River Rally 2008 will offer over 70 workshops. Rather than attempting to channel the workshops into thematic "tracks" as in years past, this year, we are taking a more free-flowing and meandering approach. We've listed the workshops alphabetically by day/time for your scouting pleasure.

FRIDAY WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS | Times Vary

Freshwater Future’s 5^th Annual Grassroots Symposium | 9am-5pm
The Symposium brings together grassroots groups and individuals from throughout the Great Lakes basin to meet, share and reenergize. Sessions will include Great Lakes Restoration, a focus on keeping the work positive and capacity building workshops. The day will include opportunities to network with other grassroots activists. A special focus of this year’s event will be the kickoff of our new Advocate Mentor Program. Please plan to join us May 2, 2008 from 9:00 to 3:00 for learning, networking, fun and
inspiration!All grassroots activists are invited; cost is $50 for members. For more information and to register, visit www.freshwaterfuture.org.

Water, Energy & Climate Change | 9am-5pm
River Network has recently developed extensive presentation materials and other resources on the linkages between water, energy and climate change. River Network Partners are welcome to use and adapt these materials as they see fit. They are for use with any audience – including climate change skeptics. Topics will include: A Climate
Change Primer (What has already happened, and why); Dimensions of the Problem (What could happen if we don’t change course); What It Will Take to Solve the Problem; The
Water/Energy Nexus; and Saving Energy by Saving Water – Why Water Conservation, Efficiency and Reuse is the Best Climate Strategy of All. These sessions are suitable for anyone interested in these topics, whether or not they have prior experience with them. Participation in the morning is encouraged but not required for afternoon participants. Become a more effective climate activist – and learn how to strengthen the case for watershed protection and good watershed management at the same time!
Presenter: Don Elder, River Network

Practitioners Who Support Local Groups | 10am-Noon
The roles of outside facilitator, consultant, mentor and coach are extremely important to new staff, burned out staff, and volunteer leaders of watershed organizing efforts. Throughout the country a number of programs based in NGO's and private firms are trying to help. This would be a round-robin type format with an opportunity to showcase new programs and results.
Presenter: Wendy Wilson, River Network

Great Lakes United Annual General Membership Meeting | Noon - 5pm
Annual business meeting for Great Lakes United coalition members and interested individuals. Founded in 1982, Great Lakes United is an international coalition of indigenous, labor, and environmental groups in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River region. Together, we strive to raise awareness of emerging threats to the basin and its people as well as to promote multi-jurisdictional policy initiatives to secure the protection of land, fresh water, and the health of all our communities. To register, visit glu.org on 2/1/08 for details or contact Bonnie Danni at 716-886-0142, bonnie@glu.org.

GREEN Environmental Education Networking Meeting | 1-3pm
How can we better connect about Watershed Education between Rallies? The Global Rivers Environmental Education Network is looking to establish and maintain a Network of Watershed Educators, but we'd like some help determining what that should look like. What kinds of information are most useful to your organization? What methods of networking are most interesting to you? What tools can we utilize or create that would make it easier to share our successes and challenges with one another, to share our ideas for program improvement and to grow the network of people who do what we do?
This meeting is open to anyone working on or interested in watershed education and its role in the river protection movement. Whether you are savvy in the field or a newcomer, your perspectives and ideas will prove invaluable. Please join us for a working session to brainstorm the structure of a Watershed Education Network and strategies for making it happen! Bring your ideas and enthusiasm and let's Network!
Facilitator: Jan Sneddon with Alyssa Hawkins and Erin Gallay, Earth Force

From Frustration to Impact: Leadership that Works | 1-4pm
(previously listed as: Am I a Good Leader?)
This workshop is designed to strengthen participants' (Senior, mid-level, entry) overall leadership skills and increase their effectiveness as leaders. This workshop will help you have a greater impact as a leader with others, within your organization, and in group settings by: increasing your leadership awareness, knowledge, and skills through self-reflection and group practice; applying theoretical and practical tools to be a more strategic leader; and practicing what you learn in interpersonal, organizational, and group settings.
Presenters: Darren Phelps and Peter Lane, Institute for Conservation Leadership

 

SATURDAY | 9:30-11:30am

Build Your Community with Interactive Mapping
Public participatory mapping using IMRivers, an interactive mapping web portal, is an affordable and effective tool for gathering and disseminating information on local environmental knowledge and community values and interests. Workshop participants will learn from case study presentations, and have a “hands-on" opportunity to build their own application with IMRivers.
Presenter: Donna Lesch, Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition with (invited) Wansoo Im, Dean Naujoks, John Wathen, Jill Leary, Allen Harthorn, Matt Terry

Building a Tribal Water Code
This is a tribally focused workshop for those who are interested in developing a water code for their tribe. Included in this workshop would be the fundamentals of developing a code, what should be included, examples of other tribal codes, and ways in which a tribe can use the water code to further the protection of their water resources.
Presenter: Jolene Catron, Indigenous Waters Network

Building Outside the Box
For over 7 years the Cumberland River Compact's Building Outside the Box program has engaged the development community to bring sustainable building practices to the our Basin. Come learn about how we partnered to create 7 sustainable building demonstration sites and be inspired to bring green building to your watershed.
Presenter: Gwen Griffith and Vena Jones, Cumberland River Compact

A Community-Centered Approach to Watershed-based Planning
Creating a watershed-based plan can be a daunting task. This workshop will provide an overview of community-centered watershed-based planning, while addressing strategies for including the community in your watershed-based planning process, keeping them interested and involved, and making watershed-based planning an attainable process.
Presenters: Katie Holmes & Judy Petersen, Kentucky Waterways Alliance

Combat Communications: Conquering Confrontation and Controversy
Sooner or later, the mud will fly and your work and your reputation will be on the line. In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn the dos and don'ts of rhetorical combat: deflecting their accusations, making yours stick. You'll develop confidence and skills to set the record straight.
Presenter: Eric Eckl, Water Words That Work

Halting Invasive Species Upstream and Down
Halting invasive species will take more than public pressure and education. GLU efforts to engage municipal, state / provincial and federal governments will be contextualized in our parallel track efforts to work with industries from freight carriers to garden centres and landscape architects.
Presenter: Jen Nalbone and Helene Godmaire, Great Lakes United

Major Donors - How to Find Them, How to Keep Them
The workshop will teach development directors, executive directors and board members how to identify and keep major donors in their organization.
Presenter: Renee Hoyos, Tennessee Clean Water Network

Producing Data or Information: How do you know?
Participants should come prepared with information about their monitoring programs, if participants would like to receive a monitoring program evaluation to complete before this session they can contact barb.horn@state.co.us. This hands-on workshop will walk you through an evaluation of a waterbody or watershed monitoring program to determine effectiveness of producing information or measurable result. We will evaluate the programs information needs, study design, data-to-information design and evaluation tools. Come prepared to dive into the details of your monitoring program. Limited to the first 30 people through the door.
Presenter: Barb Horn, Rocky Mountain Watershed Network

Storm Water Permitting
Storm water pollution has become one of the biggest problems in every watershed whether it is associated with urban, suburban or rural runoff. Requirements to control storm water pollution have been placed on municipalities, industries and construction activity. We will present the basic elements of the federal requirements and discuss examples of how citizens and organizations have been pushing for the necessary protection of watersheds.
Presenter: Gayle Killam, River Network

Using the Clean Water Act in Watershed Planning
This workshop will provide a background to the history and technical tools of the Clean Water Act; how Ohio has regulated water pollution
under the Act; and a review/analysis of the legal struggle over the scope of the Act's jurisdiction. This discussion based workshop is for the novice and expert alike.
Presenter: Keith Dimoff and Trent Dougherty, Ohio Environmental Council

Writing Your Fundraising Plan
This workshop will help Development Directors, Executive Directors and Board members to develop a written fundraising plan for their organization. The workshop will cover principles of fundraising readiness, identifying feasible fundraising strategies, and measuring progress toward success. At the end of the session each attendee can use a simple Excel spreadsheet to flesh out a fundraising plan. Bring a laptop if available.
Presenter: Mary Ellen Olcese, River Network

SATURDAY | 12:45-2pm

Are River Fish Safe to Eat?
The fish in many of our rivers are unsafe to eat because of chemical contamination. This workshop will provide results of measurements of contaminants in fish from major rivers in the US, and will discuss the risks vs. the benefits of fish consumption.
Presenters: David Carpenter, Institute for Health and the Environment and Jeffery Foran; Anthony DeCaprio; Deborah Swackhammer

Building Strong Boards
Whether you're a new river group or well established, this session will cover how to make your Board of Directors more effective. Learn about Board roles and responsibilities, filling positions with the “right" person, setting annual goals for the Board, developing effective committees, and insuring good Board and staff relations.
Presenter: Suzi Wilkins Berl, River Network Board

CWA Basics: Water Quality Standards
Water quality standards are the foundation of all other Clean Water Act tools and programs. We will explain designated uses and water quality criteria and how you can propose changes to them. We will also discuss Environmental Law Instittute's recent evaluation of the water quality criteria in the Mississippi River corridor states.
Presenter: Gayle Killam, River Network

Ecosystem Services of Rivers
The new approach of ecosystem services considers the benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. We'll discuss the provisioning, regulating, and cultural services provided by rivers and explore how these services are related to the Clean Water Act and watershed management.
Presenter: Brenda Rashleigh, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Forming and Supporting Stream Watch Networks
The panel will have representatives from organizations that have formed, organized, or supported stream watch networks. Panelists will discuss their approach to building community support for different river protection networks.
Presenter: John Tynan, Upstate Forever

Open Source Fundraising Software: What's the Catch?
In light of recent advances in open source software for non-profits, free software for managing fundraising activities has surpassed expensive proprietary packages. Learn how your organization can benefit from open source fundraising databases, online donation and membership solutions, and email campaign software.
Presenters Sean Larkin & Will Illingworth, Open Sourcery

Our Karst Waters: Save Cave Rivers
Our Karst Waters: Save Cave RiversIf you wonder what effect karst may be having on your watershed, this introductory, comprehensive workshop is for you. Learn why present laws fail to protect karst waters, how to measure karst water quality, and what you can do to protect your karst areas.
Presenter: Hilary Lambert, KEEP (Karst Environmental Education & Protection, Inc.) with Roger Brucker, Deb Bledsoe

Rooftops to Rivers: Green Infrastructure Solutions
How to use green infrastructure in your community to reduce stormwater pollution and combined sewer overflows, enhance drinking water supplies, save energy, reduce peak summertime temperatures, provide wildlife habitat, improve aesthetics, enhance property values, and so much more.
Presenter: Nancy Stoner, NRDC

Stormwater Mitigation Banking: Theory Into Practice
This presentation covers “stormwater mitigation banking," a novel approach to helping local governments address untreated stormwater discharges in older urbanized areas. It combines the flexibility of stream mitigation banking with the economic efficiency of a cap-and-trade system. Participants will develop an understanding of the concepts underlying this strategy.
Presenters: Heather Nix & Lisa Hallo, Upstate Forever

Student-led Watershed Action Projects
Join us to practice the most challenging aspects of the process for moving young people from water quality data to community action. We'll walk though data interpretation, conducting research, and planning and implementing an action plan with educators and classrooms who are already conducting water quality monitoring."
Presenter: Alyssa Hawkins, Earth Force

Water Quality Impacts of Big Dairy CAFOs
In OH, MI, and IN, folks are working on the influx of big dairy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and water quality problems -come to learn about what the groups in those states are doing and how you can apply it to yours.
Presenter: Martha Noble, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

SATURDAY | 2:30-4pm

Building Your Individual Giving
Need to get started on fundraising from individuals? This workshop will cover the basics on starting a direct mail program, as well as laying the groundwork for future major donor fundraising.
Presenter: Jodi Segal, Ohio Environmental Council

Conservation Landscaping: What You Can Do for Your Watershed
Conservation landscaping works with landowners to conserve water and reduce water pollution while fostering a sense of place. Join us to explore conservation landscaping techniques and leave with a copy of our new how-to guide. We'll examine real-life scenarios, brainstorm strategies, and design plans for your neck of the woods.
Presenter(s): Genevieve Marsh & Sarah Green, Sierra Nevada Alliance

Downstream - The Outdoor Watershed Game
Join this play-oriented, outdoor activity illuminating the various factors that affect water quality as a stream moves through the natural and human environment. This is an ideal activity for watershed education, engaging every participant. Go with the flow - after all, we all live downstream!
Presenter: Jeff Hoagland, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

Integrating Stormwater Management and Municipal Planning
With flooding events increasing with both intensity and frequency, stormwater management needs to extend beyond water quality and quantity management for new developments. Participants will learn how to partner with local officials and implement creative approaches to alleviating stormwater flooding arising from older, poorly planned development.
Presenter: Jennifer Coffey, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

Making Water Quality Monitoring Sexy
Now that we have your attention: join us and learn how to make your
Water Quality monitoring both fun and adventurous! Employing the most
modern techniques that can only be deployed from a canoe or kayak, we
will show you how to focus your water quality time -whether a day or a
month - on a scientific adventure. The equipment and technique have
been tested on the length of the mighty Yukon River and the entire
Puget Sound region.
Presenter: Jonathan Waterhouse, Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council

Managing Growth in a Watershed Context
Chippewa Creek, a tributary to the historic Cuyahoga River is the focus of a GIS-based watershed management plan to minimize the impact of urban sprawl on this high quality, yet flood-prone stream. The workshop will examine the science and art which led to Critical Watershed Features indentified for Chippewa Creek and the BMPs needed to protect it.
Presenters: James White, Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan & Marie Sullivan, GIS Specialist

Organizational Sustainability for Long-term Impact
Maintaining mission focus, organizational capacity, and effective constituent relationships for long-term success is a constant challenge for nonprofits. We will explore an integrated strategy for sustainability that all organizations can develop to ensure long-term impact and then present a case study for developing corporate donors from Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers.
Presenter: Leni Wilsmann. Conservation Impact and Lynn Broaddus, Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers

Our Waters, Our Health: A Citizens Guide to Sewage
This workshop will provide a basic overview of sewage: sources of sewage, how sewage treatment works, what happens when sewage treatment fails, and regulations that apply to sewage. The second half of the workshop will focus on organizing, investigative, and legal ways to help resolve community sewage problems. Our goal is for participants to leave the workshop with the knowledge and ideas to engage in sewage issues in their local communities.
Presenter: Matt Rota and Jeff Grimes, Gulf Restoration Network

Restoration to Meet Water Quality Standards
Stream restoration is occurring frequently as development threatens more local waters. Mitigation projects should replace stream function and complement receiving streams designated use. A field measurement tool (QHEI) can be used at the project planning stage to help assure that restored stream projects will further goals established in the Clean Water Act.
Presenters: Dan Binder and Steve Phillips, River Institute

Restoring a Region: One Community at a Time
The Alliance for the Great Lakes and Freshwater Future will provide an overview of a toolkit they created that includes successful restoration stories along with a guide to engaging groups in on the ground ecosystem improvement projects. Participants will have an opportunity to draft a plan for their local efforts.
Presenter: Jamie Cross, Alliance for the Great Lakes and Jil Ryan, Freshwater Future

TMDL: Powerful Tool for Creative Professionals
TMDL's are an amazing tool for implementing the "fishable", "swimmable" goals of the Clean Water Act. However, implementation projects require a keen eye on community benefits as well as aquatic systems. This session will highlight case studies of "win-win" solutions on the Cuyahoga River, including dam removal and floodplain restoration.
Presenter: Elaine Marsh, Friends of the Crooked River with Bob Brown, Director of Water Reclaimation, City of Kent; Neal Hess, Trust for Public Lands/Ohio Office; Bill Zawiski, Ohio EPA

 

SATURDAY - SIDE MEETINGS (4:15pm)
(Note: side-meetings are informal (e.g., low-key, low-tech) gatherings of individuals who wish to discuss a specific issue. Space permitting, River Rally attendees can propose a side-meeting at any time - either before or during the River Rally. While proposing a meeting after leaving the event is possible, it is not recommended.)

Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable
The Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable serves mine scarred Appalachian watersheds through training, capacity building and providing a collective voice for under-served communities seeking to restore the well being of their citizens and environment. We realize that many people do not realize the extent of devastation in this region, and our intent is to raise awareness and discuss the challenges, successes and importance of continued watershed work in Appalachia.

Saturday Stream Snapshot (SSS) Volunteer Citizen Monitoring Program
Join us on Saturday afternoon to learn more about our successful monitoring program and how it can be replicated in your watershed. Greenacres began the SSS Citizen Volunteer Monitoring Program in May 2003 to evaluate water quality in the Lower Little Miami Watershed using a Supplemental Environmental Project Grant from Ohio EPA (OEPA). The purpose of the program is for citizens to collect high quality baseline water quality information on neighborhood streams and process the samples for bacteria, nutrients, pH, conductivity, and turbidity once a month from March – November using the same professional testing equipment found in Certified Water Quality Labs and US EPA Approved sampling methods under the supervision of certified lab analysts. This is the first citizen lab of this type in Ohio and these data have been used to develop the draft Lower Little Miami Watershed Action Plan (2006), the OEPA TMDL Study Plan (2007), and by resource professionals to identify and solve local water quality problems. The program has also received many awards including the 2006 National Izaak Walton League Save Our Stream Award and the 2006 OEPA Outstanding Environmental Education Project Award. With our assistance, the Butler County Soil and Water Conservation District, Butler County Storm Water District, and Miami University replicated the SSS Program in its’ entirety in 2006 and call it the Butler County Stream Team Monitoring Program. The SSS Program participates in the OEPA Credible Data Program and our data are considered Level 2 Data. Level 1 is educational information and Level 3 is certified lab data.

Water Resources Development Act
As our nations largest water management agency, the impact Corps projects have on our rivers rival that of any other federal agency or private company. Join the Corps Reform Network for a training on how you can use recently won federal policy reforms to impact Corps projects back home.

SUNDAY 8:30-10am

Achieving Change in Flow Management
Hydrological alteration from flow regulation and diversion is a primary
cause of the widespread decline of aquatic ecosystems and their associated
species and beneficial services. The
science and practice of environmental flows has emerged to protect and restore
rivers and streams threatened by hydrological alteration. This workshop focuses on the tools and
approaches for determining environmental flow needs and for incorporating
environmental flows into policy and management.
Presenter: Jeff Opperman and Andy Warner, The Nature Conservancy

Bringing the Environment into the Classroom
The introduction of a program developed for schoolchildren in Southside Virginia. The Trout in the Classroom and MWEE Program has successfully led these communities toward a richer quality of life and helped to develop a shared sense of responsibility and action for the environment.
Presenter(s): Wayne Kirkpatrick, Betty Kirkpatrick, Brian Williams, Dan River Basin Association

Community Based Social Marketing
Community Based Social Marketing is a revolutionary approach to addressing polluting behavior at the community level. This process works to address the specific barriers that different communities have to behaving in a sustainable, nonpolluting manner, using social psychology principles. It is a long-term approach that yields measurable impact.
Presenter(s): Karen Franz and Sarah Blakeslee, San Diego Coastkeeper

From Strategic Planning to Strategic Positioning
Organizations recognize the value of a strategic plan to focus the organization. However organizations ready to go to their next level will consider strategic positioning. Positioning helps organizations "own" their niche for distinction, presence, and power. This is a practical, skill building workshop that will help you grow and develop your organization for greater impact and attention.
Presenter: Shelli Bischoff-Turner, Conservation Impact

Getting More Grants
If you're working with a watershed organization, you'll eventually find yourself pursuing grants to fund your work. Come to this session to learn some keys for success, including identifying when grants are the fundraising strategy of choice, researching grants (finding the right ones!), managing relationships with funders, developing a grant proposal & budget and administering grants.
Presenter: Diana Toleldo, River Network

Great Lakes Compact - Sustainable Water Management in the Water Belt of America
To discuss the current state of efforts to pass the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Sustainable Water Management Compact. The binding interstate compact is designed to provide an enforceable roadmap for how to protect the most significant fresh water resource in the Western Hemisphere through a sustainable management strategy. As Water Division Administrator for the State of Wisconsin, Todd Ambs served as one of the lead drafters of the Compact. which has been signed by all eight Great Lakes Governors and the two Canadian Premiers of Ontario and Quebec. Now the Compact must be approved by all eight state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Presenter: Todd Ambs, River Network Board

NPDES Permits
Discharge permits were created to limit and track pollution dumped into our waters. Unfortunately, they have created the right-to-pollute. We will explain the structure of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program as well as introduce real permits and how to review and comment on them.
Presenter: Merritt Frey and Gayle Killam, River Network

Rapid assessment of recreational water quality
This workshop will focus on rapid assessment methods of recreational water quality as they pertain to the protection of public health. Speakers will present an overview of public health microbiology, as well as rapid assessment tools, including predictive modeling and rapid analytical methods.
Presenters: Donna Francy, Amie Brady and Rebecca Bushon, U.S. Geological Survey

The New Farm Bill
If your watershed is affected by agricultural activities, you need to understand the new Farm Bill that recently passed.
Presenter: Martha Noble, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

When They Won't Do Anti-Deg
You've begged and pleaded for anti-degradation enforcement. Now what? This workshop teaches methods to enforce the anti-degradation provisions of the Clean Water Act, including petitioning to categorize waters, commenting on anti-degradation analysis in permits, coordinating with EPA, and petitioning to review permits after they
were issued. We will discuss why these methods are necessary, then examine the legal remedies when such actions fail.
Presenter: Adam Lazar and Jim Wheaton, Environmental Law Foundation

Winning Watershed Development Battles
This workshop is for those interested in learning how to evaluate the aquatic resource impacts of either a single land development project or
the growth allowed throughout a watershed by current zoning. Participants will also learn the most effective ways for winning thesupport of decision-makers for better environmental protection.
Presenter: Richard Klein, Community & Environmental Defense Services

SUNDAY | 10:30-Noon

Beyond Grants: EPA's Watershed Finance Tools
Tired of just searching for and writing grants? EPA can give you the tools to take a more strategic funding approach. Participants will learn about three free, web-based tools tested by nonprofits that can help you find relevant funding resources, create a sustainable finance plan, and prioritize competing funding objectives.
Presenters: Tim Jones Enivironmental Protection Agency: Office of Water & Rakhi Kasat, EPA Fellow

Cleaning Up Toxic Hotspots: Lessons Learnt
In this workshop we will learn from the experiences of the citizens who
have worked over the past twenty years for the cleanup of the toxic
hotspots in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin. The focuses
will be on sewage treatment, combined sewer overflows, and contaminated
sediments problems. The role of public advisory committees will also be
explored.
Presenter: John Jackson & H`ane Godmarie, Great Lakes United

CWA Basics - Antidegradation
Basic CWA antidegradation course.
Presenter: Brad Klein, ELPC

E-Waste: What Conservationists Should Know
E-Waste is a preventable pollution vector that results from inefficient use of information technology hardware. Learn how to minimize your organization's E-Waste and save thousands of dollars at the same time, using open source software.
Presenter: Sean Larkin & Will Illingworh, Open Sourcery

Engaging Youth in Your Organization
Would your organization like to formally engage young people in decision-making? Join Earth Force as we outline several techniques for genuinely involving young people in your work. We will examine ways other organizations have effectively engaged young people and discuss how your group can be more inclusive of youth.
Presenter(s): Jan Sneddon, Alyssa Hawkins and Erin Gallay, Earth Force

How do I Know if Restoration Works?
Rich Schrader (River Source) and Barb Horn (Rocky Mountain Watershed Network and many other affiliations) will lead an interactive workshop that engages participants in program development and experimental design after sharing a 20-30 minutes of case study information on monitoring work that leads to assessment of effectiveness of river restoration work.
Presenters: Richard Schrader, River Source & Barb Horn, Rocky Mountain Watershed Network

Keeping your head on straight- An ED's Daily Struggle
As an Executive Director... we are asked to lead and wear many hats. If you have often wondered how to manage without losing your mind, this workshop is for you.
Presenter: Darren Phelps, Institute for Conservation Leadership

Trusting the Public Trust Doctrine
Using cutting-edge examples of litigation, facilitators will discuss the use of the Public Trust Doctrine to protect waters and fisheries in a variety of situations where other laws have failed. The workshop will cover the nature of the public trust doctrine, exceptions to the doctrine, and where and how it might be expanded.
Presenter: Jim Wheaton, Environmental Law Foundation

Watersheds & Warming: Faith Community Collaboration
How can watershed advocates, scientists, and people of faith collaborate to build a broader movement for stewardship of creation, our common ground? Learn successful strategies, access resources for joint action and spiritual study, explore issues about the intersection of spirituality, science, and advocacy, and plan to initiate a faith/environment/science collaboration.
Presenter: Beth Stewart, Cahaba River Society with Eleanor DelBene

Winning Watershed Development Battles (cont.)
This workshop is for those interested in learning how to evaluate the aquatic resource impacts of either a single land development project or the growth allowed throughout a watershed by current zoning. Participants will also learn the most effective ways for winning the support of decision-makers for better environmental protection.
Presenter: Richard Klein, Community & Environmental Defense Services

 

SUNDAY | 1:30-3pm

ABCs of Financial Management
This introductory workshop is designed especially for smaller or newer groups. Topics will include: designing an accounting system; creating organization, program and grant budgets; connecting finance and fundraising; planning for staffing and insurance issues; increasing capacity and, most importantly, becoming sustainable.
Presenter: Susan Schwartz, River Network

Balanced Growth/Best Land Use Practices
The training includes an overview of development and protective regulations to assist local governments in developing comprehensive planning as a basis for land use decision-making. The information is targeted to local officials, planners, attorneys, engineers, and those in the water/wastewater fields.
Presenter: Kirby Date, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Blueways: Creating a Water Trail
How does a river become a water trail? Throughout the world, people are creating water trails to link conservation, safety and recreation with river protection and awareness. In this interactive workshop we will look at what it takes to start, publicize and maintain a water trail on your river.
Presenter: Bruce Hooke and Meg Kerr, Rhode Island Blueways Alliance

Interpreting Stream Chemistry Data
Stream chemistry data can be a valuable asset to watershed groups, if it is properly interpreted. In this workshop, the detailed data sets of Heidelberg College's National Center for Water Quality Research will be used to provide context for interpreting the less intensive data sets normally available to watershed groups.
Presenter: David Baker and John Crumrine, National Center for Water Quality Research

Navigating the World of BMP Performance
A wide degree of variability has been reported for stormwater BMPs, leading to confusion over which ones are most appropriate for a community or site. This workshop is designed to clarify these issues through a review of BMP performance, including proprietary devices and innovative BMPs.
Presenter: Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Alexi Boado and Kelly Collins, Center for Watershed Protection

Rescuing Western Rivers from Climate Change
Climate change is prompting a whole new look at how water is managed, particularly in the Western United States. Learn what needs to be done to help rivers and wildlife survive this looming threat.
Presenter: Susan Kaderka, National Wildlife Federation with Steve Malloch, Kevin Coyle

The Opportunities for College-Watershed Partnerships
There is a college or university in or near most watersheds in this country. These institutions are often underutilized treasures of resources, expertise, and volunteer hours. Learn about how to develop a relationship with your local college and involve them in your important work.
Presenter(s): Kenneth Cline with Jasmine Smith & Brett Ciccotelli, Union River Watershed Coalition

Unleash your Website: The Power of CMS
Open source content management systems (CMS) are attractive to nonprofits because of their cost-efficiency, but what can these systems do and how do they work? What are the differences between Plone, Drupal and Joomla--some of the most popular CMS tools? And how, really, can a CMS help your organization?
Presenter: Matthew Latterell, netCorps

Using the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to Protect Rivers
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is one of the strongest tools available to protect any outstanding, free-flowing river. Come learn about successful strategies to gain this designation for your river and have experts answer your questions about this unique conservation law.
Presenter: David Moryc, American Rivers

Water Conservation: Making it Work for Rivers
Water supply is an issue everywhere, and rivers are suffering. This workshop examines municipal water conservation and efficiency programs and policies for reducing water use. The workshop will also provide examples from communities that have designated water “savings" back to their rivers, and insights on using water conservation/efficiency approaches to stop new storage proposals.
Presenter: Betsy Otto and Mary Ann Dickinson, American Rivers

Yes, Net Loss - Wetland Mitigation Failure
Explanation of 404/401 permit program for wetland impacts and citizen enforcement project to follow up on requirements and failures.
Presenter: Barry Sulkin, PEER

SUNDAY | 3:30-5pm

Adapting Your Work to a Changing Climate
Even under the best circumstances, some climate change is inevitable and it will significantly affect freshwater environments. This workshop strives to teach folks how many of the approaches that they already advocate can be solutions to creating resilient communities.
Presenter: Andrew Fahlund, American Rivers

Cancer Downstream: Investigating Pollution/Health Connections
Are there more illnesses than there should be in our community? Does
the presence of a cluster of illnesses likely mean that pollutants are
responsible? How does one go about investigating pollution/health
connections? Through a combination of presentation and experiential
exercises, we'll explore these and related issues."
Presenter: Steve Dickens, River Network

Engaging County Planners with Your Blue Trail
Successful blue trails are the product of partnerships among a wide array of entities, though one key partner many times overlooked is county planners. Learn how to engage your county planners and local government to get your blue trail included in comprehensive watershed planning. We will examine case studies where blue trail have been incorporated in county and watershed planning and how they have benefited from that.
Presenter: Jamie Mierau, American Rivers

EPA's Watershed Plan Builder & Watershed Central
EPA has developed two new tools for watershed managers called Plan Builder and Watershed Central. One help with finding resources to develop watershed plans and the other pulls together all key EPA watershed management tools in a central location and provide links to others on federal, state, tribal, and local servers. EPA has designed these tools to promote sharing of local work experience and provide success stories for key aspects of restoring and protecting water resources.
Presenter: Stuart Lehman and Tracie Nadeau, US EPA

Leading a Sustainable Organization
No one person should be indispensable to an organization. In this workshop you will walk through the big-picture tasks that every board needs to do every year and help you build an annual calendar of board meeting agendas and action steps.
Presenter: Wendy Wilson, River Network

Navigating the World of BMP Performance (cont.)
A wide degree of variability has been reported for stormwater BMPs, leading to confusion over which ones are most appropriate for a community or site. This workshop is designed to clarify these issues through a review of BMP performance, including proprietary devices and innovative BMPs.
Presenter: Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Center for Watershed Protection

Putting the Paddle Back in Education
This workshop will demonstrate how river sojourns can be a powerful tool for raising awareness for your group and your river. Participants will engage in planning a mock sojourn and receive resources to help them organize their own logistically complex yet rewarding event that promotes recreation and stewardship.
Presenter: Adam Griggs, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin

The Clean Water Act in the West
Things are different in the Wild West. Examples of particularly (although not exclusively) western Clean Water Act issues include special challenges in protecting ephemeral and intermittent streams, widespread impairments from hydrological modification, endangered species issues, challenges and opportunities related to managing water quality on federal lands, impacts from mining, and more. Participants will learn about River Network’s proposed new western CWA work, identify regional needs to better protect and restore water quality, and share strategies for working effectively in the West.
Presenter: Merritt Frey, River Network

Water Conservation: Making it Work for Rivers (cont.)
Water supply is an issue everywhere, and rivers are suffering. This workshop examines municipal water conservation and efficiency programs and policies for reducing water use. The workshop will also provide examples from communities that have designated water “savings" back to their rivers, and insights on using water conservation/efficiency approaches to stop new storage proposals.
Presenter: Betsy Otto, American Rivers

Why Web 2.0 Matters to Environmentalists
YouTube, RSS, Blogs, Social Networking, Podcasts. Cut through the hype and the jargon and learn about current and emerging technologies and find out how they can help you engage your constituents.
Presenter: Matthew Latterell, netCorps

 

MONDAY MEETINGS

Lake Erie LaMP (Lake ERIE Lakewide Management Program) Public Forum Breakfast | 8:00am
Addtional Registration Requested
Join us for breakfast and debriefing. Topics will include: what we have gained and where we need to go from here. The Lake Erie LaMP Public Forum provides input on the Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP), which aims to restore and protect the beneficial uses of Lake Erie. The Forum fosters a means to effective two-way communication with the diverse population of the Lake Erie Basin. LaMP participants can look for the "Balanced Growth" workshop which is geared toward Lake Erie. To register, please contact: Cheryl Johncox at 614-487-7506 or cheryl@theoec.org