Municipal Liaison Program:
This program helps local public officials better understand the growing variety of "environmentally friendly" technology, legal precedents and municipal land-use ordinances they can use to assure the preservation of the local natural environment. Public officials on local environmental commissions, shade tree committees, planning boards, zoning boards of adjustments, etc. are often volunteers without specialized expertise or education in environmental protection. Yet they are regularly asked to determine the fate of the local environment by the decisions they make. Our goal is help these individuals make more informed land-use decisions by providing them with a variety of tools such as: a handbook and video on "blue-green" technology; materials that identify important open space areas in the watershed; a compilation of "model ordinances" and legal precedents to guide land use; and an introduction to the Geographic Information Systems materials we have available for municipal planners. By hosting meetings and seminars, the Watershed Association acts as a municipal liaison to these various groups and helps them understand "smart growth" concepts that are friendly to the environment and protect the quality of life in the region.
Ten Towns Committee Program:
GSWA monitors a regional stormwater and wastewater planning effort in the watershed. This is the first time that the ten watershed communities are planning in concert, a major achievement. Examples of planning issues of concern to the Watershed Association include widening roads, non-point source pollution, stormwater runoff, flooding, and creation and promotion of appropriate land-use ordinances. This program evolved from the 1993 recommendations of the Great Swamp Watershed Advisory Committee.
Land Use Program:
Localized development issues have a "ripple effect" and often affect the larger regional ecosystem. The Watershed Association works alone or in concert with local groups, like the Morristown Friends of Great Brook, as a mentor in helping them raise money, plan strategies, and effectively participate in development issues that will impact their neighborhoods.
GSWA Website:
Through the ongoing efforts of updating the www.greatswamp.org website, we strive to educate our members and the public about the work we do and the projects in which we are involved. We try to inform others about complex environmental issues and the importance of making better-informed policy decisions. The
website posts a current list of advocacy work being done in each of the ten towns surrounding the watershed. The most recent work on the website includes a virtual tour of the Watershed Association's Conservation Area. The tour enables the "visitor" to learn about the valuable role wetlands play in the lifecycle of different animals. Various unique features of the Conservation Area are highlighted and a variety of plant and animal species are identified. Work on our website is an on-going process as we organize and publish a wide range of information to keep the general public informed.
Environmental Education and Outreach Program:
GSWA's Environmental Education and Outreach Program brings watershed awareness and environmental education to the classroom, reaching out to the next generation of watershed residents and caretakers. There are three components of the program:
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GSWA staff and volunteers bring the Association's 2' x 4' model of a watershed to schools and other community groups in the form of one-time programs. They use the watershed model to vividly demonstrate how both point and non-point source pollution occur. The demonstrations provide students with the opportunity to see how they can make a difference in preventing water pollution.
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The Project Director organizes and presents two Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) workshops per year. The one-day workshops and the Project WET book provide teachers of grades K-12 with over 90 innovative, hands-on activities to use in teaching their students about watersheds, wetlands, point and non-point source pollution, and the importance of protecting our water resources.
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The Watershed Association has produced the Teacher's Guide to the Great Swamp Watershed. This 70-page illustrated handbook was published in 2000 and is designed to help area teachers introduce their students to the natural and cultural resources of the Great Swamp. The guide offers a definition of a watershed; gives the location of the Great Swamp watershed; provides a brief natural and human history of the area; describes environmental threats and ways to alleviate them; and offers a compilation of additional educational resources (field trips, web sites, workshops) and seven hands-on classroom and outdoor activities.
GSWA's Environmental Education and Outreach Program is an on-going public education resource with new and updated information, resources, and programs added as they become available.
Educational Video- Saved But Not
Safe:
The Second Battle to Save Great Swamp: The Watershed Association has produced a 21-minute case study of watershed protection. This video, developed by award-winning producer Melissa Paly of Cross Currents Productions, focuses on protection efforts underway in Great Swamp, expanding on issues related to its initial preservation. Subjects addressed in the film include green space protection in the watershed, greenway preservation, and best management practices. This video has proven to be a critical tool for expanding the educational base of support for the protection of Great Swamp, the Passaic River it serves downstream, and similarly threatened natural areas in places beyond New Jersey. First aired in 1999 on NJT, New Jersey's public television network, the video is now available to the public.
Membership Support Services:
The Watershed Association regularly provides tours and seminars on topics related to the goals of the Great Swamp Watershed Association, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, and of the natural, historical and cultural resources of the watershed. Other programs include bird walks, bike tours, "Swamp Science" for families and nature programs with area naturalists. We also provide a quarterly newsletter to our membership.
Current Activities
Other Activities: Water Quality
Other Activities: Land
Preservation
