Speak-up for the Westfield River, essential salmon habitat; PETITION

[03/21/11 UPDATE: THIS PETITION IS STILL OPEN, the URL is still good AND hot, tho the links in the action alert copy here are broken. Sorry, that's what happens when systems get shaken by their foundations, thingks get broken.]

HOT LINK:
https://ori.wufoo.com/forms/save-the-westfield-river-essential-salmon-habitat/

The Westfield River needs your help, today. 

I know the Westfield River as a coldstream river with much wildlife, beautiful flora and over fifty miles of white water canoeing and kayaking.
 
Yet, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has thrown out testimony offered by a river scientist for a hearing on the Russell Biomass plant. The hearing focused on the water withdrawal permit the state has issued for the wood-fired electricity generating plant. The utility plant would be located on the Westfield River, one of the Valley's finest fishing rivers, which since 1993 has enjoyed the federal designation of Wild and Scenic River.

Before the hearing, testimony concerning the permit had been filed by Prof. Piotr Parasiewicz. He developed a computer simulation model for fish and mussel habitat restoration planning that is used in the formulation of instream flow standards in New England and Europe.

Parasiewicz was not the only specialist who had filed testimony before the hearing. Joining him were Andrea Donlon, river steward with the Connecticut River Watershed Association, Peter Schilling, an attorney representing Trout Unlimited, and Henry Warchol, a Westfield resident who, like Schilling, has expressed concern that the downdraw of water will threaten the Atlantic salmon, which was restored to the Connecticut River region in a decades-long program at a cost of $600 million. The Westfield is a major tributary of the Connecticut.

Piotr and Andrea have asked for assistance from the Ocean River Institute. 
Please put your name to our letter.  Close to 2,000 citizens from across the land have already joined with ORI.  Many have taken the time to add a personal comment as to why the Westfield River is important to them. You may take over the weekend to do so.  Please add your own comment.

Speak-up for the Westfield River.  Sign our letter calling for science-informed environmental decision-making. Thanks to you! A Western Union money order for $24 came to ORI from New Orleans.  Bonds of much value came to ORI from an anonymous couple.  I am most grateful for what each ORI donor does to help us assist locals save wildlife and conserve ecosystems.  The depths of your generosity despite these tough economic times are astounding!

About the Ocean River Institute
We foster greater personal involvement and relationships in conservation science, resource monitoring and protecting ecosystems. We build and actively manage relationships with others to foster greater communities both social and ecological.

Business as usual in the environmental world isn't working: despite decades of effort, most of the major indicators of our planet's health continue to drop like this fall's stock market. So ORI is breaking new ground with a radically different approach, called environmental "subsidiarity". Instead of working from the top down, subsidiarity means working from the bottom up, backing up those who are doing the real work in the field with the resources they need to get the job done. That means that, instead of launching new projects based on what we think is needed, we see our job as strengthening and supporting those local groups already operating on the front lines. They know better than we do what needs to be done.

Coming soon: River, Climate, Action
Blue Visions Conference March 7th
Save the British Virgin Islands from un-ecological developers.
Practice environmental subsidiarity.
Got 350 ppm CO2

- please help provide critical funds to make these and other important projects a success. 
Rob Moir, Ocean River Institute www.oceanriver.org

 From: "Rob Moir, Ocean River Institute"
Subject: Help Us Save the Westfield River
Date: 24 февраля 2009 г. 15:32

  Ocean River Institute, Inc. is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations and bequests to ORI are tax-deductible as allowed by law, for income, gift, and estate tax purposes. ORI acknowledges market value at time of transaction of appreciated securities, mutual funds, bonds or similar assets.

Speak-up for the Westfield River.

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