Friday, June 25 marks the official beginning of Dutchess Watershed Awareness Month (WAM) 2010 - a month-long series of events all about our local land and water resources! Our theme this year is Windows on Your Watershed, and we're challenging Dutchess County residents to get outside and learn about their watershed from a new and different perspective. From bird walks to hikes to rain barrel workshops to film screenings to science exploration activities, we have over 40 events planned for this month, and we're really looking forward to them!

Our kick off event/ribbon cutting will take place on Friday, June 25 at 1:00 PM at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum pavilion at the banks of the Fall Kill Creek. The full list of events is available on dutchesswam.com, and they are also listed in the Events section of this site.

Sheila Buff, coordinator of the Stream Alliance of Northern Dutchess (SAND) and a member of the Dutchess Watershed Coalition, wrote an excellent article about Hudson Direct Drainage and Dutchess WAM for About Town. Check it out here: www.abouttown.us/dutchess/articles/summer10/watershed.shtml

Check out the article published in the Poughkeepsie Journal last Sunday on Dutchess WAM, written by WIC and Dutchess Watershed Coalition member Eileen Sassmann! It's available online here: www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dl...icle?AID=20106270377

We had a successful ribbon-cutting event last Friday, and our next event will be tomorrow (Thursday, July 1)! Join us at the Children's Media Project (20 Academy Street, Poughkeepsie) at 7:00 PM tomorrow for a free film screening - we'll be showing The Lorax as well as Swim for the River.

Hi everyone,
This weekends events for Watershed Awareness Month were a blast. Check out the picture below of our entry in the Hyde Park parade. We had a lot of fantastic people come out and march to spread the word about Dutchess Watershed Awareness Month.

Also, on the 4th I had the opportunity to join the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club on the first of 5 bird walks that they are leading for Watershed Awareness Month. The walk was at Buttercup Farm Sanctuary in the Town of Stanford and it was absolutely beautiful there. I gotta to see and learn more about a lot of really cool birds. My favorite was the blue-gray gnatcatcher that we saw.

Dutchess Watershed Awareness Month has just began. To find out more about upcoming events, including bird walks, creek walks, rain barrel workshops, movies, and much more, visit: dutchesswam.com

Hey everyone,

The storm drain marking yesterday on Main Street in Poughkeepsie went really well and we got some media attention! Check out this link to see a video of us (with a mention of Casperkill-Fall Kill Creek Week!): hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories...-drain/?ap=1&MP4

The "Using GIS for Local Municipal Watershed Training" event last night marked the official close of Dutchess Watershed Awareness Month 2010. It's been quite a month, with over 40 events and lots of participation in rain barrel workshops, stream cleanups, and other events. We hope that everyone could take on a different perspective of their watershed and make the most of our theme - "Windows on Your Watershed."

As part of the month, members of the Dutchess Watershed Coalition wrote articles each Sunday for the Poughkeepsie Journal Environment section. In case you missed any of them, they are available on line at the following locations:

Dutchess Watershed Awareness Month -- July 2010 - by Eileen Sassman
www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dl...icle?AID=20106270377

Saving water with every rainfall: Reusing stormwater with rain gardens and rain barrels - by Emily Vail
www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/2010...ens-and-rain-barrels

Watershed volunteers collect stream insects - by Mike Purcell
www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/2010...llect-stream-insects

Bird-watching can begin in backyard - by Sheila Buff
www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/2010...an-begin-in-backyard

Watershed protection advocates stress education, local participation - by Carolyn Klocker
www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/2010...-local-participation

Thanks to everyone who participated or volunteered for WAM!