James R. Foster, Anacostia Watershed Jim Connolly, Anacostia Watershed
Society, President Society, Executive Director
Peter Ladd Gilsey, Ariba GLB Asset Panel discussion with Dr. Hancock
Management, Chairman & CEO
Program Summary:
Tune in
to the Inside Scoop The EmeraldPlanet to learn from three experts working to
improve one of the most polluted waterways on the American East Coast. Used since the beginning of colonial
times before the founding of the United States the Anacostia River and its
tributaries were used for sourcing food, transportation, international trade,
industrial development, host to countless farms, towns, and cities, while
serving for much of these 400 years as public plumbing and garbage dump.
As the
photographs will attest this is one of the most scenic rivers in America which
is being brought back from the brink of economic, recreational, and life style
extinction. James R. Foster,
President and James Connolly, Executive Director, Anacostia Watershed Society and
Peter Gilsey, Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and Founder/Chairman,
Trees for the Capital Committee will discuss how "lessons learned" on
and with the Anacostia can be applied as "best practices" throughout
the United States and thousands of rivers around the globe.
Jim
Foster and Jim Connolly will share how Anacostia Watershed Society was founded
in 1989 by a small group of concerned individuals who decided that the
environmental needs of the Anacostia River and its watershed communities required
serious attention. Since its founding its staff and programming efforts have
expanded significantly to encompass efforts in environmental education,
stewardship, and advocacy.
You will
learn how the mission of the Anacostia Watershed Society is to protect and
restore the Anacostia River and its watershed communities by cleaning the
water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage. Both Jim Foster and Jim Connolly share
the collective vision to make the Anacostia River and its tributaries swimmable
and fishable, in keeping with the United States Clean Water Act, for the health
and enjoyment of everyone in the community. Community involvement is critical
to achieving this vision and AWS seeks win-win solutions through strong
partnerships and coalitions, with all parts of the community, government, and
other stakeholders. Core to its work is reaching out to, educating and engaging
the next generation of decision-makers, the Region's youth.
Peter
Gilsey, Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow reports that visitors to
Washington, D.C. will find more than two-thousand varieties of trees and
shrubs, representing nearly two hundred distinct species providing examples of
kinds of trees and shrubs than any other city on earth. The Rotary Club of Washington, D.C.
working with Mrs. Emily Mead of the George H.W. Bush White House to begin a
four-year program to "re-leaf" the Capital City while reducing storm
water run off into the tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean. The first tree was
planted on Arbor Day, August, 1991 at the Mansion.
Since
those early efforts extensive plantings have been made at the U.S. Capitol and
now almost exclusively around the Tidal Basin including Hains Point. Two hundred thirty-two Yoshino Cherry
trees have been planted with another 50 being planned. These trees are becoming the center
point of the annual "Cherry Blossom Celebration" a major attraction
of the Spring tourists season in America's Capital City.
Peter will share how the Trees for the Capital Committee and the D.C.
Rotary Club are an important part and supporter of the Anacostia Watershed
Society's efforts to combine environmental quality, tourism, 'green' jobs
creation, and practical steps towards reversing the ill affects of 21st Century
high density urban impacts on scarce natural resources.
As you may know EmeraldPlanet is a worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to identifying at least 1,000 'best practices' for sustainable environmental and economic development. Our efforts are to link those having such "best practices" with those needing the technologies, processes, services, and products to be outstanding ecological stewards of their resources.
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