Stewardship Program |
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Construction Site Stormwater Management
The presentation given by Patrick Ferracane, DEC Region3 and other DEC resources are available for download via the links at the bottom right of this page Working with Community Based Organizations The District's Stewardship Program enables community and environmental groups, teachers, students and citizens to become environmental stewards of their local natural resource. We encourage groups to adopt a natural resource, such as a forest or a waterbody and its watershed, be it a reach of a river, a bay, a tributary, a lake, or a wetland. We work to empower stewards to act as watchdogs, monitors, local resource experts and historians of their natural resource. The Stewardship Program is a cooperative effort with the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program and is focused on three elements:
Program Support We help stewardship groups and teachers interested in monitoring through providing technical assistance and facilitating information exchange. We host workshops on natural resource management issues, field trips showcasing the City's natural resources, and conferences for networking and sharing their work with government agencies. We also connect groups and teachers with resource experts willing to work with them. Watershed PlanningWe have chosen three priority watersheds: Jamaica Bay, the Bronx River and the Arthur Kill. The District acts as a liaison between government planning agencies and communities. In this capacity, we ensure community input into the public planning process. For instance in partnership with the Friends of Gateway, a non-profit group, we have re-established the Jamaica Bay Task Force. The Task Force meetings have featured various agency programs taking place in Jamaica Bay, including the Jamaica Bay Ecosystem Restoration Project of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection. The District is also an active member of the Bronx River Alliance, a non-profit organization working to restore the Bronx River. We are working in partnership with the Bronx River Alliance to ensure the Bronx River Watershed Comprehensive Restoration Plan of the US Army Corps of Engineers will reflect the community needs. |
![]() For more information about the District's Stewardship Program, Contact Tatiana Morin
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