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Long Island Sound Grants Benefit Local Projects

Release Date: 03/04/1998
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(#98014) Stamford, CT -- The Long Island Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $25,000 in educational grants to ten community groups for projects ranging from an interactive computer program on wetlands, to beach cleanups. The grants will be made to schools, museums, nature centers, and municipal and civic organizations to increase local involvement in Long Island Sound restoration activities. A description of each of the projects is attached.

"By funding these projects, the Long Island Sound Study is encouraging local community involvement in efforts to clean up the Sound," said Mark Tedesco, Technical Director of the EPA Long Island Sound Office. "It is important that the people who live and work near the Sound understand that it is a precious resource."

"These projects are inventive proposals to teach and inform students, teachers, parents, and the community about the problems facing Long Island Sound and its watershed and involve them in solutions," said Kimberly Zimmer, Public Outreach Coordinator for the Long Island Sound Study. "It is a way for people get involved and gather a sense of stewardship for the Sound." The ten grant recipients were selected from 38 proposals submitted to the Long Island Sound Office. The grant recipients include: American Littoral Society; Milford Youth and Family Services; SoundWaters; Innovative Direction - an Educational Alliance (IDEA); town of Huntington; Lisbon Central School; Flanders Nature Center; Schooner Inc.; Hallock Museum; and Southern Connecticut State University.

The Long Island Sound office has funded a total of twenty-one projects since 1995 amounting to $64,913. Past grant recipients have included: Project Oceanology; Save the Sound; Shoreham Science Museum; SoundWaters; Roslyn High School; Westchester County Planning Department; Fairfield Conservation Commission; Connecticut Sea Grant; Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee; Port Washington Chamber of Commerce; LI Chapter of the New York Environmental Association; American Littoral Society; Smithtown Central School District; Clean Sound, Inc.; Stony Brook Community Fund; Connecticut Watershed Council; Milford Youth and Family ServiceNs; and Central Connecticut State University.

Another solicitation for proposals will go out next autumn. Anyone interested in being placed on the Long Island Sound Study Small Grants mailing list should contact Kimberly Zimmer at (516) 632-9216.

The Long Island Sound Study Public Participation Information and Education Small Grants Program

The Long Island Sound Study began in 1985 when Congress appropriated funds for the US Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Connecticut and New York to research, monitor and assess the water quality of Long Island Sound. With the Clean Water Act Amendments in 1987, the National Estuary Program was established. At the request of the states of Connecticut and New York, Long Island Sound was officially designated an Estuary of National Significance and a Management Conference for the Long Island Sound Study was convened in March of 1988.

The Long Island Sound Study Management Conference involves federal, state, interstate, and local agencies, universities, environmental groups, industry, and the public. The Management Conference was charged with developing a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for protecting and improving the health of Long Island Sound while ensuring compatible human uses within the Sound ecosystem.

The final plan was approved by the Management Conference in March 1994. The plan characterizes the priority problems affecting Long Island Sound and identifies specific commitments and recommendations for actions to improve water quality, protect habitat and living resources, educate and involve the public, improve the long-term understanding of how to manage the Sound, monitor progress, and redirect management efforts.

In an effort to increase public support and understanding of Long Island Sound cleanup activities, the Long Island Sound Study has solicited proposals for public education and participation activities focusing on the restoration and preservation of the Sound. Projects seek to increase public awareness and education; emphasize that the Long Island Sound ecosystem is a living environmental and social resource; motivate people to actively participate in its restoration; utilize innovative activities which involve people and lead to local action; and demonstrate projects for public activities that can serve as a model elsewhere in the Sound.

The following ten grant recipients were selected from 38 proposals that were submitted to the Long Island Sound Office.

1998 NY Long Island Sound Beach Clean Up

American Littoral Society

Don Riepe (718) 634-6467

$1175

The American Littoral Society is coordinating the 1998 International Coastal Cleanup at beaches in New York that effect Long Island Sound. [not a sentence] Outreach to local environmental organizations, schools, colleges, scout groups and corporate volunteers to clean, document the litter and adopt a beach. Beach captains are supplied with information and supplies needed for the cleanup. The cleanup produces data to be used to devise strategies for combating marine pollution. The cleanup educates volunteers about marine pollution and what they can do on a daily basis to solve the problem of floatable debris, such as recycling, reusing, etc. The cleanup increases the public's awareness and appreciation of the coastal environment, especially the value of wetlands. Information is distributed concerning volunteer opportunities at habitat restoration sites around the Sound. The data collected is compiled and reports generated for the Long Island Sound Study, Center for Marine Conservation, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

SoundWaters Senior Ecology Project

SoundWaters, Inc.

Nathan Frohling (203) 323-1978

$3000

The SoundWaters Senior Ecology Project, working in partnership with the Stamford Commission on Aging, is a nine-session environmental education program, to be held weekly in the spring and summer. The project is designed to educate older adults about the problems affecting the Sound and its watershed, with special emphasis on the role of nutrients in the health of the Sound. Topics to be covered during the nine sessions include habitat restoration, polluted runoff, strategies to reduce nitrogen, watershed protection and land-use issues. A major goal is to mobilize this potentially influential segment of society by motivating seniors to participate personally, in their community and at the local political level to protect the Sound.

The activities combine outdoor exploration at Stamford's Cove Island Park, the National Audubon Center in Greenwich, the Stamford sewage treatment plant, Stamford nature center and Mianus River Park, with indoor slide show/lecture sessions at the Stamford Senior Center, located in the Stamford Government Center. Site visits can accommodate up to 25 seniors and more than 100 can attend the lecture programs. Because protection of Long Island Sound requires a long-term effort, the Senior Ecology Project includes two intergenerational sessions, one aboard the Schooner, SoundWaters, and the other at a coastal field trip, where seniors are encouraged to teach the children what they have learned.

Early Education: Raising Environmental Awareness on the Long Island Sound

IDEA: Innovative Directions, an Educational Alliance

PS 175 City Island

Patricia Hennessy and Rose Rodstorm (718) 885-3781

$4000

PS 175 K-8 in City Island and the NYC Parks and Recreation Department have formed a partnership that is coordinated by Innovative Directions, an Education Alliance (IDEA). This curriculum program expands the scope of the elementary experience by providing opportunities for multi-disciplinary, multi-sensory learning and to instill in each child scientific knowledge and an appreciation of their natural environment. The 503 children start their adventure in the school's backyard, coastal property that is owned by NYC Parks. The children are designing and creating displays on habitats, pollution and recreational uses that will be displayed in the school and the community. The children are shown the importance of proper disposal of garbage and recycling by participating in a beach cleanup. The children are also managing a 100-gallon estuarine aquarium. The children are also taught the necessary skills for sport fishing through the SAREP program.

The Living Saltmarsh: An Interactive Guide to the Invertebrates of Connecticut's Tidal Wetlands

Southern Connecticut State University

Dr. Peter Pellegrino (203) 392-6217

$3722

The purpose of this project is to create a computer driven, interactive multimedia display that incorporates live video footage of invertebrate organisms along with their associated saltmarsh habitats. It focuses on the environmental fragility of wetland habitats along with the importance of invertebrates in saltmarsh food chains. It allows students to learn in a dynamic and interesting way about the functional importance of wetland habitats and to appreciate the beauty and significance of invertebrate animals. Students will view living saltmarsh animals over and over again without having to collect and kill additional specimens.

Sitting down at the computer one can select a desired marsh habitat from the main menu and video footage along with detailed ecological descriptions will appear. Then select a species of interest and live video footage along with detailed biological descriptions appears. This program allows students to jump quickly in a nonlinear fashion, from marsh habitat to habitat and from species to species.

Marine Environmental Education Program

Town of Huntington Parks and Recreation Department

Jack Fass (516) 351-3099

$2591

Responding to the needs of the community, the Town of Huntington Department of Environmental Control in cooperation with the Department of Parks and Recreation plans to expand and improve the quality of the marine environmental educational program for elementary students ages 6-12. Emphasizing ecology, the educator develops a course curriculum to acquaint students with fundamental environmental issues and local natural marine resources. Children attending Gold Star Camp programs learn how animals and plants adapt to survive in various habitats and how they, as stewards, can protect living marine resources and Long Island Sound from pollution. A major emphasis of the environmental education program is to provide an opportunity for approximately 150 youth to develop an appreciation for the diversity and adaptation of organisms within the marine environment. Students participate in scheduled visits to an ecology center to experience many local species of marine finfish and invertebrates. The nearby embayment and tidal wetlands serve as an outdoor learning laboratory. The marine environmental educator provides instruction and supervises trips. The program is divided into three, two week sessions beginning on June 29th and continuing through August 14.

The Woodland and Wetland Outdoor Living Classroom

Milford Youth and Family Services

Donna Metty (203) 783-3253

$3712

The Woodland and Wetland Outdoor Living Classroom at Live Oaks School in Milford, CT allows students to actively participate in creating and maintaining a healthy habitat at their school and provides teachers with a site for "hands-on" activities that correlate environmental education with the regular curriculum. The project provides students with the unique opportunity to increase their awareness of our environment and to learn the skills necessary to find solutions to the environmental challenges of tomorrow. The children see first hand the requirements and importance of different environmental specialists, as they work with the various agencies and departments in the design and implementation of the project. The site at Live Oaks includes woodland, freshwater wetlands and salt marsh tidal wetlands. The natural diversity of the area is indicative of the community and offers an abundance of wildlife study areas. The Classroom provides a community-based wetland management program that demonstrates new technologies for preserving and protecting wetlands, treating stormwater and preserving open space. Live Oaks schools consists of 403 children in grades K-5. The Ecology Club comprises 20 fifth grade students who will coordinate the student body for this project.

Our Wetlands, Our Waters and Long Island Sound

Lisbon Central School

Stephen Brown (860) 546-1075

$650

Lisbon Central School Environmental Club (17 members) plans to increase public awareness of the Long Island Sound's watershed and how local actions effect these waters. They conduct water quality studies on a local river and take part in a national amphibian population study. They will enhance the condition of local waters by cleaning up two sources of water pollution in the town. They hope to stabilize local amphibian populations while improving local water quality and therefore Long Island Sound. They want to educate the students and the adults in the community about wetlands and their importance locally and to Long Island Sound. They plan on increasing their audience by informing teachers in the region, environmental educators in the state and to other concerned students in the nation.

Down to the Sound

Flanders Nature Center

Susan Quincy (203) 263-3711

$2150

Flanders Nature Center Plans to provide a three part educational unit with an urban, suburban, and rural area schools in the Pomperaug River Watershed. The project consists of two classroom visits, providing hands on activities using terminology related to natural resources, pollution problems for waterways, and wetland identification within the Long Island Sound watershed. Skills needed to identify and evaluate wetlands through maps and hands on investigations are incorporated into student driven activities. Following school site visits, students travel to selected wetland areas in their watershed for evaluation and inventory of the areas. This allows students the opportunity to transfer knowledge to actual areas of their community. The evaluation includes water testing for levels of oxygen, nutrients and silt levels. Each participating school then compiles and shares all information between them. All three schools are part of the Pomperaug River Watershed, but represent three different levels of development. The shared results allow students to analyze any differences. They then relate these findings to problems and issues currently found in the Long Island Sound and current issues for their town. They can develop solutions if necessary and evaluate choices the town, or state has made concerning wetlands. This project meets current learning skills required for grade levels, and allows students to see how decisions up stream, affects life down stream.

The GAIA Project

Schooner, Inc.

Christopher Newlan (203) 865-1737

$2000

The Schooner, Inc. and Lorraine D. Foster School Gaia project is based on the premise that students need to be empowered by school and community to instill in them a deep understanding of the concept of interdependence with the natural world and the responsibility associated with it. The Gaia project combines sixteen full days "in the field" coupled with in-class exercises to create an interdisciplinary curriculum based on the study of the ecology and the environment. The students will be actively involved in growing oysters and clams in an aquarium and in "the wild," learning modern aquaculture techniques, watershed impact studies, canoeing the Farm River, salt marsh exploration, upland forest studies and watershed management.

Celebrate the Sound

Hallockville Museum Farm and Folklife Center

John Eilertsen (516) 298-9782

$2000

Hallockville Museum Farm and Folklife Center is planning a "Long Island Sound Festival Day" celebrating and creating awareness of the Long Island Sound and its uses, both past and present. Because many visitors who tour the site are not aware of the farm's access to the Long Island Sound and the importance of the Sound to the area, they are developing a program that will utilize this resource. Seventh graders from all over Suffolk County are invited to participate. On May first the museum site will be the location of various displays by harvesters of the Long Island Sound and concerned groups including, but not limited to: fisherman, lobsterman, trappers, hunters, scientists, environmentalists, the aquarium, Save the Sound, etc. Concurrently throughout the day, groups will take walks from the museum site to the Long Island Sound (a one hour program) with a North Fork fisherman, an environmentalist and Hallockville staff member conducting the talk/walk.

For more information contact:
Mary Mears, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3669 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: mears.mary@epamail.epa.gov