Search Results

Mill River Field Trip On a windy October field trip to the Mill River with Connecticut River Conservancy’s Ryan O’Donnell, third graders got their feet wet, learned about river health, and scooped up wriggling creatures. Students in Cindy Kassell’s 3rd grade at Lander-Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, MA are studying the Connecticut River and the Mill River. Their year-long study investigates, “ How have these rivers been significant to the people in the valley? How do we care for rivers?” Kassell reached out to CRC: “my class would love to learn more about the river and help protect it… we want to get involved in the local river happenings.”  Is it clean? Ryan O’Donnell, CRC’s  Monitoring Program Manager, showed students the sign posted on a tree next to the river: Is it Clean/Esta Limpio? “I made that sign and put it there!” He explained his job and the role of volunteer monitors who collect water samples to test in the lab.  “There are lots of things we can do to understand rivers and different ways to tell if a river is healthy.” Students got very excited when he waded into the shallow water with a kick-net, showing them how to sample macroinvertebrates to assess the level of pollution in a stream.  Who’s living in the river? Children eagerly explored the leaf-filled shallow water with little nets, scooping their findings into containers to examine up close. They observed tiny fish, hopping beetles, and bubbles coming up from the leafy sediment. “There’s a cute little frog! Two frogs! Hopping away!” O’Donnell brought their attention to a big crayfish lurking in the fork of a tree root, telling them to approach quietly so it wouldn’t scoot away. Everyone got a good look – “it’s huge!!” – and learned that crayfish belong to the category of organisms considered moderately pollution tolerant. Children’s favorite part of getting out of the river was dumping their boots to see who had collected the most water.  Writing weathergrams “Who wants to write a note to the river?”   Carol Berner, River of Words Regional Coordinator, gathered students in a circle and showed them how to make weathergrams . She invited them to write a few words capturing the “here and now” of this place and moment. Students suggested sensory observations: “drops of rain falling off the trees, leaves moving slowly downstream, a dog splashing.” Berner gave them each a strip of brown paper tied with twine to write their message and hang it from a branch – so the weather could write back. As soon as the children settled quietly into writing, a sudden gust of wind blew acorns into the water, making loud pops and splashes. Children exclaimed that the weather was already writing back!   Walking back from the river to the trailhead, carrying nets and wet boots, children talked happily about all the things they had seen and heard and learned on their field trip to the Mill River.  Weathergram The wind blows the acorns in the water and makes a sound like plip plip plop plop I found a lot of fish and a lot of crayfish and when nature blows it makes me happy.

Last year, I could not tell you what Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) meant. However, over the course of the year, I have learned this term to be much more than what initially seemed like little more than an environmental sustainability buzzword. EPR programs are systems that reduce the waste generated by industrial production by charging producers for the waste they generate that isn’t recyclable or recollected. This system encourages producers to meet otherwise untouched recycling and reduction rates. One question that logically follows this statement is, “How do producers increase recycling rates when consumers are the ones who decide whether or not to recycle?” There are a couple types of EPR programs that catalyze a reduction in waste generation while simultaneously increasing recycling rates: stewardship programs and packaging programs. Stewardship programs require producers of certain environmentally harmful or otherwise hazardous materials to create their own recollection systems to guarantee that their products don’t end up in the waste stream. Currently, there are over 100 stewardship programs across 33 states (Product Stewardship Institute). Here in New England, there are over 30 stewardship programs, including mercury recollection in every state, “Bottle Bills” in every Connecticut River watershed state aside from New Hampshire, paint programs, mattress programs, electronics programs, and most recently, tire programs. These programs are wildly successful. The Container Recycling Institute found that states with container deposit laws recycle at twice the rate of other states. The trend was constant across materials without outliers. The other type of program is packaging EPR. Packaging EPR programs create regulations that determine what materials can be used in product packaging and in what quantity. Unlike stewardship programs, this type of EPR has only started gaining traction in the United States in the last four years, despite the existence of analogous programs elsewhere worldwide. This type of program requires producers to change what materials they use in their packaging to make it more recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable. In addition, it sets recycling and reduction goals with which producers must comply. While the system structure varies among the four states with packaging EPR programs in the United States, they generally have a few common characteristics. The statewide environmental department conducts a needs assessment to determine which materials will be prohibited, the fee structure to charge producers for the use of discouraged materials, and the timeline for reduction and recycling goals. The department then hires a “Producer Responsibility Organization” which manages the funds collected through the taxation of certain materials and distributes them to the department for administration or municipalities for disposal infrastructure. The only packaging EPR program in New England was passed in Maine in 2023. Because the four packaging EPR programs in the United States are in their implementation stages, there is no data demonstrating their success yet; however, The Recycling Partnership conducted a study on the status of packaging recycling and reduction in a number of regions with packaging EPR programs and found major success, with the Netherlands increasing its recycling rate since the introduction of its EPR program in 2007 in every metric available and Quebec more than doubling its recycling rates of every packaging material after the introduction of its packaging EPR program in 2005. Despite the success of EPR programs worldwide, opponents of EPR are concerned that consumers pay for the cost placed on producers by taxation through increased product prices. However, environmental consulting firm Resource Recycling Systems conducted a study which indicated that this does not occur (Dimino). 76% of products studied did not increase in price after the introduction of EPR legislation, only 15% increased, and 9% decreased. Additionally, of the 15% of products that increased in price, the average increase in price was less than 1%. This means that a product which once cost $5 cost less than five cents more after introducing a relevant EPR program. By forcing producers to pay for the waste that they generate that contributes to environmental damage, producers are incentivized to reduce the amount of waste they produce, use more recyclable materials, recover their waste, and reuse it instead of purchasing new raw materials. EPR guarantees that people don’t have to consume as high quantities of environmentally unsustainable materials while simultaneously making it easier for them to recycle. This reduces the waste in our landfills and takes steps towards the preservation of our natural environment. Check out CRC's informative pamphlet here . Product Stewardship Institute. “EPR Laws in the United States.” https://productstewardship.us/epr-laws-map/ , 2024. Gitlitz, Jenny. “Bottled Up. Beverage Container Recycling Stagnates (2000-2010).” Container Recycling Institute, 2013, https://www.container-recycling.org/images/stories/PDF/BottledUp-BCR2000-2010.pdf . Dimino, Resa. “Impact of EPR for Packaging on Consumer Prices.” Signalfire Group, https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/deep/waste_management_and_disposal/ccsmm/epr-workinggroup/impact-of-epr-for-packaging-on-consumer-prices-9_28_22.pdf . The Recycling Partnership. “Increasing Recycling Rates with EPR Policy.” 2023, https://recyclingpartnership.webdamdb.com/bp/#/downloadqueue/DEMfU95FkzCsVTXP /source/0.

Connecticut River Conservancy’s River Restoration Network partners at Save the Sound have released the 2024 Long Island Sound Report Card  based on Unified Water Study data, and we are happy to share an increase from a B to an A-.   The Long Island Sound Report Card tracks and publicizes the ecological health of Long Island Sound, which is where the Connecticut River watershed drains into the Atlantic Ocean along with hundreds of other local watersheds. Their biennial report assembles water monitoring data and, using an assessment methodology designed for the Report Card, grades water quality in five open water regions of Long Island Sound and 57 bay segments along its margins. They provide the results to elected officials, environmental agencies, and the general public as part of ongoing work to catalyze improvements in ecosystem health and promote restoration projects and infrastructure investments. All grades in the 2024 Long Island Sound Report Card result from monitoring data collected during the 2023 monitoring season.  The full report is available  here , and you can learn more about the Unified Water Study in CRC’s recent video below.  The Connecticut River watershed’s grade increase from a B in 2023 to an A- in 2024  (based on the prior year’s data collection) means that we are making progress when it comes to water quality improvements in our embayment in the Connecticut River, and also overall in the Long Island Sound, which is cause for celebration.   Some of the contributing factors to this improvement could be dam removal projects that help improve dissolved oxygen and sediment transport , the annual watershed-wide river cleanup efforts with the Source to Sea Cleanup,  ongoing work in water quality monitoring , improvements to wastewater treatment plants, and advocacy/policy  to support clean water and healthy habitats.  While we are happy to see these improvements, some challenges continue to persist. Nitrogen is a leading pollutant in the Long Island Sound, and it comes from our rivers like the Connecticut River. Nitrogen flows into the river from wastewater treatment plants, fertilizer usage, and stormwater runoff. When excess nitrogen gets into the Long Island Sound it can have disastrous effects, causing algal blooms and creating dead zones where fish cannot get enough oxygen. This is something we will continue to monitor, and can benefit from individual actions such as these:    Reduce water usage  Reduce fertilizer use  Plant riparian buffers with native plants  Build rain gardens  Reduce your carbon footprint Vote for leaders who support environmental policies Reduce waste consumption and use eco-friendly materials In addition to Save the Sound and River Restoration Network , CRC is grateful for our partnership with the Connecticut River Museum  in the essential boating needs to gather this data on a regular basis.   Sign up for our newsletters  to stay connected with CRC’s work for water quality, advocacy, and other river news.

A few months ago, CRC shared a milestone update  on the 12-years-and-counting hydropower relicensing process for 5 facilities on the Connecticut River – the Vernon, Wilder, and Bellows Falls dams in VT/NH, and the Turners Falls dam and Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station in MA.   Since then, our focus has turned to the next phase in the process, which are the 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQC’s).    401 Water Quality Certification refers to the Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in which a federal agency (in this case the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - FERC) may not issue a license to hydro facilities unless the state or authorized tribe issues a Section 401 water quality certification verifying that the discharge and hydro operations will comply with existing water quality standards.     States can deny, waive, or issue a 401 Water Quality Certification with or without required conditions.  Anything the states require as a condition in this certificate will automatically be included in the final FERC license.    ​ Great River Hydro applied for their 401 Water Quality Certifications  in April 2024. The State of VT (Department of Environmental Conservation) held public information sessions on:     Wilder Project: August 7, 2024   Bellows Falls Project: August 8, 2024   Vernon Project: August 6, 2024     The VT DEC requested any additional data, sharing concerns, and submitting informal comments on the application for the state of Vermont be submitted to them by October 1st to consider as they draft the Water Quality Certification . You can read CRC's comments here. Below is a summary of our concerns about the application.   Through outright lack of data as well as vague and contradictory statements, Great River Hydro has failed to demonstrate how  their project proposals meet Vermont WQC's in the following critical ways:     1. Improve shoreline undercutting and erosion; monitor for impacts of peak flows under new flex operations; and manage sediment transport, including the protection of aquatic habitat and limiting the release of legacy nutrients;   2. Protect rare, threatened, endangered or otherwise protected species of concern such as   shortnose sturgeon , dwarf wedge mussels , tiger beetles, Fowler's toad, and protected plants under proposed operational changes;  3. Protect water quality, aquatic habitats and species in the face of increased flooding and   subsequent drawdowns;   4. Provide for appropriate and equitable access to the river for designated recreational uses;   5. Reduce impacts to water quality and aquatic habitat by managing aquatic invasive species ;   6. Protect and monitor historical and archaeological resources;   7. Timely install fish passage upgrades;   8. Provide financial assurances regarding the funding of eventual decommissioning;  9. Provide real time data on flows for recreational access, improve education about and access to fish passage, communicate about recreational access areas, and provide periodic reports regarding ecological concerns; and   10. Address numerous local concerns regarding erosion, access, aesthetics, habitat, and aquatic invasive species.     Because the applications are woefully incomplete as well as vague and contradictory, GRH   provides no assurance that the projects will comply with Vermont’s water quality standards.   What’s Next?     CRC will submit similar comments to the NH Department of Services staff in the coming month to share our concerns.    Vermont , New Hampshire , and Massachusetts  will each issue draft 401 Water Quality Certifications sometime between November 2024 and February 2025. In each case there will be a formal public hearing and opportunity to comment.    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will issue a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) covering all five hydro projects in December of 2024, will hold a public meeting in January of 2025, with a formal comment period on the EIS in February of 2025.    FERC EIS Notice for FirstLight   FERC EIS Notice for Great River Hydro     Anyone interested in further updates can sign up for our newsletters related to hydro  and the state you are most interested in.

The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) is spreading the word about a valuable resource for teachers and other education organizations. CRC is happy to announce that our EnviroScape® Watershed/Nonpoint Source Model is available for loan to classrooms throughout the Connecticut River watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire. The model is a valuable tool for teaching elementary and middle school students about the water cycle and how it is impacted by pollutants, demonstrating how our lakes and rivers become polluted by human actions. This kinesthetic model is a powerful tool to engage students in ecological topics and consider real-world applications of what they’re learning. Teachers can borrow the model and incorporate it into their lesson plans, or a member of the CRC team—a river steward or ECO AmeriCorps member—can provide presentations in schools or at other educational/community events.     “We recently brought along the Enviroscape to the Vermont Wildlife Festival,” says Clare Wangard, the ECO AmeriCorps member serving with CRC. “It was a great tool to engage children of all ages in the challenges associated with watershed conservation. Many kids came up to our table asking questions, and they were fascinated by the demonstration of how water may become polluted. It was helpful to have something dynamic and tangible to address their curiosities and facilitate a learning opportunity.”     Kathy Urffer, CRC’s Director of Policy and Advocacy and Vermont River Steward continues, “It is valuable for us as an organization, or for anyone who teaches about watersheds, to use this tool to connect with community members around these concepts. Many of the students and families we engage with fish, swim, or paddle in our rivers and this tool helps to make a visceral connection between how our surface waters become polluted. And it helps to illustrate the work being done to protect and restore our rivers and streams.”     Kate Buckman, the River Steward in NH agrees, “Having a physical model to interact with can really enhance understanding of how our actions as humans can influence what is happening in our rivers, in both negative and positive ways, by simplifying complex concepts into something more visual, tactile, and hopefully easy to remember.”    Any teachers or schools interested in borrowing the Enviroscape model or who are interested in having a presentation done at their school can fill out a request form .     CONTACT:               Clare Wangard , ECO Americorps Member, Outreach, Education and Restoration Assistant  cwangard@ctriver.org (314) 736-2955   Kathy Urffer , Director of Policy and Advocacy, Vermont River Steward  kurffer@ctriver.org (802) 258-0413  ___________    The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) restores and advocates for clean water, healthy habitats, and resilient communities to support a diverse and thriving watershed. CRC has been a steward of the Connecticut River and tributary streams since 1952. Their programs include advocacy, aquatic invasive species management, dam removal, habitat restoration, migratory fish surveys, recreation, trash cleanups, and water quality monitoring. Together through community engagement and education, they’re dedicated to ensuring equitable access and healthy rivers for all. Learn more at ctriver.org .     ECO AmeriCorps is a program administered by the VT Dept. Environmental Conservation. The program   consists of 24 members serving statewide with partner organizations dedicated to improving Vermont’s water quality and climate resiliency, and minimizing the amount of waste entering landfills. For more information about ECO AmeriCorps, visit www.ecoamericorps.vermont.gov .      AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal   agency for service and volunteering. CNCS annually engages more than five million citizens in service at   more than 60,000 locations in 8,500 cities across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other programs. National service participants address the most pressing challenges facing our cities and nation, from educating students for the jobs of the 21st century and supporting veterans and military families to preserving the environment and helping communities recover from natural disasters. For more information on AmeriCorps, visit www.americorps.gov .      This material is based upon work supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of AmeriCorps or the Corporation for National Service.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wilmington, VT [12/19/23]: The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), in collaboration with a private dam owner, the Town of Wilmington, the State of Vermont, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), recently completed a dam removal project on Beaver Brook in Wilmington, VT. The project will improve water quality, restore native Brook trout habitat, and bolster flood resiliency in Beaver Brook, a vital tributary to the Deerfield River. CRC received funding for the dam removal from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation through the Dam Removal Design and Implementation Block Grant administered by Watersheds United Vermont. Additional funding was provided by Vermont’s Flood Resilient Communities Fund, the Vermont Watershed Grant Program, Deerfield River Enhancement Fund, VT Rural Fire Protection Dry Hydrant Grant Program, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Thanks to a truly collaborative effort, Beaver Brook is now a free-flowing river with updated infrastructure benefiting the ecosystem as well as the human community! Important funders, landowners, restoration experts, and fish biologists all came together to make this project happen.” – Rebecca Todd, Connecticut River Conservancy’s Executive Director. In addition to removing the old mill dam, CRC and project partners removed a town-owned culvert on Hall Rd. and installed a new bridge, and also upgraded the Town’s dry hydrant at the site. The US Fish and Wildlife Maintenance Action Team removed the undersized culvert and installed the new 40-foot bridge, which improves flood resiliency and emergency access to Hall Rd. CRC hired local contractor Joe Saladino to remove the privately owned dam – which resulted in lowering the flood elevation level by 7 feet – and to install the new dry hydrant. CRC and USFWS will be back on site next spring to finish the restoration of the site by planting more than 130 native trees and shrubs along the stream to restore the riparian area along Beaver Brook. Over time the trees will help keep the stream cooler, reduce erosion, and increase habitat. More information about the Beaver Brook Dam Removal can be found HERE . Several key members of U.S. Fish & Wildlife staff were recognized as Connecticut River Conservancy’s Restoration Partners of the Year for their incredible work on this project. Pictured in the center photo from left to right above are Ron Rhodes, CRC’s Director of Restoration; Dave Sagan from the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program at U.S. Fish & Wildlife; Phillip Herzig and Julie Butler from the Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program at U.S. Fish & Wildlife; and Becky Budd, CRC’s Restoration Program Manager. This project wouldn’t have happened without USFWS funding and their staff expertise in implementing river restoration projects like this. Vermont’s Watershed Grant Fund mentioned above supported this project thanks to conservation plates like these! The Watershed Grant Fund assists local efforts related to stewardship and enjoyment of our water resources.

Every year the Turners Falls Cabot Station drains their canal for maintenance purposes, which leaves thousands of juvenile sea lampreys and other fish stranded without water and exposed to harsh elements. Connecticut River Conservancy organizes volunteers to find and rescue as many as possible. Thanks to the 30 volunteers who joined us this year, the results of 2024's sea lamprey rescue were the following: 1,000 juveniles (transformers) 2,000 larvae (ammocoetes) 500-1,000 other fish species A very impactful outcome in just a few hours! CRC partnered with the USGS S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory to rescue larval and juvenile sea lamprey in coordination with FirstLight Power (owners of the hydropower facility). Some of the ammocoetes and juveniles were taken to the Conte Lab for research while others were released below the dam after the event to continue on their journey. This effort will support ongoing migratory fish research for sea lamprey, as well as conservation science and advocacy in the Connecticut River watershed. Sea lamprey are an important native, migratory fish of the Connecticut River . Our local sea lamprey are not invasive in the Connecticut River like they are in the Great Lakes. Adult sea lamprey migrate up the Connecticut River and tributaries from the ocean every year to spawn (reproduce). Once they've reached the ideal habitat to lay their eggs (shallow moving water with rocks they can move to build their nests), their lifecycle comes to an end, leaving a carcass full of rich nutrients our ecosystem thrives on. The lamprey babies, called ammocoetes, grow in our freshwater systems and take 4 to 5 years to migrate to the ocean and grow into adults. It is at this stage when the ammocoetes and juveniles begin to move downstream that some of them end up in the canal. Volunteers play a crucial role in supporting the life of this species, both through nest surveys in the spring , and with the sea lamprey rescue in early fall. It is also worth noting that unnatural infrastructure and hydropower facility operations create these issues for migratory fish in the first place. FirstLight, the company that owns the power canal, currently has no legal responsibility to rescue any of the thousands of fish that die while they drain the canal for maintenance, nor do they have any financial responsibility to support our rescue efforts. This is why Connecticut River Conservancy is actively engaged in the hydropower relicensing process  to ensure that the new license better protects our rivers, habitats, and communities. You can learn more at migratoryfish.org , and sign up for our newsletters to be alerted the next time there are volunteer opportunities for community science.

Connecticut River Conservancy's print newsletter, Currents & Eddies is back with a summer/fall 2024 edition arriving in mailboxes for members, volunteers, and event attendees. If you did not receive a physical copy there could be a variety of reasons, so we're providing the full digital version here to ensure that anyone interested has access! Having trouble with the digital flipbook above? You can also get it as a PDF here .

Connecticut River Conservancy’s (CRC) 28th annual Source to Sea Cleanup is back this September 27th – 28th , with flexible opportunities for individual groups. The goal is to remove as much trash as possible from waterways, riverbanks, and communities to reduce the impact of pollution across the 410-mile Connecticut River watershed, including the tributaries that feed the mainstem river in NH, VT, MA, and CT. What began in 1997 with a small group of student volunteers dedicated to clean water and healthy habitats has grown to a massive community action trash removal event. Brought together by a shared passion for trash-free waterways, countless communities, businesses, nonprofits, and families now participate throughout the Connecticut River watershed. Group leaders organize cleanup events at various trash sites based on areas of high need, while volunteers donate their time and effort to haul and clear tons of waste. Local municipalities support by providing dumpsters, waiving disposal fees, or collecting the trash from locations after the volunteers have completed their cleanups. CRC invites registration for the Cleanup on their brand-new platform: SourceToSeaCleanup.org .   Trash tallies are also gathered after each cleanup, contributing to CRC’s long-standing database which is used to inform the nonprofit’s work in advocacy to reduce future pollution, support river restoration, and inform the public and policymakers of issues affecting the environment. This event often includes participation from local legislative leaders. Last year’s cleanup included 126 groups and over 1,200 volunteers throughout four watershed states, who collectively removed 34.2 tons of trash from rivers and riverside areas. A wide variety of waste was collected by volunteers, including many bottles, cans, and cigarette butts, fishing equipment, food packaging, tires, appliances, mechanical objects, and even a hot tub. Over 9K beverage containers and over 13K lbs. of scrap metal were tallied in 2023 alone. Since data collection began in 1999, over 1,107 tons of trash has been removed from the watershed. Below are some photos from 2023 Source to Sea Cleanup groups. “The Fort River Watershed cleanup has been an all-community event since 2019, bringing together people from all walks of the watershed to help make it a cleaner and healthier place for critters and people! We are looking forward to another year of connection around this common cause” said Brian Yellen, founding member of Fort River Watershed Association and research professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, specializing in water resources and coastal processes. CRC promotes #RiverWitness to help people connect with each other online through their shared concern for and appreciation of our rivers. Take a photo or video when you are at the river, participating in the Source to Sea Cleanup, or enjoying time outside. Or make art inspired by river beauty or river pollution. Share on Instagram, include #RiverWitness and tag @ctriverconservancy. “The Source to Sea Cleanup is a fabulous opportunity to roll up your sleeves, work with others in your community, and clean up our waterways and city streets,” says CRC’s Cleanup Coordinator, Stacey Lennard. “When you pick up trash you are diverting that waste from going down storm drains and into the river system, which eventually flows into the ocean. You are ensuring that we keep this debris out of our rivers and oceans.” Group leaders who need help finding a c leanup site can check out CRC's map of adoptable trash sites. Or they can choose a site of their own by submitting a “Report a Trash Site” form. Parks, city blocks, boat ramps, and neighborhood hangouts are typically great spots to clean. Trash travels, so even picking up litter off a city sidewalk can help protect wildlife and communities that depend on clean waterways. Leaders are encouraged to scout the site out beforehand to determine if it’s suitable for their group. A handy Group Leader Guide is available for download on the Source to Sea website and provides all the necessary information and forms for running a successful cleanup. Connecticut River Conservancy would also like to thank the following sponsors for supporting this initiative – in some cases for many years! Lead sponsors in 2024 are The Walker Group, Eversource, USA Waste & Recycling Inc., and All American Waste. With additional support from Hypertherm HOPE Foundation, AFI Furnishings, Connecticut River Gateway Commission, Enterprise Holdings, Great River Hydro, LLC., Greenfield Savings Bank, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., Savings Bank of Walpole, Ashuelot River Hydro, LLC., Chroma Technology, Florence Savings Bank, Fuss & O’Neill, Guilford Savings Bank, Jamrog HVAC, King Arthur Baking, Rare Forms, Inc., Reynold’s Boats & Reynold’s Subaru, SLR, SWCA Environmental Consultants, and Walmart Northampton & Hadley. For more information, visit CRC’s cleanup info page . To sign up as a volunteer or group leader, view the Cleanup Sites Map here . For any questions about getting involved, contact Stacey Lennard at cleanup@ctriver.org .

For Immediate Release:   Environmental DNA (eDNA) Analysis Confirms the Presence of Shortnose Sturgeon in the Connecticut River Between Turners Falls MA and Bellows Falls VT   [Aug 29, 2024, Alstead, NH/Greenfield, MA] An ongoing investigation led by the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) has for the first time detected DNA from the endangered shortnose sturgeon ( Acipenser brevirostrum ) in the Connecticut River between Turners Falls, MA, and Bellows Falls, VT/Walpole, NH. The study was initiated by CRC’s River Steward for New Hampshire, Dr. Kate Buckman, in partnership with James Garner, a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts with expertise in environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.   In this investigation, CRC used existing research by Micah Kieffer, a sturgeon biologist at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center S.O Conte Research Laboratory, as well as information from Annette Spaulding of Rockingham, VT, and Joseph Graveline of Northfield, MA, regarding sturgeon behavior and previous sightings of this rare fish. This helped Buckman and Garner narrow down the stretches of river to target for eDNA sampling. Critical to the sampling efforts was the involvement of numerous volunteers who provided field support to conduct the work. The first round of samples was collected in June and July, with positive “hits” detected in water collected in Northfield, MA, Vernon, VT, and Westmoreland, NH.   Shortnose sturgeon are a federally endangered species, and it is illegal to intentionally target, catch, or disturb them. Historically, shortnose sturgeon would have been found throughout the Connecticut River watershed as far north as Turners Falls, and possibly as far north as Bellows Falls. However, the presence of numerous dams on the mainstem, habitat degradation, and commercial fishing have negatively impacted populations of this fish, as they have for many native migratory species.   “While a breeding population of shortnose sturgeon is known to exist downstream of Turners Falls, from a regulatory standpoint, shortnose sturgeon do not exist upstream of there,” noted Dr. Buckman. “Community members have reported anecdotal sturgeon sightings in New Hampshire and Vermont waters, but to date, only two of those observations have ever been verified in photographs,” continued Dr. Buckman. “This means that management actions to protect the species and their habitat have not been implemented north of the Turners Falls dam. These initial eDNA results are the first hard evidence supporting these anecdotal observations and are an important step in ensuring that shortnose sturgeon receive the protection they deserve in the more northern reaches of the Connecticut River.”   UMass Amherst PhD Candidate James Garner adds, “Our results demonstrate that there are detectable levels of shortnose sturgeon DNA at multiple locations within the reaches of the Connecticut River upstream of the Turners Falls and Vernon dams. The strength of the hits relative to our positive controls signals to me that these endangered fish are present throughout these upstream reaches, but likely at lower numbers than where they exist farther south. This collaborative project demonstrates the power of a wonderful team and a well-designed use of eDNA techniques for the monitoring and conservation of endangered species.”   eDNA techniques are particularly useful in detecting rare species, as they require less intensive time and people investments than traditional netting or fishing efforts. Put simply, if a fish is active in a water body, it is shedding genetic material contained in slime, excrement, scales, etc. That DNA is collected as part of a water sample which is filtered, and the DNA extracted from the material retained on the filter. Special probes that are designed to bind only to DNA from the species of interest (in this case shortnose sturgeon) are used in a reaction called qPCR that amplifies the targeted DNA strand and makes multiple copies of it. How quickly the copies accumulate in the reaction can be measured and the strength of the signal correlates with how much DNA was initially present in the water. Lots of fish lead to lots of DNA and a very early (strong) signal in the qPCR reaction. Image captions: #1: James Garner hands a collected water sample to a colleague on the boat. Photo credit Kate Buckman. #2: James Garner works in Dr. Jeremy Andersen’s insect lab at UMass Amherst to extract DNA from filters. A fish-free space is ideal for keeping low concentration samples uncontaminated. Photo credit Kate Buckman. #3: Dr. Kate Buckman uses a YSI to collect water quality data at a sample site while volunteer boat support Julian Burgoff looks on. Photo credit James Garner. “It is still remarkable to me that using this technique we can detect sturgeon DNA in a river the size of the Connecticut River by sampling only two liters of water, but we can, and we did,” says Dr. Buckman. Equally important is ensuring that the ecology of the species of interest is considered when designing a sampling strategy. Shortnose sturgeon are typically benthic fish, so Buckman and Garner focused their efforts on sampling water from the bottom of the river, something that was not done in an eDNA survey six years ago with no positive hits.   What remains unknown is how the shortnose sturgeon got above Turners Falls, given the prevalence of dams on the Connecticut River since the 1800s, or how long the fish have been there. There are many possible routes through which sturgeon could have accessed these upper reaches, but Buckman and Garner are content to let that remain a mystery. For now, providing preliminary but compelling evidence that shortnose sturgeon are there is exciting enough.   Sampling efforts will continue over the fall and winter. While the positive results from water samples taken earlier this summer indicate shortnose sturgeon presence in the Connecticut River in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts waters upstream of Turners Falls dam, additional positive hits throughout the year will provide even more robust evidence that these fish are living north of Turners Falls year-round. “I am extremely grateful for James’ enthusiasm and knowledge in implementing this project, as well as to our funders and volunteers. The work we have done so far and what we plan to continue doing would not be possible without their support,” Dr. Buckman added.   This ongoing work was funded by generous grants to the Connecticut River Conservancy from the Lucy Downing Nisbet Charitable Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee  and the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation. Lucy Downing Nisbet Charitable Fund provided funding that allowed for planning discussions and project design, purchasing supplies, and the initiation of field sampling and qPCR analysis. This and additional support from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation will allow for the continuation of the sampling and analysis efforts into 2025.   For additional Information please contact:   Kate Buckman River Steward, NH Connecticut River Conservancy kbuckman@ctriver.org 603-931-2448   Diana Chaplin Director of Communications Connecticut River Conservancy dchaplin@ctriver.org 413-834-0079   James Garner PhD Candidate UMass Amherst Environmental Conservation Department (ECO) JGGarner@umass.edu

On breezy, sunny summer days there is nothing better than getting the chance to get out on the water. The Connecticut River Conservancy is no stranger to hosting kayaking and paddling events for volunteers and children’s programs, which is why we have had a partnership for a number of years with the Compass Youth Collaborative . The Compass Youth Collaborative is a Hartford based organization dedicated to providing high-risk youths aged 16-20 with the tools they need to create sustained behavior change and transition successfully into adulthood.  Through our partnership, these youths have the chance to kayak, many for their first time, in Wethersfield Cove. Kayaking can be a great experience for many youths as it can foster a relationship with nature and spark a new hobby or interest in their lives. The collaboration in the summer spans from July to August every Wednesday and we paddle around the cove and sometimes out onto the Connecticut River!  Our staff helps the youths get situated with life vests, water shoes or flip flops, and we provide our foldable kayaks for them to use. The Compass Youth Collaborative staff doesn’t shy away from joining us out on the water either! It is a few hours of great fun and conversation as the youths learn how to paddle and navigate the water, frequently led by Tim Lewis, avid paddler and CRC Trustee, and Barry Gorfain, an Appalachian Mountain Club instructor. Volunteers from the Great Meadows Conservation Trust also join us to help with boat safety and to ensure a positive experience.  One of the highlights of the summer was when the weather and water level were just right, and the youths felt that they wanted to kayak further than the cove. Tim led the way along with our staff and we set out onto the river and had a blast showing the youths another environment to kayak in.  Rhea Drozdenko and Ava Gandhi have helped strengthen the partnership this summer by communicating with the Compass Youth staff and ensuring that this activity is as safe and fun as it can be. We are looking forward to another successful summer next year!

Join your CRC River Stewards to learn about the next stage of the relicensing of five hydroelectric facilities in the heart of the Connecticut River. As part of their effort to get a new license, under the Clean Water Act, the owners of the Wilder, Bellows Falls, Vernon and Turners Falls dams, and the Northfield Pump Storage facility are required to apply for a 401 Water Quality Certification from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) states that a federal agency (in this case the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) cannot issue a license to hydro facilities unless the state verifies that the operation of the facilities will protect existing water quality standards. Watch this livestream recording to learn about the basics of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and how it is currently being implemented in this relicensing process. This webinar will help to prepare the public to engage in upcoming Public Information Sessions and a subsequent public comment opportunity. Go to ctriver.org/hydropower to find out more.