Awards Ceremony at The 4th Annual Greening the Statehouse Policy Forum will be held on Saturday, December 10th at Butler University’s Reilly Room at Atherton Union in downtown Indy from 8:30am-3pm. So join us for education from Indianapolis policy experts and environmental groups. For reservations call Jesse Karbanda at 317.685.8800 ext. 103
The Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana’s largest environmental policy organization, has claimed “Save Maumee won Organization of the Year!” Abigail King, Ryan Bailey and Jain Young will be accepting the award for the group. Supporters of the day include Sierra Club, Blue Green Alliance, Carmel Green Initiative, Indiana Green Business Network, Indiana Recycling Coalition, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Save the Dunes, City of Indianapolis-Office of Sustainability.
Save Maumee has been chosen as a result of the positive impact on the community, the group’s great volunteer spirit, passion for the health of the rivers in the Great Lakes region, and ability to organize a number of very successful volunteer driven river clean-up and restoration events.
Northeast Indiana Rivers Represented in Washington D.C.
Save Maumee has been chosen by Healing Our Waters to represent Northeast Indiana for Clean Water Week during Great Lakes Days in Washington, D.C. The event will be held Feb. 28-29.
Every year, more than 125 citizens from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin travel to our nations capital to educate public officials about the importance of the Great Lakes to the regions economy and quality of life.
Needed Action for Congressmen discussion;
* Enforce current laws
* Support legislation that protects natural areas.
* Proper review of permits for corporations and stronger oversight and enforcement of permits. If fines are levied when a company discharges beyond allowed permit effluent, the monies can be utilized to truly improve water quality for human health.
* Indiana HB 1112 was passed and July 1st 2012 manufacturing waste (considered hazardous and illegal to discharge into the air or water), will now be added to soil and consider the soil to be amended, a.k.a. better than it was before.
* Tiles, straight pipes and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) outlets should be properly counted and available to the public on Indiana & Allen County GIS maps.
* Establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for the Maumee in Indiana, and complete the Upper Maumee Watershed Management Plan so the community knows the priorities of our waterways.
* Rules being developed by the Indiana State Chemist will regulate livestock waste as a fertilizer material, but do not take into account the pathogens in manure. It is important in disclosing information on when, where, and how much manure is land applied to Indiana fields, and note it will have allowances to spread manure on frozen fields. All this will allow more runoff into our waterways.
Save Maumee wants to see ALL people come together to improve the quality of Fort Waynes Three Rivers and thirty-four million that depend on the Maumee River, downstream. All these issues have workable solutions.
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Save Maumee Grassroots Organization is dedicated to raising awareness about the conditions of the 3 Rivers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, while facilitating ecosystem restoration projects to improve water quality. Revitalizing the St. Joe/Maumee Watershed will protect and restore the environment, while improving the economic, aesthetic and recreational value. Research into historical importance of our navigable waterways and current pollution conditions began in 2001 and Save Maumee began bank-stabilization projects in 2005. To date Save Maumee has planted over 1,500 trees, 800lbs of native riparian seed and removed 22,000 lbs of trash on volunteer hours and in-kind donations alone.