April 18 2012

In this Issue

	Great River Project Presentations
	Celebrate Earth Day on Petrie Island
	Avril 22
	We heart our Volunteers!
	Waterkeepers mourn Doug Chapman
	Seeking Summer Student

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71% of Earth is covered by WATER

John Rathwell Photography captures urban whitewater kayakers on the Ottawa River during spring freshet.

Great River Project Presentations

Kick back and take a virtual trip down the Ottawa River with Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown.  At the invitation of SLOWest and Kitchissippi United Church, Riverkeeper will give a presentation on the Great River Project in Ottawa.

This past summer, Riverkeeper Meredith Brown – along with an expert team of photographers, historians, naturalists and scientists – canoed 900 km down the Ottawa River. Meredith will retrace their voyage and reveal some of their findings on the ecology and rich cultural heritage of the Ottawa River.  Presentation in Ottawa at the Kitchissippi United Church this Thursday April 19th @7:30pm.  Link here for more details.

Meredith will also be presenting in North Bay on Friday April 20th at the Nipissing University Theatre @ 6pm.  More details here.

Celebrate Earth Day on Petrie Island

In 1969 Ohio's Cuyahoga River, which flows through Cleveland and other industrial cities, caught fire from all the hazardous wastes that were regularly dumped into it.

That event and others galvanized public awareness of environmental destruction and led to the founding of Earth Day in 1970.  Consider celebrating Earth Day on the Ottawa River at Petrie Island.  Our Riverwatcher Al Tweddle is your best guide for exploring Petrie Island and Al is also organizing a clean up of the island for willing participants.  Earth Mothers from the Foundation for Great Earth Peace are hosting a celebration from 10am to 4pm with activities for all.  Link here for event details.

Avril 22

Celebrate Earth Day in Montreal and join thousands of citizens who care about defending our shared resources, the distribution of wealth, the rights of each and every citizen, and respect for the environment.  22 avril is an event supported by diverse organizations and aims to be the largest gathering for the environment in the history of Québec.  If you can't be there to feel the energy, consider signing the Declaration and encourage your friends, family, and coworkers to do the same.

We heart our Volunteers!

This week is National Volunteer Week.  Here at Ottawa Riverkeeper, we are forever thankful to the hundreds of volunteers who help us protect our river!  Our volunteer board of directors, our Riverwatchers, lawyers, students, moms and dads, translators, photographers, biologists, accountants, mayors, chiefs, naturalists, fishermen, mappers...it takes a village to protect a river.  Too numerous to name, you know who you are...YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE...you are appreciated....THANK YOU, MERCI!

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us and we will put you to work...in a fun and interesting way.  We are currently looking for translators, graphic designers and event organizers.

Waterkeepers mourn Doug Chapman

Doug Chapman, Fraser Riverkeeper and champion for environmental justice recently passed away peacefully in Vancouver.  Doug began defending criminal cases as a lawyer in Ontario in 1964, and in 1986 he was employed by the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario and assigned to the Ministry of the Environment as an environmental prosecutor. Doug re-invented the practice of environmental prosecution, training field officers and taking a hands-on approach to environmental crime.  One of his most notable successes included a landmark case in which the first jail sentence was imposed on an environmental offender in Canada.

To learn more about Doug, or to leave a donation in honour of him, visit www.fraserriverkeeper.ca

Seeking Summer Student

If you are a student looking for an exciting place to work this summer, we are hiring!  We are looking for a bilingual student willing to visit our urban beaches in Ottawa and Gatineau and talk to swimmers.  Waterkeepers have implemented a Swim Guide that gives swimmers access to real time information on beaches and water quality.  We need help to keep the guide up to date with information from beaches in the Ottawa River Watershed.  To apply send your CV and a cover letter to info@ottawariverkeeper.ca and tell us what you can do to help improve public knowledge about swimming in the river.