A native of North Arlington, author Mary Bruno wanted to understand why her hometown river, the Passaic, has such a bad reputation. Working with experienced guides, she kayaked its entire length to witness all the rivers virtues and problems for herself. The trip inspired her to write An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey’s Passaic River. Part natural history, part personal history, and part rollicking adventure, the memoir invites readers to lose themselves in the Passaic’s storied (and often sordid) past.      

Do you know your spring peepers from your wood frogs? What does a leopard frog sound like and can they be found in your neighborhood? Join GSWA and Tedor Whitman of Cora Hartshorn Arboretum for this hands-on training session to become an official FrogWatch volunteer. FrogWatch is a citizen science program that uses volunteer’s observations to create a database of frog and toad sightings, helping to establish long-term and large-scale data on amphibian populations. During the training, you’ll learn how to recognize different species of frogs and toads from their appearance and calls, and how to record your observations into the database. We will work with you to select places around the region to monitor and you will be frog counting in no time! Registration required. Register online at GreatSwamp.org or call (973) 538-3500 x 22.    

Why should you get a rain barrel? Use a barrel to capture and store the rain running through your home’s downspout and you’ll routinely have 55 gallons of free water to use around your property. Your barrel will also help slow the flow of stormwater running through your neighborhood and entering local streams. This helps to reduce flooding and water pollution. Sounds like a good idea, right? GSWA and Green Mojo Eco Consulting will help you build your own water-saving rain barrel. Using a recycled, food-grade barrel and a spigot adapter kit, we will walk you through the simple construction process. Each registered participant will leave with the workshop with their very own handcrafted rain barrel that is ready to be hooked up to a household downspout.    

There’s no better way to celebrate the first day of spring than to get outside and explore. Join GSWA’s Dan Ross as he guides you in identifying the first signs of spring – skunk cabbages peaking through the snow, new buds forming on trees, and spring migrants returning from their winter destinations. Although it may feel as though winter will be with us forever, these signs of spring will be sure to brighten your day.        

If you are interested in becoming a stream monitoring volunteer or just learning more about stream health, this is the training for you! An indoor classroom session helps you learn how to conduct visual stream assessments, and recognize environmental factors that may impact stream health. An outdoor session helps you practice your new-found skills at a local stream site. Afterwards, you will be a fully trained stream assessment volunteer and ready to conduct a new assessment this fall! This training will be conducted in conjunction with the AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassador Program.      

Join us and Environmental Resource Management Agent Amy Rowe for a special breakfast briefing presentation on how to ensure that honeybees, native bees, and other pollinators thrive in your local environment. Registration required.        

There is a long-standing problem of water infrastructure management in New Jersey.  Water supply, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure systems have not received adequate investment for decades in most parts of the state.  Many of our existing pipelines were put in place during two growth spurts – the city-building era of 1890-1930 and the suburban growth boom of 1950-1970. These pipes are aging to the point of frequent failure.  Treatment plants were built or upgraded more recently, in response to the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act of the 1970s, but are also aging and will need significant investment.  Dr. Van Abs will discuss the coming collision between the public interest in sound water infrastructure and the public’s interest in low costs.