormous piles of snow lining every narrowed street. On the other hand, arctic air is now coming our way, with record low temperatures forecast for this week in Boston. Still, that’s nothing compared to some of the weather they are getting in northern Canada. In many isolated parts of that country, it’s volunteers, like the ones featured in this article, who are recording weather conditions and collecting climate data. These “weather watchers” are collecting data for Environment Canada, which often means they are in the outdoors in extreme conditions. These recordings aren’t just impressive because they are done under extreme weather conditions, but also because they are often done in places which are isolated and/or difficult to access (such as spots that are only accessible by boat or plane). According to this story, these weather-recording volunteers are a “dying breed,” which is unfortunate, since they are collecting data which is invaluable and essential for the government and private business/industry alike.

If you enjoyed any of the stories on this site, check out my eBook, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

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environmental volunteers, Peaks View Park, rain gardens, Robert Barossi, Virginia

Volunteers in the Rain Garden

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IMG_1095(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

It’s been a long hiatus, eight days since my last post. Like everyone else around here, I’m going to blame the winter weather. We’ve now officially had an historic winter, with more snow in a short amount of time than ever before (I don’t recall the exact number but it’s something like seventy inches over just two weeks). Needless to say, there are lots of huge piles of snow everywhere and space to put the snow is quickly running out. A few communities have begun dumping snow into the ocean or rivers that are nearby, with permission from government agencies. This has caused some controversy, as people are rightly concerned about the chemicals, road salt, and pollution which are present in the snow and will end up in the water right along with all the frozen, fluffy white stuff. What gets into our rivers, streams, bays and other bodies of water is always a concern, as it should be, and these volunteers in Virginia are working on another solution to the problem: a rain garden. At Peaks View Park, in Lynchburg, environmental volunteers are tending a rain garden which will absorb stormwater runoff, preventing it from ending up in the James River, and eventually Chesapeake Bay. The Central Virginia Master Naturalists have maintained the garden since 2009, keeping chemicals contained and out of the river. Rain gardens are a highly effective tool for capturing pollutants and keeping them out of the local watershed, a tool which anyone can create in their own backyard. As these volunteers point out, they’re also an opportunity to educate others about the watershed and just one of many ways to protect it.

If you have enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, check out my book, Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day.

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