Presenting renowned photographer and documentary filmmaker Don Briggs!

The North Fork River Improvement Association presents renowned photographer and documentary filmmaker Don Briggs.

"An Evening with Don Briggs" will be held Friday, July 2, 2010 at the Blue Sage Center for the Arts in Paonia from 7 to 9 pm. Don will be giving a slide show featuring his extraordinary photography. Also scheduled is a possible sneak preview of his new documentary about the struggle to keep the Grand Canyon a free-flowing stretch of river. Details TBA.

Don Briggs is one of the early Grand Canyon river runners and a member of ARTA, beginning in the late 1960s as the first commercial rafting outfit on the Grand Canyon. For years, Don has been involved in river activism, documenting the fight in the 1970's to save California's Stanislaus River. Watch the trailer for "Last River Lost" here.

This event will be a benefit for NFRIA with a suggested donation of $8. Don't miss this opportunity to share an evening with one of the original river activists!

Cocker Kids Foundation funds new NFRIA program, the "Youth River Awareness Initiative"

NFRIA was recently awarded full funding by the Cocker Kids Foundation for the initial phase of our "Youth River Awareness Initiative" (YRAI).

The YRAI is an opportunity for the North Fork Valley community to instill a sense of river and resource responsibility into local youth. In an agricultural community, proper stewardship of water and other natural resources is especially vital. By partnering with local school teachers, as well as the local libraries, NFRIA hopes to reach the maximum number of children.

"The greatest gift we can give to our children is knowledge that allows them to be stewards of their natural environment," said Rhonda Duclo, Delta County Libraries Assistant District Director. "Our Make a Splash and Make a Wave youth summer reading programs are meant to provide quality, fun, natural resource education to children in the area. NFRIA's program is a perfect fit because it provides the educational materials - including about twenty-five children's books that deal with resource awareness - and the local professionals necessary to teach effective water stewardship."

NFRIA recently added "education and outreach" to our organization goals. We believe community awareness is the only way to ensure that our vibrant natural resources will be available to future generations. The YRAI is our first major effort to have a long-term positive influence on local youth.

One of the highlights of this program is the newly purchased Enviroscape. This reusable model of a watershed is a hands-on, interactive learning experience that uses colored drink mixes and cocoa to illustrate how residential areas, storm water, transportation, recreation, agriculture, and construction all can contribute significantly to water pollution.

On June 24th, representatives of NFRIA will be presenting at Crawford and Paonia libraries. Be on the lookout for a date at Hotchkiss Library.

WSERC Board Approves Merger

To our valued members:

This past Wednesday, the 9th, the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council (WSERC) Board of Directors approved the Agreement and Plan of Merger between WSERC and NFRIA and voted to present the Agreement and Plan of Merger to the membership for a final vote. This vote is tentatively scheduled for June 29th.

Whatever the WSERC membership decides, their vote will end a process that began early this year with unofficial talks and picked up pace when the merger was unanimously approved both by an unofficial WSERC membership straw poll vote and subsequent official NFRIA membership vote at our respective annual meetings.

Throughout all of this, our membership has shown tremendous support and enthusiasm. The NFRIA Board of Directors and I appreciate this support and will use it as inspiration as we begin an exciting new chapter.

At NFRIA, we are optimistic that by the end of July the merger will officially take place, and as the NFRIA-WSERC Conservation Center we can begin to move forward with renewed vigor and focus. The bottom line is this: we have much work left to do in this valley. We have done a great deal to preserve and restore the North Fork River; however, within the next year we will release our new and updated Watershed Plan, take on another major river restoration project, likely initiate two new water quality monitoring programs (one for selenium and the other for natural gas production), administer a brand new youth river awareness education program, make over $70,000 worth of improvements to the Paonia River Park, and begin to write the grants that keep our work alive and our mission strong.

Thank you for sticking with us during this process. We will be in touch again when the merger is final.

Regards,


Dave Stiller
Executive Director