The Wrack

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 9/21/2014.

With a too-short summer and the back-to-school fracas, anyone would be pardoned for missing the official Congressional resolution naming this coming week “National Estuaries Week,” the annual celebration of the places where rivers meet the sea.

Before you get too excited, please understand that the resolution is merely pending, and that estuaries don’t get the whole month. According to Congress, the entire 30 days of September have, in recent years, been reserved for Gospel Music Heritage, Bourbon Heritage, Prostate Cancer Awareness, Childhood Obesity, Honey, and even Self-Awareness. (And you thought our legislators didn’t do anything – shame on you.)

Resolved or not, 1/52nd of a year certainly seems like a worthy amount of time to devote to estuaries, those humble places of mud and marsh that do so much.

As a warm-up to the 2014 #iheartestuaries campaign, I asked all of our staff to fill in the blank in this sentence: "I love estuaries because __________." Here are the responses…

On February 12, 13, and 14 raise your voice on behalf of estuaries. Join our #iheartestuaries campaign to reach Congress with a simple message: "I love estuaries and this is why…"

Let your legislators know you want the NERR System funded at current levels in FY 2015. Here's how:

• Telephone, email, or tweet Maine's federal legislators.
• Share the "I Heart Estuaries" campaign on your favorite social media outlet(s).
• Write a cordial, concise note to each of Maine's federal legislators and put it in the mail. Use a postcard, letterhead, nice stationery, or a Valentine's card. Feel free to use the templates below to get started.
• Ask your friends and family to get involved, too.

Dr. Christine B. Feurt, coordinator of the Coastal Training Program at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), was presented with the 2012 NERR System and NERR Association Award at the annual NERRS/NERRA meeting held in West Virginia in November. The award is given annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the reserve system.

Goal

To measure the success of several tidal wetland restoration projects around the country.

Project Period

2008 to 2012

WELLS, Maine, November 4, 2011 — Paul Dest, director of the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), was presented with the 2011 NERR System and NERR Association Award at the annual NERRS/NERRA meeting at Ponte Verde Beach, Florida, on October 27. The award is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the reserve system.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized, and especially meaningful when it is by one’s peers,” said Dest.

For the past few years, the staff at the Wells Reserve and Laudholm Trust have taken a springtime day trip to places with missions similar to our own. It's great to get out together to see how others meet challenges big and small. Yesterday's focus was on the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire. Our two Reserves are constantly collaborating, but this was a good chance to broaden and deepen the relationship.

It's been a while since we brought up the freshwater estuary at the mouth of Wisconsin's St. Louis River. Well, it's now become an official member of the reserve system, as announced this week by the University of Wisconsin-Superior:

The U.S. Congress has passed a consolidated appropriations bill that included the highest numbers yet for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System's operations, while also funding a new program for the system: the NERRS Science Collaborative. The total amount appropriated is $23.5 million. The bill (H3288) now awaits the President's signature.…

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has nominated the St. Louis River in the northwest part of his state to become the 28th National Estuarine Research Reserve. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will determine whether to add the site to the Reserve system. The Governor's press release is here…