Grant to expand conservation district stream table use

 

 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION

Ottaquechee kids

The stream table is used to teach students.

The Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District has been awarded a $7,500 Vermont Watershed Grant through the Agency of Natural Resources and the Fish and Wildlife Department  to further develop its “The River Roadshow” for community outreach, school education and operator awareness.

The River Roadshow is a traveling stream table that seeks to show the public how rivers work, help students discover the principle of river dynamics and help machine operatorsto  see how their work can bene ficially or adversely affect rivers.

The Ottauquechee conservation district has had more than a year of practice using its Little River Research Design stream table to demonstrate river dynamics to both adults and school children. The stream table was funded by a grant from Vermont Community Foundation and a  4 to 6 grade lesson plan was developed by the district through Ventura Ventures Educational Consultants.  An additional grant from the Wellborn (NH) Charitable Foundation helped get the program into 18 schools during this past year school year.

“River dynamics are complex and difficult to explain in typical presentation forms, whether it’s a classroom lecture or field session. The stream table makes these concepts much more accessible, and shows how each of us can make choices in our every-day lives to protect and promote stream health,” says Christina Marts of the Marsh/Billings/Rockefeller National Park.

This grant will allow the conservation district to further develop uses for the stream table.  In addition to providing it to Vermont schools, primarily in Windsor County, for a two-week period, ONRCD will be holding workshops, with assistance from Natural Resources personnel, for the operators of excavators, backhoes and bulldozers to gain some of the knowledge that is now being taught to members of the Vermont Agency of Transportation.  The first workshop will be held in June. In addition, workshops for fire departments, town road crews and select boards will be developed.

The grant also supports ONRCD’s public outreach with the stream table with demonstrations at large public events such as Flavors of the Valley, Trek to Taste and Springfield Apple Festival.

The Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District will be at Trek to Taste on June 7 at Marsh/Billings/Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock and the Springfield Apple Festival in the fall.

For more information, see visit its website at www.onrcd.org or onrcd@gmail.com

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About the Author: This item was edited from one or more press releases submitted to The Chester Telegraph.

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