Valley Water’s Post

New England's River Herring Aren't Rebounding — Here's Why Dam removals alone cannot bring river herring back to southern New England; their loss hurts striped bass, tuna, bluefish, and many bird and wildlife species. Since the year 2000, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on restoring and reconnecting river herring spawning habitats in southern New England through water quality projects, dam removals, and fish passage constructions, and yet their numbers continue to fall. In response, there has been a complete regional ban on the recreational take of these fish for nearly two decades. But the industrial Atlantic herring fishery is still allowed to legally take 3.6 million river herring each year as bycatch. Read more below. https://bit.ly/43G9Blb

Today is #WorldWetlandsDay — a day to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of wetland habitats and their functionality. Wetland habitats perform many key functions that serve as an ecological powerhouse in the broader ecosystem. Examples of these wetland functions include: • 🌧 Flood control • 🏞 Surface water storage • 🌎 Toxicant, nutrient, and sediment retention and removal • 🏖 Bank and shoreline stabilization • 💧 Groundwater discharge/recharge • 🕊 Recreation (hunting, fishing, etc.) • 🌻 Habitat for a variety of general and sensitive plant/wildlife species • 🐟 Aquatic habitat and thermal cover for fish species Since 1977, some form of a “no net loss” wetlands policy has been in place in the U.S. that benefits the entire planet. Ensuring that these critical ecosystems remain intact and properly functioning will continue to benefit humanity for generations to come. In his personal story of preservation, wetland scientist Erik Nyquist shares how his love for stream and wetland restoration has and will continue to have a positive impact on his home state of Montana. Check out his article here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVD3qZWv #WetlandsRestoration #CleanWaterAct #Wetlands #ActForWetlands

Schmitz Park Creek Restore has identified four areas of concern about the natural environment of Schmitz Park that it will need to address as part of its proposal to restore and protect the Park. We have grouped them under these titles: Fish, Forest, Creek, Cove:  

In today’s edition of Scotland on Sunday [The Scotsman], Tom Turnbull and I argue that plans to create Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders (DMNROs) should be ditched following the cessation of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens. Private deer managers are already delivering 80% of Scotland’s annual cull. We need to enable deer managers - not penalise them with flawed regulatory frameworks which lack legal safeguards and fail to recognise the impact of other herbivores when it comes to nature restoration. Scottish Land & Estates and ADMG hope SNP Ministers will take evidence-based steps to improve existing powers instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with radical proposals which are unlikely to work. Link to the online article here: https://lnkd.in/e7DaN_di #deer #deermanagement #venison #landmanagenent

Enabling river restoration projects at scale means working through multiple partnerships, such as the Drinking Water Providers Partnership (of which The Freshwater Trust is a collaborator). #DrinkingWaterProvidersPartnership #NatureBasedSolutions #watershedrestoration

It takes 15 seconds.

PROVIDENCE — Nearly five months after one of the worst Rhode Island wildfires in decades, state officials are studying how to prevent the next one. A new 12-member study commission is scheduled to meet Sept. 12 for the first time. Created by a resolution sponsored by Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Exeter, in the last legislative session, the commission aims to evaluate forest management practices for preventing future wildfires in forestland around the state. Cotter advocated for the commission after an April brush fire exposed just how vulnerable towns like Exeter are to wildfires. That brush fire, the worst fire in Rhode Island since 1942, burned 238 acres of forestland; 45 of those acres belonged to The Nature Conservancy as part of the Queen’s River Preserve, and the rest was a combination of state-managed lands and private property. 📖 https://bit.ly/45QyB9r #wildfires #brushfires #preserve #safe #rhodeisland

When developing or expanding properties, a common issue is the presence of #wetlands. Wetlands are land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally and are a part of our ecosystem, they’re something that should be preserved. Today, on #WorldWetlandsDay, we celebrate and emphasize the need to protect them. Our #LandUse team advocates for wetland preservation and would be more than happy to ensure your development project isn’t on a wetland. For more information on wetlands and what you can do, check out the link below. https://ow.ly/NwKK50QvApQ

Protecting rural waterways is key!