Thursday, December 3, 2009

3 pieces of news info Re Conservation issues; Internship

1) Staten Island rally this Saturday to save Pouch Camp (Greenbelt)



http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2009/12/thousands_urge_that_pouch_camp.html

*************

*Pouch Camp rally
Supporters looking to preserve the William H. Pouch Scout Camp in Sea View have organized a public rally.

*When
Dec. 12, 5 to 6:30 p.m.

*Where

Meet in front of Susan Wagner High School, 1200 Manor Rd., Sea View.

*What

The group will march down the street to the camp, then proceed to its Memorial Garden, where the annual holiday lighting will take place.

*Of note
As of last night, more 400 Facebook members had confirmed their attendance and the camp’s head ranger, Gil Schweiger, confirmed that another 1,000 to 1,200 individuals had made verbal commitments.

2)

From Jonathan Wells from Prospect Park Audubon Center; searching for a graduate internship

Hello all,



Hope all is well. I am looking for a graduate student for an internship program I’m running here at the center this spring. If you know of anyone who might be appropriate please let them or myself know. See below a brief description and an attached flyer.



Thanks so much for any assistance,



Jonathan





Jonathan P. Wells

Manager of Education Programs

Prospect Park Audubon Center

(718) 287-3400 x114

jwells@audubon.prospectpark.org



To be successful in our conservation efforts, we need your help! Sign up for Audubon Alerts and the Advisory at www.audubonaction.org/newyork





To whom it may concern;



This spring the Prospect Park Audubon Center will be offering a graduate level internship to students interested in entering into environmental education, or an environmental administration field. The Internship will give students entry-level experience at the Audubon Center, while receiving internship credits from their respective schools. Please see below a brief internship description, the same information attached as a document, and a flyer for advertising at your organization. Please have any potential candidates submit the below requirements to job102@prospectpark.org. For additional internal information please contact me at the email address below. Feel free to pass this email along to any interested parties.



Thank you for your assistance,



Jonathan Wells





Jonathan P. Wells

Manager of Education Programs / Internship Coordinator

Prospect Park Audubon Center

(718) 287-3400 x114

jwells@audubon.prospectpark.org



To be successful in our conservation efforts, we need your help! Sign up for Audubon Alerts and the Advisory at www.audubonaction.org/newyork



AD COPY



The Prospect Park Alliance, working in partnership with City of New York and the community, restores, develops, and operates Prospect Park for the enjoyment of all by caring for the natural environment, preserving historic design, and serving the public through facilities and programs. Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s 585-acre historic flagship park, designed by the famed Olmsted and Vaux. It is the home of Brooklyn’s only lake and forest, with nature trails, numerous recreational activities, public and school-based educational programs, volunteer opportunities, and the first urban Audubon Center.

The mission of the Prospect Park Audubon Center is to inspire the people of Brooklyn to appreciate, learn about and protect the birds, other wildlife and their habitats in Prospect Park and beyond.

***

The Prospect Park Audubon Center seeks a graduate student intern. The internship provides school credit and work experience for students interested in the fields of environmental education or environmental institution administration. The internship is designed to prepare graduate students entering into the field through training, education, and work experience in four core career components:



1. Non-formal Teaching Experience

2. Environmental Philosophy, Education, and the Inquiry-based Teaching Method

3. Environmental Institution Administration

4. Special Events Management or Staff Development

Interns will obtain the four components by, but not limited to, the teaching of non-formal education programs, assisting in the development of curriculum, participate in the dynamics of a non-profit environmental organization, gaining customer service experience, interpretation of exhibits, learning the nuances of teaching about the natural world in an urban environment, assistance in the execution of special events, and the completion of one of two projects; running a special event at the center, or a staff development session.

The ultimate goal of the semester long internship is to fill the growing need for environmental educators and administrators in urban settings, while simultaneously alleviating the staffing need of this non-profit institution, and training students to become employees grounded in the communities they serve, while solidifying interns as strong candidates for future job opportunities at the Prospect Park Audubon Center.

Internship Duration & Requirements:

· Students must be registered in a graduate level program in environmental education, environmental science, biology, or a related program.

· Internship participants are required to participate during the spring 2010 semester of their respective schools program.

· This is an unpaid Internship.

· Students must receive credit hour approval from their respective school.

· Internship hours committed is based upon respective graduate program requirements, though students must complete a minimum of twelve hours per week in addition to a minimum of eighteen hours of work during weekend public hours.

· Average intern parameters typically constitute 3-4 credit hours and 160 hours in the internship.

· Typical shifts are based upon the centers normal business hours between 9am and 5pm Tuesday through Friday.

· Students are required to receive a background check.

To apply send a resume, cover letter, two references (one academic, one professional), your graduate program advisor’s contact information, and semester start and end date to job102@prospectpark.org . Items must be submitted no later than four weeks prior to the start of a spring semester.

No phone calls, please. Although we appreciate your interest, we will only contact applicants we are considering for interview. The Prospect Park Alliance is an equal opportunity employer.

3)


Email memo sent by speaker of NY city council , Christine Quinn about Hydro Fracturing near the NYC water reservoirs

December 3, 2009


Dear New Yorker,



We want to alert you about a troubling development for New York City's water.



On September 30, 2009, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a document proposing new permitting procedures and regulations for natural gas drilling in our state. In effect, this document has left an open path for an unconventional gas drilling technique, known as hydraulic fracturing, to proceed in the land areas that supply our City with its famously clean drinking water.



We are deeply troubled by this prospect. As much as 90 percent of our City's water comes from the Catskill/Delaware watershed. Natural gas drilling, a heavily industrial activity, risks introducing highly toxic chemicals into the City's drinking water. If the water were to become contaminated, the City would have to spend an estimated $10 billion to build a filtration plant and $100 million annually to operate it - further increasing water bills that have already seen double digit increases over the past three years.



If you care as deeply about the future of our City's water supply as we do, please call or write Governor Paterson and ask him and the State Legislature to explicitly ban drilling for natural gas in the City's watershed. We've gone ahead and drafted a letter that folks can easily sign on to and send to the Governor via our website. To access, click

http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/drilling.shtml

http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/drilling.shtml



Additionally, the State should extend the public comment period on the proposed regulations, which are found in a voluminous document called the "draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. The public comment period should be extended through February 28, 2010.



Finally, please call or write your U.S. representative and U.S. senators and ask them to support the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009, which would help protect drinking water supplies throughout the country from the serious risks that hydrofracking poses. You can find your representative's contact information by clicking here and your senators' contact information by clicking here. You can also call the Capitol's main switchboard at (202) 224-3121.



Thanks so much for helping us protect our City's water supply.



Sincerely,

Christine C. Quinn

Speaker

New York City Council



James Gennaro

Chair, Committee on Environmental Protection

New York City Council