Project Summary (from Proposal)

Transcription

1 Easygrants ID: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation NFWF/Legacy Grant Project ID: LI Sound Futures Fund Small Grants/Education - Submit Final Programmatic Report (Activities) Grantee Organization: Hutchinson River Restoration Project Project Title: Hutchinson River/Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge Cleanup (NY) Project Period 12/01/ /01/2011 Award Amount $2, Matching Contributions $6, Project Location Description (from Proposal) The Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge, in Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, Bronx County,New York on the shore of the Hutchinson River. Latitude: N 40 52' " Longitude: W 73 49' " Project Summary (from Proposal) Summary of Accomplishments Lessons Learned Organize, advertise and run a canoe-borne expedition by volunteers to clean up floatable debris from the shore of the Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge in Pelham Bay Park, New York City. HRRP recruited volunteers at ten events, including a joint canoe trip with the Bronx River Alliance led by the boat "Anne Hutchinson". Besides posters and brochures, recruiting materials involved included water bottles with HRRP logo, HRRP buttons with logo, and a pilgrim costume representing Anne Hutchinson. HRRP also established a facebook page for recruitment. On the Cleanup date, Sept. 18, 2011, forty-one volunteers,six Urban Park Rangers and David Kuntsler, the Manager of Wildlife in the park, using canoes provided by the Urban Park Rangers, paddled to four sites where they gathered debris including 84 bag fulls,of which 38 were recyclables, 17 tires, 2 car bumpers, 4 grills, 2 industrial size ropes, 1 grappling hook, much fishing line, and 2 voodoo dolls stuffed in a bottle. Three power boats were required to bring the debris back to the launch site. Additional volunteers who chose to stay on shore at the launching site also assisted in collecting this debris. This debris was taken away under the supervision of the administrator of Pelham Bay Park, Marianne Anderson. The Cleanup data was compiled and submitted to the American Littoral Society, the international coastal cleanup of the Ocean Conservancy, and American Rivers. Regarding the cleanup itself, the key lesson we learned is that we needed to spend more time learning and identifying our sites. Because the Hutchinson is tida, this needed to be learned specifically at the tidal conditions that would exist for whrn the cleanup was actually scheduled. Secondly, no matter how well the Cleanup is planned, there will be on site problems that cannot be anticipated. These included the locked parking lot so volunteers could not park their cars, a motor boat that would not start and mud, mud, mud at several of the sites. The selection of site captains who are creative as well as responsible is the key to a successful cleanup. Also, the debris involved much more than floatables such as industrial tires which required much labor to be removed. As regards membership, we learned that people are interested in being involved in a particular project which has a limited time basis, not necessarily in coming to monthly Boardm meeting and working on that project all year. Conservation Activities Progress Measures Value at Grant Completion See Narrative - Not Required Other Activity Metric Not Required Page 1 of 25

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22 Final Programmatic Report Narrative Instructions: Save this document on your computer and complete the narrative in the format provided. The final narrative should not exceed ten (10) pages; do not delete the text provided below. Once complete, upload this document into the on-line final programmatic report task as instructed. 1. Summary of Accomplishments In four to five sentences, provide a brief summary of the project s key accomplishments and outcomes that were observed or measured. 2. Project Activities & Outcomes Activities Describe and quantify (using the approved metrics referenced in your grant agreement) the primary activities conducted during this grant. Briefly explain discrepancies between the activities conducted during the grant and the activities agreed upon in your grant agreement. Outcomes Describe and quantify progress towards achieving the project outcomes described in your grant agreement. (Quantify using the approved metrics referenced in your grant agreement or by using more relevant metrics not included in the application.) Briefly explain discrepancies between what actually happened compared to what was anticipated to happen. Provide any further information (such as unexpected outcomes) important for understanding project activities and outcome results. 3. Lessons Learned Describe the key lessons learned from this project, such as the least and most effective conservation practices or notable aspects of the project s methods, monitoring, or results. How could other conservation organizations adapt their projects to build upon some of these key lessons about what worked best and what did not? 4. Dissemination Briefly identify any dissemination of lessons learned or other project results to external audiences, such as the public or other conservation organizations. 5. Project Documents Include in your final programmatic report, via the Uploads section of this task, the following: 2-10 representative photos from the project. Photos need to have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi; report publications, GIS data, brochures, videos, outreach tools, press releases, media coverage; any project deliverables per the terms of your grant agreement. POSTING OF FINAL REPORT: This report and attached project documents may be shared by the Foundation and any Funding Source for the Project via their respective websites. In the event that the Recipient intends to claim that its final report or project documents contains material that does not have to be posted on such websites because it is protected from disclosure by statutory or regulatory provisions, the Recipient shall clearly mark all such potentially protected materials as PROTECTED and provide an explanation and complete citation to the statutory or regulatory source for such protection. 1 Page 22 of 25

23 1. Summary of Accomplishments: Hutchinson River Restoration Project (HRRP) recruited volunteers at ten events, including a joint canoe trip with the Bronx River Alliance led by the boat Anne Hutchinson. Besides posters and brochures, recruiting materials involved included water bottles with HRRP logo, HRRP buttons with logo, a pilgrim costume representing Anne Hutchinson and a facebook page. On the cleanup date, Sept. 18, 2011, forty-one volunteers, six Urban Park Ranger and the manager of wildlife in Pelham Bay Park, paddled to the four sites in the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary on the Hutchinson River where they collected debris including 84 bags full, of which 38 were recyclables, 17 tires, 2 car bumpers, 4 grills, 2 industrial size ropes, 1 grappling hook, much fishing line, and 2 voodoo dolls stuffed in a bottle. Three power boats brought the debris back to the launch site, where it was removed under the supervision of the administrator of the Park. The cleanup was part of the conservation work of the American Littoral Society, the international coastal cleanup of the Ocean Conservancy, and American Rivers. 2. Project Activities & Outcomes: Activities: Cleaning up floatables from shoreline: Using the canoes provided by the Urban Park Rangers, the volunteers paddled from the launch site on the Hutchinson River to the 4 sites in the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary in Pelham Bay Park, New York City, on the shore of the Hutchinson River at latitude 40 degrees, 52, longitude 73 degrees, 49. They collected 38 large garbage bags of recycled materials, primarily plastic bottles. They also collected 46 bags of mixed materials, including much fishing line, many cigarette butts, and 2 voodoo dolls. (Volunteers who chose not to go to the Sanctuary, but to remain at the launch site, where there was also much debris, also contributed materials to the garbage bags). Also collected were 17 tires, including some of industrial size, 2 car bumpers, 4 grills, 2 industrial size ropes and 1 grappling hook. The collected materials were taken to the launch site by 3 power boats, including the Anne Hutchinson. From the launch site, it was taken to the proper facilities under the supervision of the administrator of Pelham Bay Park, Marianne Anderson. The cleanup data report was submitted to the American Littoral Society, the international coastal cleanup of the Ocean Conservancy and American Rivers. On Sept. 26 HRRP conducted an evaluation of the Cleanup where in person we gathered feedback, both positive and negative from the Board members as well as the site and boat captains, which will be used next year for our cleanup. The major discrepancies between the activities conducted and those agreed upon in the grant were two. The first regards the nature of the debris collected. As the above paragraph noted, much of the debris, such as car parts and tires, as well as industrial marine equipment, was not of a floatable nature, and its removal required much labor on the part of our volunteers. The second discrepancy is that, based on what we learned about the nature of the debris in the Sanctuary, we chose not use inflatable dinghies for its removal, but rather power boats. Increasing active membership of HRRP: Through our recruiting events for the cleanup as well as our after event celebration and information session, we encouraged people to become members of HRRP. Brochures concerning our history which included a membership form were also passed out by Board and former Board members at appropriate opportunities. 2 Page 23 of 25

24 Outcomes: The major discrepancy was that we were not able to arrange for a presentation at Co-op City. However, we did advertise in their newspaper as well as display posters in the area. Informing people about Hutchinson River: Through our ten events, we informed people about the location and condition of the Hutchinson River and Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary. The Anne Hutchinson, a traditional wooden Whitehall rowing skiff, of the type used as a water taxi in the 19 th century, was donated to the Project. To make it useful for more than symbolic purposes, it was provided with a deep-cycle battery in a permanentlyinstalled battery box with wiring and an ammeter. This allowed the boat to be powered by a Minn-Kota electric trolling motor. The installation was successful, giving a maximum speed of about four knots and a cruising range of at least seven nautical miles. The boat has been useful for exploratory trips and for carrying volunteers, equipment and garbage bags to and from the cleanup sites. It will be used by us to monitor conditions on the river, take part in our events, and be a symbol of our project, like the Clearwater on the Hudson River. As well as the Cleanup Event itself, a joint boat trip on the River with HRRP and the Bronx River Alliance (BRA) was also planned. The major discrepancy was the boat trip with BRA, which was led by the Anne Hutchinson and cheered on by a Board member dressed as Anne Hutchinson. Cleaning up floatables from shoreline: As described above, the amount of debris collected from the 4 sites in the Pell Sanctuary on the Hutchinson River, (latitude 40 degrees, 52, longitude 73 degrees, 49 ), was considerable. The discrepancy between the amount collected and the anticipated project result of 1 flotable/10 ft. is due to the very large amount of debris that we were not able to collect on this trip because we ran out of time. Increasing active membership of HRRP: While we did receive membership donations, we were not able to recruit any individuals who were interested in coming to our Board meetings on a regular basis. Informing people about Hutchinson River: Through our 10 recruiting events, the joint BRA boat trip and the actual Cleanup itself, we went well beyond our anticipated outcome of 50 people being educated about the location and condition of the Hutchinson River/Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary. The number educated vastly exceeded 50 due to the dedication and hard work of the HRRP Board members. 3. Lessons Learned: Regarding the cleanup itself, the key lesson we learned is that we needed to spend more time learning and identifying our sites. Because the Hutchinson is tidal, this needed to be learned specifically at the tidal conditions that would exist for when the cleanup was actually scheduled. Secondly, no matter how well the Cleanup is planned, there will be on site problems that cannot be anticipated. These included the locked parking lot so volunteers could not park their cars, a motor boat that would not start and mud, mud, mud at several of the sites. The selection of site captains who are creative as well as responsible is essential to a successful cleanup. 3 Page 24 of 25

25 As regards membership, we learned that people are interested in being involved in a particular project which has a limited time basis, not necessarily in coming to monthly Board meetings and working on that project all year. 4. Dissemination: The Bronx Times, the City Island Current, and a journalism major at Columbia took part in the Cleanup. The results of the Cleanup were sent to the American Littoral Society, the international coastal cleanup of the Ocean Conservancy and American Rivers. Participants in the cleanup as well as other interested parties were invited to the celebration and a slide show of the Cleanup, which event took place on October 16 at a facility on Long Island Sound. 5. Project Documents: Attached please find 10 representative photos from the project. Attached also please find the brochure, 1 banner, 1 poster, the water bottle with HRRP logo, button with logo, the boat, the Anne Hutchinson, 1 press release, and 2 media coverages. Project deliverables were not required by the grant agreement, so are not included. 4 Page 25 of 25