Good Fundraiser at Robert's Maine Grill!

Robert's Maine Grill, in Kittery, Maine, will host a “Community Supper” on November 26^th and again on December 3^rd to help support the Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper, a program of the Conservation Law Foundation.

The Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper is working to restore the health of our waters by being a strong, local voice for the Great Bay estuary. Sewage treatment plants, stormwater systems, fertilizing practices, shellfishing closures, and disappearing eelgrass, to name a few, require our attention today.

Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper, Jeff Barnum, says, “We all deserve clean water to live, work, and play. Livelihoods, ecosystems, and recreational opportunities are at risk. The Great Bay Estuary needs our attention now.”

Every Tuesday and Wednesday night, Robert’s Maine Grill offers a “Community Supper” starting at 4pm. The supper is $14; offering a three course menu – a mid-week “recession buster” offering. To add to the community spirit Robert’s donates a portion of the proceeds from the evening to a local non-profit. The menus are Robert’s-style in nature: Maine comfort food with an updated twist. Reservations are recommended. Robert’s regular dinner menu is also available. Upcoming Community Supper menus are posted at www.robertsmainegrill.com.

A Public Invitation from Rockingham Planning Commission

Hello Friends and Colleagues,

[You are invited to] a public participation event hosted by NH Listens as part of Rockingham Planning Commission's Granite State Future project. The Granite State Future project is an initiative led by the nine regional planning commissions in NH to simultaneously update their regional master plans.

This is an opportunity for residents of RPC's planning region to voice their concerns, opinions and vision for the future of southeastern New Hampshire - what works, what could be better, what our future will look like. Your input will be incorporated as we prepare our new regional master plan. RPC will also hold an Open House event and other public participation events starting in June and through fall of this year.

The NH Listens event will be held from 7:00-9:00pm (check-in from 6:30-7:00pm) on Tuesday, May 14th at the Sanborn Regional High School, 17 Danville Road, Kingston, NH. Registration is encouraged - see the registration link in below.

Please forward this announcement to friends and others who live in southeastern NH communities. And if you choose attend - bring a friend a or two! We hope to see you there.

Thank you,
Julie LaBranche

Senior Planner
Rockingham Planning Commission
156 Water Street
Exeter, NH 03833
Phone: (603) 778-0885
Fax: (603) 778-9183

Invasive Plant 'Pull' on Weeks Conservation Land

The WRWC coordinated an invasive plant pull for the Weeks Brick House & Gardens (WBHG) on July 21st, made entirely possible by the volunteerism of Boy Scout Troop 158 and WBGH member Steve Pike. 

With 30+ acres of land conserved for public enjoyment, every individual pull leads towards a healthier and more diverse "little piece of heaven in Greenland."  Interested in contributing to this effort?  Join the WBHG for the next 'pull' on September 8th at 9AM by contacting the WRWC at winnicut@gmail.com

The Crew:  Many thanks to this hardworking crew!  From left to right: Joseph Riggle, Adrian Whitford, Rick Mauer, Andrew Fogarty, Will Mauer, Chris Riggle, Brian Fogarty, Debbie Fogarty, and Steve Pike.  Photos by WBHG member Amanda Nelson.

The Tool: 'Weed Wrenches' are on loan through the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for any and all to use, whether neighborhood association, non-profit, Conservation Commission, or individual!

Adrian and Andrew about to rip out some invasive glossy buckthorn!

The arrow is pointing to a stem of buckthorn clamped bewteen the wrench's teeth.  A little body weight on the lever, and out come the roots! 

Scouts Joseph, Will, Adrian and Andrew clearing invasive glossy buckthorn from conservation land.  

  

Chris Riggle joins in...

Nothing wrong with a little additional human effort!!

Steve Pike in camouflage....

Now that's a root ball!

Thanks everyone -- your help made a difference!

SAVE THE DATE! Winnicut River Restoration and Fish Pass OPEN HOUSE on JULY 21, 2012

SAVE THE DATE!  From 10-2 on Saturday, July 21st, visit the 'River Restoration and Fish Pass Open House' at the former dam site in Greenland on Rte 33!  Participating groups include:

Winnicut River Watershed Coalition
New Hampshire Rivers Council
CLF's Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper
NH Fish and Game, Marine Fisheries Division
Great Bay Trout Unlimited
NH DES Coastal Program

LOOK FOR OUR TENTS!  We'll be on the east side of the river; use the newly installed gravel driveway located on the north side of Rte 33 (left just before the Country View Restaurant heading east).  There will be a free, fun, creative activity for children, a native plant ID contest, items for sale, and loads of updates on the great work that these participating groups have been doing within the Winnicut River watershed (area of land that drains to the Winnicut River)!  Parking may be limited, so please be mindful!

FOLLOWING the Open House, the WRWC will head up to the Commons on Post Road to participate in the 22nd annual  community event from 2-6 PM!

We'll offer a fun, unique children's craft to make, a raffle on a 60-gal rotating compost bin and 60-gal rain barrel, and loads of informative handouts on all kinds of conservation efforts going on locally.  We'll also have wildflower-garden gifts to give away on a first-some first-serve basis!  See you then!

Winnicut Coalition at Portsmouth Open Market

The Winnicut Coalition was the featured watershed group at this Sunday's Gundalow tent during the Portsmouth Open Market at Strawbery Banke.  Rain and overcast skies kept attendance low, but there were still as many as a couple dozen visitors to the tent. 

Click on photo to enlarge, and then click again to zoom in on your watershed!

The Winnicut Coalition and Portsmouth Open Market

The gundalow sailing on the  bay, as most people have seen her.

Click here to read an interesting NHPR article on the new Gundalow being built in Portsmouth, NH, for the Gundalow Company.  What a thrill it will be to sail the waters of the Piscataqua region when it is finished!

The Gundalow Company is also part of another great project this summer in the form of a series of Open Markets every Sunday at Strawbery Banke (pix of previous market days can be seen under the 'Blog' link found under the 'Home' drop-down).  The Gundalow Co. is featuring and celebrating a local river group working to protect rivers and streams in and around, and including, Great Bay.  The Winnicut Coalition is one of these such groups and will be on hand August 7th to answer questions about Winnicut River-related issues and events, pass out dog waste baggies and bones (part of the NH Coastal Program's 'Scoop-the-Poop' campaign), and share lots of other conservation info.  Come on into Portsmouth and enjoy a great afternoon of fun and shopping (market runs from 10am to 4pm), and learn about the maritime history of 'Puddle Dock' and 'Strawbery Banke'!  

Piscataqua Waterfront Festival 2011

The WRWC info table pre-start time at the 3rd annual Piscataqua Waterfront Festival in Portsmouth, NH.

It was a fantastically sunny and upbeat day yesterday down on the Ceres Street Wharf.  Folks from all around the region visited Portsmouth to partake in the 27th annual WOKQ Chowder Festival at Prescott Park, and the 3rd annual Piscataqua Waterfront Festival hosted by the historical Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden.

The Moffatt-Ladd Waterfront Festival is a celebration of Piscataqua River maritime history and contemporary water quality issues surrounding Great Bay.  The Winnicut River is a main tributary to Great Bay, and thus we were asked to participate in the celebration.  But of course!

The 'With Just One Hand' board was a successful attraction, and more than two dozen visitors pledged to support the 'Scoop the Poop' campaign!  Here, the green hands for writing pets' names have already started accumulating.

Interested folks scoping out the abundant information on many ways to help improve water quality (regardless of where one lives!).  For pledging to 'Scoop the Poop', visitors were given special poop bags tied around IAMs dog bones and an info tag.  As a NH Coverts Project volunteer, I also included lots of ways to protect wildlife and their habitat, and offered fun pocket guides to identifying wildlife tracks in NH. 

Piscataqua Waterfront Festival, June 4, 2011

http://www.moffattladd.org/calendar.html

One week from tomorrow the Winnicut River Watershed Coalition will be attending this event.  From the Moffatt-Ladd website:

"The festival features music, traditional maritime artisan demonstrations, free museum tours, hands-on children’s activities, boats, booths, and displays by area businesses and non-profit organizations, and an heirloom plant sale of plants from the Moffatt-Ladd garden.  The festival is designed to heighten awareness of our maritime history, contemporary water quality issues, boat building heritage and opportunities, marine management, water recreation, and conservation."

Curious how you'll manage to move back and forth between the PWF and the Chowder festival?  Portsmouth Harbor Cruises will be providing free boat shuttles between the Ceres Street Wharf and the Chowder Festival in Prescott Park! 

Stop on by our table and say hello!