Jackie's and Keith's and Ari's recent comments seem to be paraphrasing the "think globally, act locally" environmental theme, and that's really good. While small acts of environmental concern don't solve the macro-problem of industrial and governmental pollution --- and these problems should also be on our individual "action lists" and items of corporate concern for organizations like PaddleWise --- they're also a start. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) --- the "Save the Bay" bumper sticker people --- has recently begun recruiting local kayakers and canoeists to spend odd pieces of their paddling season surveying the subsurface aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Bay and in its tributaries as a means of mapping specific areas of new SAV growth, which is itself an excellent indicator of the general health of our Bay. We attend workshops to learn the basics of SAV, and then, at least three times during the spring, summer and fall, we will survey assigned grids of the area to map out and qualify and quantify SAV development. This data is fed to the Fish and Wildlife folks, who keep track of the entire situation and monitor SAV-productive areas; one key factor is that these areas enjoy an even higher level of protection from development and dredging activities. It's not going to cure global warming or stop continental drift, but it's going to be the utilization of a nice paddling trip for a higher good. This is a new program, and there's not a lot of data on it, but, if anyone's interested in following the progress of the project, I'd be glad to keep you posted privately. Lemme know. Joq *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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