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Stewardship - Stewardship, Habitat and Small Grants Projects

Grants

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002

2010 Stewardship Grants

• HEP has released a request for proposals for Stewardship Grants, including green infrastructure, shoreline cleanup, education, and other projects. | Click here

2009 back to top

Reducing Stormwater Runoff through Green Infrastructure in a High Density Residential Development in New York City
The New York City Soil and Water Conservation District (NYCSWCD) will reduce stormwater runoff in a residential building and educate its inhabitants on stormwater and water quality issues. The project involves installing a stormwater Low Impact Development (LID) practice that incorporates vegetation (“green infrastructure,” such as planters, rain gardens and rain barrels) in an already developed area, thereby “retrofitting” existing impervious surface. It is expected that residents will develop a sense of ownership and appreciation by actively participating in the selection and maintenance of the green infrastructure practice. This will also act as a pilot project that will generate much needed data on how much stormwater these practices can divert from the City’s combined sewer system, contributing to cleaner water in the Estuary. The NYCSWCD will partner with Landmark West!, a not‐for‐profit historical preservation organization on the Upper West Side, which will be responsible for outreach to property owners and coordination with the selected property owner and eDesign Dynamics which will be responsible for design and construction.

Litter Marshall Program – Clean Streets = Clean Water!
Hackensack Riverkeeper, in collaboration with the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office will attempt to address some of the root causes of debris in the area’s water bodies. The Litter Marshall Program involves an anti-littering campaign that educates local residents on the many negative impacts of littering and encourages them to be part of the solution. The campaign includes a series of billboards, as well as brochures that will be widely distributed in areas frequented by motorists. These materials encourage people to report littering incidents to the Bergen County Litter Marshal Hotline (1-877-CPT- BILL). The Sheriff’s Office will then send a letter to litterers that will include educational materials and a warning that that littering is a crime subject to fines.



2008 back to top

Increasing Public Access and Accessibility to the Brooklyn Waterfront
Sebago Canoe Club, an all-volunteer nonprofit group, built a new ramp and dock to improve access to Paerdegat Basin in Jamaica Bay, replacing a 40-year old structure that was in poor shape and thus limited the types of activities this group was able to carry out and the number of participants they were able to engage. The new ramp allowed accommodating more and different types of boats, and enabled Sebago Canoe Club to offer their paddling programs to a wider audience (approximately 600 people), including the general public and youth. The wider and less steep ramp also allows safer wheelchair access and the Club carried out their first event to disabled paddlers, who were especially grateful for the opportunity to access the water.
Read the complete report (including pictures) | Click Here (pdf)

Preservation of Shoreline Areas by High School Students
The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) delivered 7 weekly lessons on the estuary and stormwater issues to over 800 students from 8 high schools in three NYC boroughs. After learning in the classroom, the students planted native trees, shrubs and other plants, removed invasive species, and conducted other shoreline preservation activities at 12 nearby parks and other locations. CENYC partnered with several organizations that selected the sites and supervised the field work, including the Bronx River Alliance, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Natural Resources Group, Friends of Riverside Park, and Morningside Park Gardening Office at DPR
Read the complete report (including pictures) | Click Here (pdf)

NY-NJ Harbor Education Program
The Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) and the NJ Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) are two not for profit educational groups that built on previously developed materials (also funded by HEP) and created and delivered new materials for students in grades 4 to 8, including hands-on activities. They taught one classroom session and then took the students to the Estuary for a field session and a tour of the Harbor. This program reached 275 students from 12 classes, for most of which this was their first time on the water and their teachers, from underserved public schools in NJ and Brooklyn, NY. They also held a professional development session for 58 teachers so they can use the materials in their classrooms.
Read the complete report (including pictures) | Click Here (pdf)

NY Oyster Program
NY-NJ Baykeeper expanded their oyster program and continued to work to bring about the restoration of oyster reefs in the Harbor Estuary while raising awareness among the population about this important species. All educational materials produced are available from their website www.urbanoysters.org. The group and partners—the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, New York Harbor School, and the River Project—expanded and delivered hands-on activities at several oyster gardens, including experiments on growing oysters from larvae in NYC and building oyster cages. This program involved approximately 125 K-12 and high school students, some of which had the opportunity to study oysters in collaboration with scientists at The River Project, and using equipment at Brookhaven National Lab. Baykeeper also organized a lecture series on oyster issues that attracted 175 participants and included four lectures and an educators’ workshop. In addition, they carried out an Urban Oyster Restoration Conference in Governors Island, with over 130 participants, where students presented the results from their research.
Read the complete report (including pictures) | Click Here (pdf)

2007 back to top

Rahway River Fish Ladder Conceptual Restoration Plan
Building on previous work, Weston Solutions, Inc. conducted additional work to further evaluate the feasibility of two possible designs for a fish passage for the water supply dam in the lower reaches of the Rahway River in New Jersey. Specific factors studied by the group included: 1) the presence and location of buried underground utilities within the path of the proposed fish ladder, 2) conduct a fish survey on both sides of the dam to confirm the presence of species that may potentially use the fish passage, 3) survey the presence of suitable spawning areas upstream of the dam and determine if habitat enhancements is needed or appropriate, and 4) conduct an archeological and historical assessment of the project area. Based on this information, Weston Solutions will prepare a Feasibility Report that could then be used to plan and construct the fish passage.

Idlewild Park Wetlands Restoration
The Eastern Queens Alliance, Inc (EQA) will complete design drawings and develop and administer construction documents for a wetland restoration project within Idlewild Park on Jamaica Bay. Once these tasks are completed, the project can proceed to implementation. Approximately $340,000 of environmental benefit funds have been set aside for this project by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for restoration, protection, and increased public access to this site.

Friends of the Estuary Partners
The Friends of the Estuary (FOTE) Partners are the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, the Council on the Environment of New York City, Future City Inc., and the New York Academy of Sciences. FOTE partners collaborated on a program to motivate community members in the NY/NJ region to properly dispose of used motor oil. They created and distributed a series of brochures and educational materials and taught community members about the environmental impacts of improperly disposed motor oil and the importance of properly managing this fluid. The FOTE projects targeted owners, operators, managers, employees, and customers of relevant small businesses, retail stores, and recycling or transporting companies of used motor oil, as well as networks of citizens including high school and college students, citizen volunteers and municipal environmental commissions. In particular, retail stores were deemed to be the best way to reach the driving public, especially “do-it-yourselfers” (DIY's) who change their own motor oil and often are not aware of proper management and disposal options.

NY-NJ Harbor Education Program
The Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) and the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) produced and shared a NY-NJ Harbor curriculum for New York and New Jersey’s middle school students with the goal of promoting widespread understanding of the complexities of the area and promote “sustainable” behavior as it pertains to our urban estuary. The curriculum consists of teaching materials, an in-school presentation and guided outdoor experiences and was designed to promote understanding and appreciation of the vitality and value of the Harbor Estuary Complex from both the ecological and human perspective. The curriculum was implemented in May 2007 with several pilot schools from Brooklyn and New Jersey, laying the foundation for long-term program replication, curriculum dissemination, and creative NY-NJ environmental education partnerships.

Increasing Harbor Stewardship through Oyster Restoration in New York City Partners
Partners in this project (The River Project, NY/NJ Baykeeper, and the New York Harbor School) worked to increase stewardship among residents of the NY–NJ Harbor Estuary through training oyster gardeners from schools and community organizations in New York City and conducting outreach about their work. Collaborators trained the oyster gardeners to help prepare an oyster reef off the Tribeca waterfront and conducted outreach about their work to the general public, government agencies, and elected officials. The primary audience—oyster gardeners—gained new knowledge and skills to function as Harbor stewards and promote restoration and favorable attitudes among New York City residents about improving the ecological health of the harbor. The secondary audience—the general public, government agencies, and elected officials—learned about oyster gardening directly from the main project partners, and indirectly from media attention attracted by new oyster gardening groups.

2006 back to top

Fish ladder at Rahway Water Supply Dam
Weston Solutions, Inc. conducted a preliminary feasibility evaluation for the construction of a fish passage for the Rahway River Water Supply Dam, which provides water for the city of Rahway. This is the most downstream obstruction on the Rahway River and it is located near two HEP habitat restoration sites, immediately south of the Union County Rahway River Park. A fish passage would allow migrating fish (including alewife, blueback herring, gizzard shad, white perch, and American eel) to reach their native spawning grounds upstream from the dam while preserving the dam’s functionality. The study concluded that two types of fish passages (steep-pass and bypass ramp) were potentially suitable for this location. Before preparing a conceptual plan for the project, additional studies will be needed to select the best alternative for the site and rule out any impediments to the construction of the fish passage.

2005 back to top

Many Mind Creek Stewardship: Interactive Learning in the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Ecosystem
This Atlantic Highlands Environmental Commission project will focus on Many Mind Creek saltmarsh and fringe habitat - HEP Priority Acquisition Site RB17. The long-term overall goal of the project is to improve the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary ecosystem by motivating young people and adults to become informed stewards of Many Mind Creek's watershed and to actively work towards acquiring waterfront acres for habitat restoration purposes. The approach to meet this goal is to a) involve high school students in the design of an interpretive panel for top of an information box to be installed on Earth Day 2006 at the origin of Many Mind Creek, 2 miles before it flows into Sandy Hook Bay; b) recruit adults to actively work towards the acquisition of waterfront areas for habitat restoration; c) increase awareness of elected officials by inviting them to participate in estuary stewardship activities; and d) sponsor events for families to appreciate the estuary while participating in waterfront leisure activities (e.g., eco-kayak tours, birding, seining, beach cleanup, estuary walk/talks).

Matawan Creek & Pews Creek Educational Outreach Program in Raritan Bay Subwatershed
The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council (BRWC) will partner with the Borough of Matawan Environmental Commission and with the Friends of Pews Creed Volunteer Group to label approximately 400 storm drain inlets that empty into Raritan Bay with a marker that reads "No Dumping - Drains to Bay." These partners, along with local scout and school groups, will label drains along Matawan Creek/Lefferts Lake and Pews Creek, waterways that are bounded by heavy residential and commercial development. BRWC will distribute informational door hangers to local property owners to emphasize that stormwater is not treated before entering the bay, and to inform residents on how to mitigate nonpoint source pollution. This will be one step in educating people about local water quality so that they can change their attitudes and behaviors to help solve the problem. To further educate local residents, BRWC will also hold a stream clean up and a free public nature walk for Matawan Creek and Pews Creek.

Southern Brooklyn Ecological Education Partnership
The Southern Brooklyn Ecological Education Partnership proposes a continuation of educational studies with already established partners, the New York Aquarium and Lafayette High School. This partnership has evolved as an active part of the City of New York Parks & Recreation (Parks) Natural Areas Stewardship Program, which trains community members to become "Citizen Stewards" of their local parks and natural resources by engaging them in field studies, community outreach, native habitat restoration, and species conservation. By conducting this work at parks bordering Coney Island Creek (a HEP High Priority Restoration Site) students and teenage volunteers in the Aquarium Docent program will also be able to see the process the Parks' Natural Resources Group (NRG) takes to measure restoration success. A coordinator will organize outdoor field studies designed to help the students discover the biodiversity of plants, fish, and animals in their local environment. They will learn how these populations are affected by the surrounding environment and will become more aware of the natural world around them, learning hands-on field science skills and growing as stewards of the urban natural environment.

Training Student Organizers to Preserve Local Waters & Lands
The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) proposes to conduct its Training Student Organizers (TSO) program to motivate 400 high school students from 6 schools to participate in projects to restore shoreline areas of 7 New York City Parks in the Harbor Estuary region. The participating teens will be instructed by CENYC staff on a weekly basis about the issues of water, watersheds and the various ways citizens can preserve water quality. Students will learn the importance of water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and phosphates. The students also help stop erosion and runoff from Park shorelines by removing approximately 22,000 square feet of invasive species and planting 875 trees. This project will give students the opportunity to improve quality of life and gain knowledge and experiences that will encourage them to be stewards of the environment throughout their lives.

Passaic River Patrol
Hackensack Riverkeeper will run a series of at least 20 Passaic River Patrol Eco-Cruises along the lower Passaic in 2005. The Eco-cruises, created last year in partnership with NY/NJ Baykeeper and the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, will bring public officials, the press, school children and the public in general out onto the lower Passaic River. Getting people out to see natural resources up close and personal is a critical strategy in working to protect, preserve and restore the Harbor Estuary. During the Eco-cruises, passengers will learn about floatable debris and nonpoint source pollution; wildlife; recreation on the river, public access and the Public Trust Doctrine; industrial pollution and toxic contaminants; and NJDEP advisories prohibiting consumption of fish and crabs. On-board resources will include laminated charts, wildlife identification cards and maps showing current and potential public access points. Participants will also receive a river fact sheet and a list of suggestions for future actions they can take to help restore the river.

Natco Park Annual Cleanup and Education Program
The Hazlet Township Environmental Commission, a group of community-minded environmental volunteers, coordinates stewardship of the Natco Park Conservation Area. On September 17, 2005, the Environmental Commission will feature its annual cleanup of Natco Park, which will involve many local community members, including children and families. The cleanup will be followed by an educational program that will include tours of the park and the lake shore with education on the relationship between the brackish lake and the local estuarine ecosystem. The program will include the identification of marine and plant life, the location of tidelines on the lake shore, and the history of Natco Lake, including how it was created and how it links to Raritan Bay. Educational materials about protecting the Park will also be distributed.

Teacher Training Workshop for the Urban Estuary
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater will implement a three-day Teacher Training Workshop for the Urban Estuary for New York City teachers in summer 2005. The workshop, conducted in partnership with New York University's Wallerstein Collaborative, will provide 30 NYC teachers with tools, knowledge, and experience to enhance delivery of science-based environmental education about the Hudson River and New York Harbor. Day one will review background "estuary essentials" and model activities that teachers can replicate to introduce key concepts in the classroom. The second day will bring participants aboard the Clearwater for a 5-hour sail to learn what students in our programs learn - river science, water quality, navigation, fishing, and waterfront history. On the final day participants will return to the classroom to adapt concepts to critical thinking activities for their environmental education curricula. The teacher training workshop will use materials, curricula and techniques developed and refined in previous projects.

Youth-Based Environmental Education & Community Service
The International Youth Organization (IYO) will conduct a Youth-Based Environmental Education & Community Service project in the Passaic and Hackensack River Watersheds. IYO administers the Newark branch of the NJ Youth Corps, which combines community service with GED preparatory classes for young people between the ages of 16 and 25. In Fall 2005, 8-10 Corpsmembers on IYO's Environmental Projects Team will conduct outreach and restoration in the highly urbanized and polluted watersheds of these two rivers. The scope of this project will be to teach the Environmental Team about local waters and watersheds; involve them in remediation projects such a litter clean-ups, invasive vegetation removal, and landscape plantings; and develop their skills as leaders and educators to local schoolchildren. IYO will partner with area environmental nonprofits to invest in the training of the Corpsmembers and with Newark Public Schools to transfer this knowledge to local youth.

Public Right-of-Way Inventory
The Middletown Township Environmental Commission will document the township's public right-of-ways (ROWs) and create a new data layer of these public lands in its GIS system. Middletown is a municipality bordered by the Raritan Bay to the north and the Swimming River/Navesink River system to the south and east. Along these bodies of water are many ROWs that exist as paper tax streets extending to the bordering waterbody. Although the ROWs provide both open space and public access to the water, they are not currently mapped or included in the Township's Open Space Plan. Waterfront land owners often submit applications to the Township to abandon these ROWs and have them revert to private ownership. The ROW map produced by the Environmental Commission will help guide the Township's Planning Department when it reviews ROW abandonment applications. The map will also be used by the Township Open Space Committee as it identifies areas to be included in the land preservation program. Once documented and preserved the ROWs can be established as formal access points to the waterbodies.

NY/NJ Harbor: Hidden Treasures in Your Own Backyard
The New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) will produce 5000 copies of an educational activity booklet about the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary for the region's schoolchildren in grades 3-6. Tentatively entitled "NY-NJ Harbor: Hidden Treasures in Your Own Backyard," the booklet will introduce students to the Harbor Estuary Complex, its natural and commercial resources, and the critical contribution it makes to life in the region. Topics will include geography, navigation, Port commerce, job and career opportunities, ecosystems dynamics (including food webs and habitats), water quality, oceanographic processes (tides, currents) and plants and animals. The booklet will contain puzzles, word games, fact cards, and simple harbor-related science activities that students can do at home or in school. Also included will be a harbor-based internet activity that will use real-time data from the New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System NYHOPS) website of the Stevens Institute of Technology's Davidson Laboratory. This project will contribute towards building a comprehensive curriculum for NJMSC's All Hands On Deck harbor education program.

Harlem River Festival at Swindler Cove Park
Each year, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) hosts a Harlem River Festival on National Estuaries Day at Swindler Cove Park, a new park NYRP helped create on the banks of the Harlem River in northern Manhattan on the site of what was once an illegal dumping ground. This year's festival, to be held on September 24, 2005, will include a number of hands-on activities and demonstrations - seining for aquatic wildlife, water quality testing, dip-netting, and oyster gardening - that will inform participants about the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary at the Harlem River, current efforts to restore water quality and wildlife habitat in the area, as well as its rich but largely forgotten natural and social history. A field walk entitled "Marvelous Mud Flats" will introduce participants to the river's littoral zone, which is home to invertebrates that feed migrating birds and other animals. During the walk, festival attendees will do their part to keep the estuary clean by partipating in a shoreline clean-up. Activities for children will include storytelling about the history of the estuary and fish-themed papermaking using recycled paper.

Lower East Side Ecology Center Estuary Stewardship Program
The Lower East Side Ecology Center Estuary Stewardship Program will offer family-oriented events related to estuarine education, the urban water cycle and local habitats. The goals of the program are to promote stewardship and encourage local youth and their families to explore the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary along East River Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This series of weekend and summer events will include hands-on activities such as catch-and-release fishing, beach clean-ups, and water quality testing. During these events visitors will be able to explore the resources available at the Center, such as dynamic river tanks and microscopes for examining aquatic organisms. The Estuary Stewardship Program will expand Center's educational programming by moving beyond school-year classroom activities to reach a broader audience of local community members and park users.

Urban Waters Environmental Education Program
The Urban Waters Environmental Education Program will employ the South Street Seaport Museum's schooner Lettie G. Howard, a sail training and marine education vessel, to develop and enhance young New Yorkers' sense of marine environmental stewardship. The Museum will conduct three overnight sail training and marine education programs for at-risk teens from New York City social service organizations with whom they have partnered in the past. The goal is to help urban teens establish a connection with and a commitment to preserving the waters of New York Harbor and the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. The three overnight programs will serve a total of 39 youth, who will explore New York City's waterways, participate in hands-on marine and environmental science activities and experiments (e. g., trawling for marine life and testing water quality), and reflect on and discuss the essential role that citizens can play in preserving and protecting the estuary.
 

2004 back to top

Storm Drain Labeling and Public Education Program in Raritan Bay
The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council, an all volunteer group located in the Raritan Bay watershed region, will partner with environmental commissions in Aberdeen and Atlantic Highlands to label approximately 400 stormdrains for two creeks: Gravelly Brook and Many Mind Creek. The educational stormdrain markers will provide the important environmental message: “NO DUMPING – DRAINS TO CREEK.” In addition, door hangers with information on how to reduce nonpoint pollution will be distributed to residents living near the waterways. This project will help to increase public awareness of the connection between local waterways, which people notice virtually every day, and the health of the Harbor Estuary.

Newark Watershed Professional Development Program for Educators
Greater Newark Conservancy's new professional development workshop, "Exploring Newark's Watershed," will teach about the water cycle, water conservation and the Newark Bay Watershed. This two-day workshop will begin at the Conservancy's new Prudential Outdoor Learning Center, where teachers will explore how to use the Urban Wildlife gallery's water features and newly developed curriculum to teach their students about the estuary. On the second day, workshop participants will learn how to take water samples and identify local wildlife aboard an ecocruise with the Hackensack Riverkeeper. The Newark Watershed workshop, designed for teachers of grades 5 and above, will become a regular offering in the Conservancy’s professional development series.

Promoting Stewardship and Volunteer Monitoring in the Elizabeth River/Arthur Kill Watershed through Hands-on Experiences
Kean University, in partnership with Future City, Inc, a nonprofit organization in Elizabeth, will promote stewardship of the Elizabeth River / Arthur Kill Watershed through an intensive educational campaign and hands-on experiences. This project will include creating multi-lingual posters, planning a watershed day at Kean University, and identifying and training a diverse cohort of volunteers to establish a long term water quality monitoring effort using a variety of tools and technologies. The project will empower individuals from local schools and communities to have a positive impact on water quality in the Elizabeth River, Arthur Kill and the Harbor Estuary ecosystem.

All Hands on Deck: A NY/NJ Harbor Education Program
The New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) will conduct harbor education programs for K-12 students under its newest education initiative, All Hands On Deck (AHOD). AHOD will serve schools in New York and New Jersey located near Port sites and will be conducted aboard commuter ferries by NJMSC and their AHOD partners, including the New Jersey Department of Transportation Office of Maritime Resources. The student field trips will feature hands-on participation in harbor-based learning activities selected to develop a better understanding and appreciation of both the natural and commercial aspects of the Port of NY/NJ and the Harbor Estuary Complex.

Estuaries and Watersheds
Beczak Environmental Education Center will conduct 15 two-hour “Estuaries and Watersheds” educational enrichment programs for elementary and middle school children primarily from Yonkers, NY. The programs will introduce students to the estuary using Beczak’s 5-foot by 2.5 foot Hudson River Watershed Model, a replica of the estuary from Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to the Lower New York Bay. The educational experience will be further enhanced with a second estuary-related program selected by the classroom teacher. The curriculum is designed to convey an understanding of the interdependence and fragility of this complex ecosystem and how it has been influenced by human actions.

Green Leaders: An Environmental Stewardship Program at Brooklyn Bridge Park
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy will educate Park visitors through a new stewardship program called “Green Leaders.” Although portions of Brooklyn Bridge Park have yet to be built, it will ultimately encompass 1.3 miles of waterfront Atlantic Avenue and the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. Green Leaders will bring community volunteers into the direct practice of caring for the ecological health of the Park through education and hands-on stewardship activities like planting native species and protecting trees. A special training program will help create team leaders for future projects and events, and will include study of the estuary, upland and shoreline habitat, and the means to their protection.

Go-Fish the East River
East River CREW (Community Recreation and Education on the Water) will present six, Sunday afternoon “Go-Fish” festivals at East 96th Street and the Esplanade this summer. Bait, fishing rods, traps, and aquariums will be provided during these bilingual, family-oriented catch and release fishing and trapping events. Interactive science, geography and art activities for young people will also be offered. By moving beyond the water’s edge and learning about the fish living there, community members of all ages will be able to connect with the Harbor Estuary. Participants will learn how to become stewards of their local waters and have the opportunity to make a pledge to protect the estuary.

A Boat Launch and Boat Storage Facility on the Harlem River
New York Restoration Project (NYRP), a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing and developing neglected open space in economically-disadvantaged communities in NYC, will build a modular boat launch and boat storage facility in the South Bronx. The new facility will provide waterfront access on the Harlem River in Roberto Clemente State Park, where NYRP has been partnering with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation since 2003. Community rowing organizations, NYRP’s boatbuilding program participants, and local kayakers and canoeists will use the launch and storage facility. In doing so, they will raise awareness of the Harlem River - part of the larger Harbor Estuary - as a valuable recreational and social resource.

Urban Waters Environmental Education Program 2004
The Urban Waters Environmental Education Program will take place aboard the South Street Seaport Museum’s (SSSM) schooner Lettie G. Howard. This overnight sail training and marine education program will serve 39 at-risk teens from New York City social service organizations. Participants will explore New York City’s waterways, conduct hands-on marine and environmental science activities and experiments, and discuss the fundamental connection between the health of the estuary and the metropolitan region’s large urban population. The South Street Seaport Museum designed the program to help young New Yorkers develop an enhanced sense of stewardship for the waters of the Harbor Estuary.

From Sea to Seining Sea: Using Language Arts and Science to Improve Stewardship of the Estuaries in K-12 New York City School Children
Biology and education professors at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights will team up to offer a two-day workshop about the Harbor Estuary to teachers-in-training enrolled in their language arts and science courses. Workshop sessions will focus on historical and scientific information about the Harbor Estuary, hands-on water quality analysis with computers, and practical advice for taking K-12 students on field trips. The teachers will sail the waters of the harbor, visit a salt marsh restoration site and develop lessons and hands-on activities to use with their future students. This project will give new teachers the confidence and experience they need to teach about the estuary both in the classroom and in the field.

Seaside Nature Park’s Shoreline Restoration
Turnaround Friends, Inc. (TFI) will expand its project to restore the Seaside Nature Park, a Harbor Estuary Program Priority Habitat Site in Staten Island. The goals of the project are to reestablish the function and benefits of this coastal property and ensure the future protection of the Park’s valuable natural resources. TFI’s ongoing program, in partnership with NYC Parks, removes debris and other contaminants to improve the ecosystem’s water quality, aesthetics, wildlife habitat and overall value to the community. This shorefront restoration project, along with TFI’s ongoing educational program, will help to spread the message that “we can and must rescue and restore our shoreline and wetlands areas.”
 

2003 back to top

High School Water Quality Education
The Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. is going to conduct water quality testing with six high schools in the lower half of the Hackensack River Watershed. Water quality test kits will be provided to each school in order to sample for ten parameters. The students and teachers will undergo a training session for test procedures, techniques, and safety prior to the commencement of sampling. Other topics that will also be discussed are watersheds, estuaries, point source and non-point source pollution, streambed composition, and aquatic and terrestrial animal life. This project provides a hands-on, field-based water quality experience for students and teachers.

Stream, Watershed, and Estuary Identification Project
The Monmouth County Planning Board will be marking bridges on county roads with signs that identify the stream that it crosses as well as the watershed and drainage basin in which it is located. These signs will increase public awareness and concern for the waterways in the Metropolitan Region. They will also be distributing the “Stream Corridor Protection” Eco-Tips brochure that they published in 2001 and will be reprinting in 2003. It discusses non-point source pollution, preventing erosion, and establishing stream buffers.

Harbor Herons Citizen Monitoring Program
The New York City Audubon Society conducts a Harbor Herons Citizen Monitoring Program for the past 20 years. They will conduct nest surveys using members of the New York City Audubon Society that will be trained to become Harbor Herons Stewards. These surveys will be conducted at various islands in the NY Harbor. NYC Audubon Society will also focus on the Harbor herons Project in the June-July issue of The Urban Audubon, which is their newsletter.

Sustaining The Arthur Kill/Elizabeth River Estuary Project
Future City Inc. will inform and educate the public of the Elizabeth River/Arthur Kill sub-watershed about the urban estuarine environment that they live in through developing multilingual Internet estuarine resources. They would also like to create a multilingual resource and information center. Educating the residents and small businesses about how to practice good housekeeping and management practices to control non-point source pollution is also part of their project. A coalition of multilingual estuarine stewards is the goal of this project.

Estuaries and Watersheds
The Beczak Environmental Education Center is going to conduct thirty “Estuaries and Watersheds” educational enrichment programs in elementary and middle schools in low-income school districts in Yonkers. They will be teaching these children about the ecology of the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary. Educators will use the Hudson River Watershed Model and will develop curriculum around this model that will be taught to the school children. The curriculum covers habitat and living resources, nutrients and organic enrichment, toxics, floatable debris, and rainfall-induced discharges.

Urban Waters Environmental Education Program
South Street Seaport Museum will conduct three overnight programs on their schooner, the Lettie G. Howard, which will accommodate thirteen students. The students are considered full-time crewmembers and are taught how to fight a fire, rescue a person that has fallen overboard, read a navigational chart, as well as identify the location and function of most of the lines on the boat. Students will also conduct scientific activities to build an awareness and appreciation of the estuary. The activities will range from conducting otter trawls to compare marine habitats; collection and analysis of water samples; and discussion of effects of pollution on water quality, human intervention and commercial trade within the harbor and its effects on water quality and marine life.

Get Wet: A Web Based Teacher’s Resource for Bringing the Estuary into Classrooms
The South Street Seaport Museum will develop a teachers’ site within their website that will include web based lesson plans on estuarine science and stewardship. These lesson plans can be used in conjunction with a field trip on the South Street Seaport Museum’s schooner, the Pioneer, or can be used alone as a school based mini unit on the estuary. The four topics that the web site will cover with this grant money are water chemistry, water quality, marine biological processes, and stewardship, but more topics will be added in the future using the template that will be created.

Newark Watershed Professional Development Program for Educators
The Greater Newark Conservancy is going to train up to fifteen Newark public school teachers on how to use the national curriculum, Wonders of Wetlands (WOW) and a NJ based curriculum, NJ Watershed Approach to Teaching the Ecology of Regional Systems (NJ WATERS). The training and the curriculum will increase teacher’s awareness of local resources and aid them in leading their own field trips. The training workshop will take two days. WOW and NJ WATERS will be discussed the first day of the workshop. On the second day of the workshop, a field trip will be conducted on the Hackensack Riverkeeper or the NJ Meadowlands Commission’s boat through the Meadowlands to demonstrate water sampling, wildlife identification, and hands on science experiments. Teachers at the workshop will be given the curriculum for WOW and NJ WATERS, a virtual field trip CD, maps, and potentially a watershed study kit.

Restoration of Flat Creek Subwatershed
The Bayshore Sub-watershed Regional Council proposes to address non-point source pollution in the Flat Creek sub-watershed. Flat Creek flows through Holmdel Township, Hazlet Township, and Union Beach Borough. There is a NJDEP Ambient Biomonitoring Network station on Flat Creek, and it revealed in 1994 that the benthic macroinvertebrate population is severely impaired causing Flat Creek to be placed on the NJ’s 303(d) list. Erosion and sedimentation due to urbanization, development, and construction have been suggested as being the cause. The Bayshore Sub-watershed Regional Council will conduct storm drain marking in this sub-watershed and create a brochure that will be distributed to local residents and businesses about non-point source pollution and stormwater management. Monitoring for total suspended solids at selected locations along Flat Creek will be conducted with an YSI 6600 Hydropobe. They also want to conduct a stream cleanup as well as making presentations to various groups on this topic, such as government officials, property owners, school children, and residents.

Beacon-Foxfire Project
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is going to increase estuary awareness through classroom programs and boat based field trips. They plan on reaching 140 elementary and high school students from underserved communities in Yonkers and New York City. Public involvement and education will be addressed through their program. The project will be conducted with 4th grade students from the Foxfire Public School in Yonkers and 10th graders from the Beacon School in Manhattan. There will be classroom discussions about the estuary before the field trip. On the boat the students will aid in raising the sails, navigating the boat, and setting and hauling in a fishing net. On the boat there will be learning stations set up that will introduce the students to examine and study the days catch; perform water chemistry tests; and study plankton and invertebrates under microscopes or magnifiers. Teachers will receive classroom materials that will complement the field trip.

Jamaica Bay Clean Sweep: Removal of Abandoned Boats and Debris
The American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers will be working together to remove abandoned boats and other large items of debris from the shorelines of Jamaica Bay. Sites where abandoned boats and other debris are found will be documented as well. By removing abandoned boats and other large debris, they will be facilitating restoration of habitat; preventing toxics from polluting the bay; removing hazards to navigation; increasing public participation and awareness; and decreasing sites of stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed.

2002 back to top

Act for Estuaries
Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) will work with local middle school teachers, students, and their families to increase public awareness and motivate people to actively participate in the estuary's protection and restoration. The project will involve the compilation of an APEC teacher's guide to salt marshes and estuaries (to be given to 150 teachers), a workshop for 10 teachers, class visits for their students, and two presentations for parents of these students. The teacher's guide will define and explain the characteristics, features, and function of estuaries, as well as the environmental issues that threaten them. The teacher training workshop will introduce in-class and outdoor hands-on activities for teaching students about the estuary ecosystem and associated topics. Teachers will bring their students to APEC for a 2 ½ hour workshop examining the flora and fauna found in this ecosystem, their habitats, relationships, and interdependence on each other and the physical environment. Parents and students will also be encouraged to participate in two environmental service projects sponsored by this grant.

Storm Drain Marking of Weequahic Lake Drainage Area
The Metropolitan Watershed Outreach and Education Committee will conduct a Weequahic Lake Drainage Area Storm Drain Marking project. Although the lake is physically located in Newark, storm drains from Hillside, Elizabeth, and Newark all empty into it. The lake itself drains into Newark's Peripheral Ditch (formerly known as First River), which in turn discharges to Newark Bay, and hence the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. On the same day in May, three 6th grade classes, one from each of the three towns that impact the Lake, will place curb markers to identify the storm drains near their schools that empty into Weequahic Lake. Later in the day, the students will come together for an event in Weequahic Park, symbolically representing the water that flows into the lake. This event will emphasize to students and local officials the detrimental effects of non point source pollution and stress that storm drains, waterways and municipalities are all interconnected. Press coverage in the local papers will bring the message about non point source pollution to Metropolitan Watershed citizens who may never see one of the markers.

Hackensack Riverscaping to Reduce NPS
Stormwater runoff from non point sources (NPS) is a major contributor to water pollution in the Hackensack River watershed and the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Complex. This NPS pollution is coming from innumerable sources, including the homes and yards of watershed residents. Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. (HRI) will produce, print, and distribute 40,000 "Hackensack Riverscaping" booklets. These booklets will provide citizens with educational materials tailored to their watershed and increase their ability to be good river stewards who intelligently protect and enhance the watershed. The booklets will also list HRI’s Watershed Watch hotline number and a tear-off section for volunteering and signing up for programs. HRI will distribute the booklets through their programs (reaching nearly 6,000 people), mailing list (containing 3,600 names) and special presentations, conferences, and other events. Throughout the life of the project, HRI will promote the booklet and a "you can make a difference" attitude toward watershed health through their extensive media contacts, as well as through direct presentations to citizens. HRI will track results based on the number of booklets distributed, number of tear-offs retuned/volunteers and participants gained, and the number of water pollution incidents reported by citizens and successfully resolved.

Bowman’s Creek Restoration
Mariners Marsh Conservancy, Inc. (MMC) will remove debris from the stream that connects Mariners Marsh to the Kill Van Kull, known both as Bowman's Creek and Newton's Creek, and the surrounding area. This will allow the stream to be flushed by the waters of the Kill Van Kull as the tides rise and will also permit fresh water from the creek to flow freely into the Kill. MMC will organize two volunteer clean-ups to locate and gather debris, then hire machinery (along with an operator) and a dumpster to facilitate removal of the debris from the park. While working on the project, MMC will keep a photographic record of progress and continue to educate the public about the park and its value to them and to the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary ecosystem.

Exploring Raritan Shores
The New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) will provide citizens of the Raritan Bay Shore with a series of family oriented environmental education seminars to address the ecological importance of stream corridors, salt marshes, tidal wetlands and natural beachfront. The series of four outdoor seminars will take place at sites identified by the Raritan Bay Wildlife Habitat Report, produced by NJAS after a three-year wildlife and habitat inventory. Three of these sites are also on the HEP Priority Acquisition and Restoration Site list. An experienced NJAS teacher-naturalist will lead the trips with help from partnering organizations. It is anticipated that 20-30 individuals will attend each seminar. Through visitation to one or more of the remaining natural areas along the bay, the public will experience functioning natural systems and understand the important role they play in maintaining a healthy harbor estuary.

NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Workshops with WET and WOW!
The New Jersey Project WET Program will sponsor eight workshops for a total of 140 teachers of grades 3-10 in New Jersey’s Harbor Estuary Region. The program will establish a committee of interested partners to integrate accurate and interesting information about the Harbor Estuary into select lessons from the award-winning Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) and WOW! (Wonders of Wetlands!) curricula. Trained facilitators will guide the workshop participants through several hands-on, interdisciplinary lessons, which they will then use with their students. It is estimated that they will educate more than 4,000 students who live in the estuary about its importance and cultural, natural and economic value. The NJ Project WET Program will advertise and promote the workshops, as well as evaluate their success based on the teachers’ use of the lessons in their classrooms. The program will also maintain a database of teachers and partners to help build the HEP network.

“Down to the Hudson: The Sparkill Creek” Exhibit
The Orangetown Historical Museum & Archives will create a set of 4 maps demonstrating the history of the Sparkill Creek and adjacent land use for its exhibition, "Down to the Hudson: The Sparkill Creek." The maps will be used in the 1st part of this exhibit to depict land use during four time periods: Native American and colonial farming periods, the 19th century industrial revolution, 20th century suburbanization, and present-day residential and commercial use. The 2nd part of the exhibit will use photographs and text to show how the creek serves the community recreationally, as a wildlife sanctuary, and most importantly as a protective watershed. The 3rd and last part of the exhibit will describe current efforts to solve the creek's problems, initiated both by government at all levels, and by private civic groups. The exhibition will also be adapted to an 8-panel traveling exhibit that will visit local high schools, libraries and civic buildings free of charge as part of the museum's outreach program.

Outreach for 2002 River Project Events
The River Project (TRP) at Pier 26 in Manhattan will host a series of 15 free, educational events for the public including open houses with outdoor science activities and demonstrations, seminars, conferences, lectures, and barbecues. These events will be linked to ongoing research at the TRP field station and educational programs such as marine biology internships for high school students. The purpose of the events will be to call the attention of city dwellers to the natural resources in their backyard, the function of science in the estuary, and the importance of stewardship and conservation. In past years, outreach for these events consisted only of postcard mailings. With a HEP Mini-grant, the River Project’s Outreach Coordinator will focus on press coverage, publishing promotional materials, and organizing volunteers to distribute these materials to attract new audiences, especially residents and workers in the surrounding neighborhoods. TRP hopes to increase attendance from approximately 800 in 2001 to 2,000 in 2002.

Kids Island Club (KIC) Nature Program: Spring 2002
Randall’s Island Sports Foundation (RISF) will offer its Kids Island Club (KIC) Nature program to three Washington Heights/Inwood and Harlem Middle School classes. The program will be planned and run by RISF's KIC Coordinator, the public school science teachers, and Bank Street College of Tiorati Workshop of Environmental Learning consultants. This group will meet with an ecologist and marine biologist from the NYC DPR Natural Resources Group to explore techniques for conducting water, soil and marine life sampling at the Inlet. The group will then teach these techniques to the KIC Nature students and incorporate the program into the class curriculum. Between March and June, each class will make seven trips to the Island’s Hell Gate Inlet to conduct an inventory of marine and bird life and study water tides, water composition and other relevant environmental conditions. After an exploration of the site, the students will work in small groups to study specific organisms or other topics of their choice, conduct and document experiments and pursue their research in class. Students will develop their work into research papers and present these to the class.

Beach Ecology and Care of Habitats (BEACH)
The Wildlife Conservation Society NY Aquarium will offer Beach Ecology and Care of Habitats (BEACH) to five elementary classes in Brooklyn District 21. Project BEACH is an innovative marine science educational program whose primary objectives are to teach coastal ecology, encourage stewardship of the shore and promote community awareness. Each class will participate in the project’s three components: 1) a Beach Ecology and Collecting Techniques class will combine class work with hands-on exploration of the sandy shore, to emphasize adaptations and techniques of specimen collecting, 2) an Invertebrate Design class allows participants to utilize cooperative learning, dissection, animal handling and microscopes to explore five phyla of marine invertebrates, and 3) a Marsh Trip teaches students about salt marsh ecology and conservation issues at Gerritsen Creek through discussions with field biologists and "Marsh Metaphors," a game highlighting the various benefits that marshes offer. In addition, students will observe and collect data on the growth of oysters housed at the aquarium. Throughout the course of the project, students will maintain personal journals that record their feelings, observations and experiences.

Passaic River Restoration Project II
The Passaic River Coalition (PRC) will facilitate a collaborative planning program with local governments to promote the continued creation of a greenway corridor of open space and public access, and to develop educational and informational materials to convey the objectives. A committee of citizens and local government representatives from the lower valley of the Passaic River will examine the successes of the original Passaic River Restoration Project (PRRP) and develop an updated plan of action with new objectives. The PRRP II will be a GIS-based study assessing past initiatives and identifying new opportunities to preserve open space, develop parkland, increase access to the river and promote efforts to improve the health of the Passaic River. The products of the project will be a Passaic River greenway plan and a 17” x 22” full color map of the region identifying existing open space and proposed projects of the new plan. The region’s local governments will then use these materials for an education and public relations component of the project.

New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program • 290 Broadway, 24th Floor • New York, NY 10007-1866
Phone: 212-637-3816 • Fax: 212-637-3889 • E-mail: info@harborestuary.org