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  • Apr30
     Wild Mushrooms

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    Whether it's a curly Chanterelle or a bulbous Morel, wild mushrooms are an exciting find for anyone on a hike. They appear across the US in thousands of varieties - but many are poisonous and unfit for human consumption, so it's important to be cautious before you ingest this tasty fungus.
     

    Mushrooms also play a fascinating part in forest ecosystems, gaining nutrients from decaying plants. Do your homework before going on a hike so you know what to pick and what to avoid.

    Further Reading

    • Foraging and Preparation - Where to get started, where to find wild mushrooms and how to spot the edible types.
    • Edible Wild Mushrooms - A guide to edible and poisonous wild mushrooms.
    • Journal - of wild Mushrooming - links to field guides, resources and mushroom clubs.

  • Apr29
     Greenway Environmental Services

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    Greenway Environmental Services is more than a large scale compost facility - it's a new approach to handling and processing waste which revamps our relationship to the environment. The concepts that drive Greenway's operations have driven living systems throughout history: using basic biology to turn waste into food and make dirty water clean.

    Greenway operates a composting site near Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and has been active with outreach programs in their community and beyond, including GreenTeen, the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, and Clearwater. At the Clearwater Revival festival, Greenway introduced a zero-waste initiative which processes food waste from vendors into productive compost material.

    Further Reading

    • Greenway - Protecting surface and ground water through developing, implementing, and teaching innovative green technologies.
    • Zero Waste Alliance - Following nature's model to eliminate wastes and toxics.
    • Video - using worms in zero waste projects.

  • Apr28
     Teaching Native Heritage

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    Ever since Henry Hudson ventured up the Valley in 1609, Native Americans have had a long and troubled history. In the culture clash, natives were often forced to assimilate, give up land, and were widely wiped out due to foreign illnesses. But it would be a mistake to think they were entirely gone.

    Native American Jennifer Lee has been an activist and educator for years. She says the best way to tackle misconceptions and live in harmony is through active and engaging education. Ms. Lee recently led a workshop on Woodland Indian lifeways for Clearwater's Young Women at the Helm program - a three day workshop for empowering young women aboard a boat and beyond.




     

    photo: Young Women at the Helm students share a dance outside a traditional wigwam.

    Further Reading


  • Apr27
     Plimsoll Mark

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    The Plimsoll mark on a boat is a line that delineates how low on the water a boat should be at full cargo capacity. Samuel Plimsoll, the man behind this concept was an advocate for sailors and safety aboard all vessels. Plimsoll wrote a book titled "Our Seamen" which contained details about the hundreds of sailors who had died at sea due to inadequate safety precautions. Plimsoll distributed his book to the members of the House of Commons in an effort to persuade them to pass the Merchant Shipping Act. The Act passed in 1871 and the Plimsoll line become a safety standard.

    Further Reading


  • Apr24
     Raising the Sail

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    Whether it's an educational voyage for 4th graders, or a public sunset sail, the passengers aboard the sloop become part of the crew on the Clearwater. It takes everyone on board to heave, haul and sweat the 3,000 pound sail up the tall mast.

    Clearwater keeps the sailing tradition alive with plenty of music aboard. Sea Shanties have been used for seafaring for centuries. On the Clearwater they help everyone aboard to haul in rhythm, and add some humor to the routine.

    Further Reading


  • Apr23
     Volunteer Educators

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    Clearwater depends on volunteers for nearly every aspect of operation: from the Great Hudson River Revival Festival, to special shoreside events, and most importantly, on the Sloop Clearwater herself.

    Clearwater volunteers are an integral part of life on board. They assist the crew with rigging, do chores around the galley, and of course educate kids that come on the boat to learn about the Hudson River. Students from schools all across the Hudson River Watershed come aboard the Clearwater, and volunteers from all over the country get a chance to teach them about the environment.

    Further Reading

    • Fall Volunteers - onboard educator volunteers share what they like about their week aboard the Clearwater
    • Volunteer Program - Sloop volunteers are needed for Spring 2009!
    • Volunteer Video - watch volunteer educators in action on the boat!

  • Apr22
     Earth Day

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    This April 22nd, take time to rethink your relationship to the environment. Calculate your carbon-footprint, read an article about green-living, go on a nature walk in your local park. Make sure Earth Day becomes part of your day and your life.

    Earth Day has been inspiring and mobilizing environmentalists for nearly 40 years. Massive worldwide campaigns bring people together in demonstrations, concerts and and rallies to serve the environment - but it can't stop there. The true power of Earth Day is about what happens during the rest of the calendar year. Make every day Earth Day!

    Further Reading

    • Earthday.net - check out local events and find out how to get involved
    • EarthDay.gov - government portal for Earth Day events and resources
    • Video - trailer for the BBC show Planet Earth

  • Apr21
     Conservation Photography

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    Art has served many purposes in our culture. It's our way of interpreting the world around us - capturing a glimpse of time to preserve a moment to which we can never return. Photographer Ansel Adams understood that when he took breathtaking photographs of Yosemite Park: images which inspired Congress to protect the land permanently.

    Photography can also help remind us of what's at stake if we don't protect our environment. New York photographer Robert Rodriguez Jr. has captured images of the Hudson Valley for years, and hopes his art help preserve the land he is so connected to.





     

    Photo: Robert Rodriguez Jr.

    Further Reading


  • Apr20
     Next Generation Legacy Project

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    Clearwater has been educating and advocating for the river for 40 years. We've reached thousands of people through sailing on the Sloop Clearwater, the Revival Festival, and environmental activism projects. It's time to secure that legacy for the next 40 years and beyond!

    Clearwater recently announced an ambitious project for the future. The Next Generation Legacy Project will introduce new environmental initiatives and expand pre-existing outreach programs. Our goal is to reinvigorate the Hudson Valley's relationship to our Riverfronts.

    We hope these initiatives and programs will serve as models for what is possible: grassroots organizing that inspires the next generation of environmental leaders.

    Further Reading


  • Apr17
     Prescribed Burns

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    Though forest fires are usually associated with wide-spread destruction, they are as necessary as rain or sunshine in some habitats. Fire releases the seeds from the trees' cones and burns away dead organic matter on the forest floor, creating an ideal soil bed for seeds to sprout, and removing plants that would compete for sun and moisture. Native Americans used fire for centuries to improve wild food crops. Now, ecosystems that need fire for their health and survival are in trouble. How can we rescue them without risking people's lives and property?

    Prescribed burning is the practice of creating carefully planned, controlled fires in woodland habitats. The Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has introduced controlled burns on the Shawangunk Ridge, a spectacular mountain range located between the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River.  Fifty years of fire suppression had built up flammable underbrush that could have produced uncontrollable, catastrophic fires.  Instead, land managers can conduct prescribed burns that clear away the combustible materials, destroy the fire-intolerant invasive plants and restore the Ridge’s historic native species.

    Further Reading


  • Apr16
     Sustainable Siting & Hudsonia

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    Most people, when choosing a house site, look for the best views, distance from neighbors, and proximity to amenities like roads like ponds. But we are surrounded by fragile ecosystems we often know nothing about, and decisions we make about where to build a house might disrupt the nesting habits of endangered turtles, interfere with natural surface water flow, or damage a rare colony of ferns.

    An organization called Hudsonia is studying the Hudson Valley region’s wildlife habitats to create maps that identify important natural resources and rare species. Hudsonia’s team of wildlife biologists assess the impact of building and development in the mapped areas, and help town agencies, land trusts, and other land use decision-makers establish policies and practices to protect biodiversity and maintain a healthy ecological landscape.

    The time has come to say goodbye to the “me generation” and join the “we generation,”  taking pride in being stewards of the land, instead of kings of the mountain.

    Further Reading


  • Apr15
     Carbon Neutral Architecture

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    A truly “carbon neutral” or “zero energy” building creates as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis. But a measurement of the carbon footprint of a building should also take into account the energy used to build it and maintain it. The task is daunting, both to measure and to achieve.

    Construction expends a great deal of energy. That energy expenditure can be reduced by hiring builders who live near the site and by using recycled, local materials. The energy required to maintain a building can be decreased by utilizing materials that are long-lasting and low-maintenance.

    Operational energy can be reduced with methods like tight construction and earth berming, an can even involve “turning the power meter backwards” - offsetting the energy consumed in the building’s construction, maintenance and operation by creating mechanical systems that produce energy, such as photovoltaic solar systems and wind turbines.

    Further Reading


  • Apr14
     Energy Efficiency in Building Design

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    Building ecologically efficient housing is an important part of going green.  Buildings consume 39% of all the energy used in the US.  The design of the building, and materials used, greatly impacts the amount of energy needed to build and use it.  Traditional building styles - whether Colonial, Tudor, Ranch or others - tend to be variations of four-sided boxes that stick up out of the earth.  Although building in these styles is quick and easy, it is difficult to reengineer these styles to be environmentally efficient.

    If architects, builders and owners want to get serious about creating energy efficient buildings, they need to think outside the box, abandon preconceived notions of what a building ought to look like, and blaze new trails with fresh designs to take advantage of nature’s thermal properties, instead of fighting them. The challenge will be to design beautiful buildings that incorporate spatial efficiency, less volume, earth buffering, solar orientation, sustainable materials plus good craftsmanship and innovative technology.

    Further Reading


  • Apr13
     Everyone's Dream House

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    When people build houses for themselves, their top priorities involve personal aesthetics: making their house look beautiful, function comfortably and offer attractive views. But building a house has a significant impact beyond its perimeter and beyond its owner’s lifetime, on the local community, and on future generations.

    This week the Clearwater Moment will focus on why we should consider the wider environment in our plans for buiding.  Aldo Leoopold's "land ethic" applies today as much as ever.

    Further Reading

    • Aldo Leopold - on GoogleBooks
    • Hudsonia - conducteding environmental research, education, training and technical assistance to protect the natural heritage of the Hudson Valley

  • Apr10
     Laying the Keel

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    The boat's keel is the foundation of the boat's structure, the beam that runs the length of the ship from the bow to the stern at the bottom of the boat. Boat builders used to call laying the keel of a boat "Laying Down".

    Traditional boat builders lay the keel first, in the location from which they will launc the vessel, and then build the boat up from the keel.

    40 years ago, Clearwater's keel represented not only the foundation of a new vessel, but also the founding of an environmental movement to clean up the Hudson River.







    photo: Pete Seeger at the boat's construction site in South Bristol, Maine, 1968.

    Further Reading

    • Etymology of the word "Keel"   -  Some  scholars think that the word "Keel" might be the first English word recorded in writing.  Gildas Bandonicus, a Celtic monk,  uses this word describing the invasion of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons in 540AD.
    • Building a Traditional Boat - Traditional ship building from the keel up is alive and well.
    • Diagram - of a boat's keel
    • Gamage Shipyard - A brief history of the shipyard including the launch of the Clearwater.

  • Apr09
     Poetry From Howland to Hudson

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    The Hudson River Valley has had a rich cultural heritage for centuries. Hudson River School painters recreated its serene landscapes, authors wrote novels along its banks, and musicians wrote folk songs celebrating its history. Ever since Henry Hudson voyaged up the river, American poets have found inspiration in and around the Valley.

    In celebration of national poetry month and New York's quadricentennial, the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY is hosting an event to showcase poets and poetry associated with the Hudson River Valley - throughout its 400 years and today.

    Further Reading


  • Apr08
     American Chestnut

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    A century ago, the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) dominated much of the American landscape, both in territory and in size.  Many trees towered over 100 feet tall and had diameters of 10 feet.

    In 1904, a foreign fungus that attacks the tree's bark decimated most Chestnuts across the Northeast.   American Chestnuts had nearly no resistance.  It took only 50 years to destroy most of these majestic trees across the country.

    Today, plant breeders, genetic engineers, foresters, land owners and other concerned individuals are working hard to develop chestnut trees that are resistant to the blight and adapted to local environmental conditions throughout the tree's former range.

    Further Reading


  • Apr07
     Father Mapple's Hymn

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    Herman Melville's 1851 novel, Moby-Dick, follows the adventures of captain Ahab aboard a Nantucket whaleship on courageous adventures in distant oceans. Moby-Dick has gained widespread acclaim as a pivotal work of American Romanticism.

    The work is best known for its antagonist, the giant white Sperm Whale, but it also offers incisive social criticism and explores themes of good and evil, vengeance, and forgiveness. 'Father Mapple's Hymn' is an adaptation of the 18th Psalm.

    Further Reading

    • Moby Dick - scene from the film including the final battle between Ahab, and Moby Dick the Great White Whale
    • Poem text - read along with the poem, and find other poetry online

  • Apr06
     Women Who Kept the Light - Kate Walker

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    Kate Walker worked at the lighthouse her father had operated for nearly 30 years. She was official keeper of the Robbins Reef lighthouse from 18941-1919.  Her only communication with nearby Staten Island was with a rowboat.  Today we hear her personal account of a dangerous storm near her lookout tower.

    The Women Who Kept the Lights chronicles the lives of brave women, young and old, who tended the wicks and kept America's lighthouses running across the country.

    photo: Robbins Reef Lighthouse, US Coast Guard

    Further Reading


  • Apr03
     Northwest Passage

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    Global Warming has achieved the dream of centuries of exploration and dozens of failed voyages: it has opened up the Northwest Passage through the formerly ice-bound Arctic. Although the periods that are free of ice have been very short to date, there are predictions that it could be open for large parts of the Summer in as little as 15 years, reducing the shipping route between Europe and Asia by 5,000 kilometers.

    Suddenly countries are clamoring for control of the Arctic.  Russia planted a Russian flag under the ice cap on the ocean's floor at the North Pole.  Canada has stepped up its vigilance on its Northern border.

    Throughout all this excitement about shipping routes, the shocking reality is that Global Warming has fundamentally changed the Arctic in ways that we have not seen in recorded history.  We are only beginning to understand the global impact of these changes.

    Further Reading