Tuesday May 8 (10 am-2:30 pm) $20 ANS members/$30 nonmembers
Is your community stream being threatened by development? Pollution a problem? Could your local official do something to help? Want to know what you can do at home to help the health of our streams and creeks? Join Audubon Naturalist Society’s experts for a fun and empowering workshop at Woodend for an introduction to environmental advocacy & watershed stewardship! All are welcome. We teach through lecture, roleplay, scenario-building, and group feedback.
The focus is on clean water but the skills can apply to any environmental issue–learn how you can raise your voice for local conservation.
This workshop is described in the ANS Spring 2017 Naturalist Quarterly article “Good Changes for the Environment in Our Hands.” We will cover the following topics:
- The importance of protecting water and watersheds, and the biggest threats to them
- A brief introduction to the on-the-ground solutions that are needed at the home and community level, like rain gardens, planting trees, and responsible development practices.
- We’ll go on a tour of Woodend Nature Sanctuary’s new innovative Tree-Safe Rain Garden and talk about our plans for treating 100% of our stormwater on site.
- The Clean Water Act and how it works to move states, counties, and towns towards cleaner streams
- How you can get involved: an introduction to advocacy skills
- Identifying problems and solutions
- Developing an action plan
- Talking to decision-makers
- Building coalitions to broaden support for your issue
Leaders: Eliza Cava (ANS Director of Conservation) and Bruce Gilmore (Maryland stormwater policy expert)
