28 Jun 2006

Cleanup by Canoe on Wapsi River, August 25-27

By KJ Rebarcak

LONG GROVE, IA JUNE 28, 2006 - The Grove to Grove Lower Wapsipinicon River Cleanup Project is seeking volunteers ages 10 and up (under 18 must be accompanied by an adult) to participate in a canoe trip to clean up 22 miles of the Wapsi, the majority of it in Clinton County, from Walnut Grove Park in Toronto, Iowa, to Allen's Grove Park north of Donahue, Iowa. The event will take place August 25-27, 2006.

Base camp is at Sherman Park in Clinton County. The Friday night stay is optional. The cleanup will begin early Saturday morning, and end Sunday afternoon. Single-day participation is permitted. Participants will remove pop cans, plastic sacks, tires, barrels and other pieces of trash they find in the river's waters and banks. Participants should dress for the weather, bring work gloves and wear closed-toe shoes. PFDs are required to be worn at all times while on the river. Organizers will provide free camping (including shower facilities), and canoes, paddles and PFDs for those who need them. Catered meals and t-shirts are available for purchase. The Clinton County Conservation Board naturalists will offer some interesting, fun, and free evening environmental education programs about the river and the land around it.

"This is an opportunity for people to experience the unique camaraderie and feelings of accomplishment that accompany a canoeing- and camping-based river cleanup," state coordinators Melisa Petersen and KJ Rebarcak. "We want to bring people together, get them involved, and let them know they can do something to improve the health and beauty of the river."

Sponsors for this event include : Clinton County Conservation Board; Friends of the Wapsi Center, Inc., Dixon, IA; Clinton County Pheasants Forever; Paul's Discount, Clinton, IA; G. Baker Distributing, Clinton, IA; Allied Waste Services, Clinton, IA; Clinton County Area Solid Waste Agency; KLJB-TV, Davenport, IA; Wapsi River Environmental Education Center, Dixon, IA; Jewel, Clinton, IA; Bonnie's Scenic Tavern, Clinton, IA; Hill Chiropractic Office, P.C., DeWitt, IA; MidAmerican Energy Company; Kimberly Crest Veterinary Hospital, P.C., Davenport, IA; Target, Clinton, IA; Soaring Eagle Nature Center, Clinton, IA; Mercy Medical Center, Clinton, IA; and Alliant Energy. The project also received funding from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This May, cleanup organizers secured a CLEAR (Community Leaders Enhancing Area Rivers) mini-grant given out by the DNR. Worth up to $1,000 apiece, the grants encourage communities to take responsibility for cleaning their waterways. Organizers of the DNR's annual river cleanup "Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition)" created the CLEAR mini-grants in response to public demand. For details, visit: iowaprojectaware.com.

The Lower Wapsipinicon River Cleanup Project is a grassroots organization with a twofold purpose: To remove trash from the river and dispose of it in an environmentally responsible manner; and to educate the public about the environment and the importance of caring for natural resources.

Registrations should be postmarked by July 17 to take advantage of all the extras offered; however, they will still be accepted after that date. For further information, contact Melisa Petersen at 309-737-9016 or KJ Rebarcak at rebar@netins.net; write to LWRCP, PO Box 333, Long Grove, IA 52756; or visit the website at http://showcase.netins.net/web/kjr/cleanup.html.

25 May 2006

FILM MAKER AND ALASKA NATIVE TO SPEAK ABOUT ARCTIC DRILLING

By test2

CLINTON, IOWA (February 3, 2005) - Jeff Barrie, producer of "Arctic Quest: A Search for Truth" and cross-country cyclist, will speak on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at noon in Collis Hall (Durgin Educational Center) at The Franciscan University of the Prairies in Clinton. Barrie's appearance in Clinton is being sponsored by the Alaska Coalition of Iowa.

In Barrie's words, "We're being told that the Arctic Refuge is a solution to our dependence on foreign oil, but in fact it's merely a speculative six month supply of oil that won't be available for ten years and will require destroying one of our nation's last truly great wilderness areas."

The 100-mile stretch of arctic coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the only fragment of the United States' total 1,100-mile arctic coastline not already open to oil and gas development. Now, oil industry officials are pushing for access to this fragile heartland of this last complete eco-system in North America. According to the United States Geological Survey, the most likely amount of oil to be found under the Arctic Refuge is roughly the same amount that the United States consumes in six months. Even at peak production, government experts estimate that the U.S. will still need to import a whopping two-thirds of all of its oil. Were oil and gas development to occur, the U.S. Department of Interior estimates up to a 40% loss (70,000 animals) to the Porcupine Caribou herd (129,000 animals).

"It is puzzling that people and the government would be willing to sacrifice a renewable resource, such as the herd, and the lives of the Gwich'in Indian people, who depend upon it, for merely the possibility of the short term benefits we could gain by extracting a small amount of petroleum, a non-renewable resource," Barrie said.

Barrie will be joined on this two-week tour of Nebraska and Iowa by Robert Thompson, an Inupiat Eskimo, who is a wilderness guide, specializing in winter excursions, river rafting, and kayaking in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He and Subhankar Banerjee traveled 4,000 miles within the refuge, over the course of 14 months in 2001 and 2002, documenting the area and its inhabitants through each change of season. Thompson and his wife, Jane Akootchook Thompson, live in Kaktovik, Alaska.

In his public presentations, Thompson shares his thoughtful views on the environment, development, and his worries about global warming.

During the past three years, despite tremendous pressure from special interests, a bi-partisan majority in the US Senate has twice voted with the will of the American people and rejected proposals to allow drilling in the calving grounds of the Arctic Refuge.

Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League said, " I must admit I was skeptical at first at the idea that a couple of people showing slides in church basements could compete with the sophisticated multi-pronged PR campaigns launched by a half a dozen of the world's largest oil companies. But I've become a believer since I've seen the results."

For more information about the program that is free and open to the public, please contact David Sharkey, Coordinator of Student Activities, at 563-242-4023, ext. 3511.

The Alaska Wilderness League has been helping to bring the message of protection for our Arctic costal plain all over the country during the past 11 years, and Jeff Barrie and Robert Thompson will be in Clinton on Tuesday, Feb. 8 and will be available for in-person or phone interviews by members of the press at various times during the period of January 31 through February 11.

For further information contact: Scott Hed, Alaska Coalition, 605-336-6738 Jeff Barrie, Last Great Wilderness Project, 615-438-5060.

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