Through the Connecticut River Watershed Partnership’s second annual Watershed Week, conservation will take many forms besides the typical river cleanups.
This weekend’s 30th annual Source to Sea Cleanup marks just the beginning of around 40 events designed to connect those who live across Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont with the Connecticut River Watershed.
“We really feel like this is an opportunity to expand on what [Source to Sea is] doing,” said Markelle Smith, director of the Connecticut River Watershed Partnership, who worked with dozens of organizations to coordinate nine days of activities. “There’s lots of ways to get involved. The most important thing is getting out there with your friends and neighbors.”
In its second year, the partnership had more time to prepare a full schedule for Watershed Week, according to Outreach Coordinator Kathy Baugh. Along with highlighting the watershed, Smith said the week shines a spotlight on how organizations and communities across the watershed work to protect their environment year-round.
The events stretch the length of the 410-mile Connecticut River. Besides the Source to Sea Cleanup this weekend, residents can rescue stranded sea lampreys in Turners Falls, listen to live music while casting flies at the Northeast Fly Fishers & Outdoors Festival in Greenfield, travel through “geologic time” in Amherst, build boxes for bluebird nests in Easthampton and stop by the Cummington RiverFest for the Art Walk’s exhibits, including the Cummington Historical Commission’s “Watershed: The Westfield in Cummington.”
From festivals to museum tours, livestreams with watershed experts, and kayaking and hiking trips, Smith said “there’s something for everybody in that list.”
While river cleanups and live music at the Franklin County Fairgrounds may seem unrelated, Smith and Baugh said all the events showcase the watershed’s reach.
“The watershed touches everything,” Baugh said, “so it touches recreation.”
She added that the activities explore “how conservation and recreation can work hand-in-hand.”
“When you get involved in a place or do an activity, it really fosters your stewardship of that place, which fosters deeper caring for the place, too,” Smith said. “Getting out and becoming involved in activities like this help us remember why these places matter.”
Many events involve gathering with groups in person to learn more about the watershed, but the virtual “BioBlitz” can start in any backyard. From Sept. 19 to Sept. 27, participants can submit photos of their leafier, furrier watershed neighbors to the BioBlitz site. Last year, Smith scrolled through photos of 2,000 species of plants and animals that share the watershed as their homes.
“It’s a way to participate and be a part of something larger, but you can do it locally,” said Smith, who is excited to see this year’s BioBlitz results.
Baugh and Smith hope Watershed Week’s roster will remind participants of the water and land under their feet, but not often in their daily thoughts. As people develop a relationship with the land, they become more likely to want to protect it, Smith said.
“The goal is really to create an identity around the Connecticut River Watershed,” Smith said. “This is the longest river in New England and it’s the largest watershed here, too, and often it flies under the radar a little bit, so this is an opportunity for all of us to remember that this river is in our backyards, and it unites us.”
The full schedule of Watershed Week events, with links to sign up, can be found on the Connecticut River Watershed Partnership’s website, ctriverwatershed.org/watershed-week.
