For Release: Wednesday, October 6, 2004
DEC Helps Local Students Learn about the Hudson River
Local Students and Environmental Educators Team up to Help Create a Day in the Life of the Hudson River
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced that DEC will team up with environmental education centers and local high school and middle school students and teachers to research and monitor the Hudson River on Wednesday, October 6, 2004. Student research will help DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program create a day-in-the-life of the Hudson River and help students learn about the important progress of the Hudson River Estuary.
"Teaching our youth about the ecology of the Hudson Estuary is a major goal of Governor George Pataki's," Commissioner Crotty said. "This experience will provide students with first-hand experience with the river's rich aquatic life and allow them to share their findings and excitement with other classes all along the Hudson. The program will also foster an increased appreciation for this unique and fragile natural resource."
Students from schools all along the Hudson estuary will collect scientific information from their unique portion of the Hudson. The teams of students and environmental educators will investigate the variety and number of fish at their sites, the types of aquatic plants present, the temperature, pH, and salinity of the water, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen. Participants will forward their data to the Estuary Program within 24 hours of collection. Staff there will compile the observations and return them to participants so that they can study and understand the importance of their area of the River. With the data, students will also be able to study how distribution of fish species varies with salinity or observe how, at any given time, tidal phenomena may differ from place to place along the estuary.
Hudson River Estuary Program was created in 1987 and is a unique regional partnership designed to protect, conserve, restore, and enhance the estuary. The Hudson's productivity and diversity of natural resources sustain a wide array of present and future human benefits. It is a valuable fishery, a water supply, a boater's playground, a landscape of inspiring beauty, a shipping route, and more. It is managed by a cooperative effort that coordinates public input with the expertise of professionals throughout DEC and other partnering local, State and federal agencies.
Since 1995, Governor Pataki has committed nearly $196 million to the Hudson River Estuary. This funding includes $5 million that he appropriated for the Estuary for 2004-2005. This funding will used for environmental study, monitoring, and development projects along the estuary.
The compiled data from the participating groups will be available by the close of business on October 8, 2004 by calling Wendy Rosenbach at (845)256-3018 or by calling the Hudson River Estuary Program at (845)256-3016.
This event, sponsored by DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program, is in its second year. In 2003, nearly 400 students participated at thirteen sites. This fall, seventeen sites will be covered by sampling teams.
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