#WestbrookME - Marsh and Stream Explorers Field Training in Westbrook

April 25 from 9:30 am-12 pm

Location: #MillBrookPreserve, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, Westbrook

Free, registration required.

"Curious about what critters live in your local streams and freshwater marshes? Come join #MaineAudubon and #MaineDEP for a fun morning of catching and identifying #macroinvertebrates at Mill Brook Preserve! Get hands-on training and learn how you can contribute to an important community science project that acts as a screening tool for Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) water quality assessments. Be prepared to wade into shallow water as you net and handle macroinvertebrates!

"Marsh and Stream Explorers is a water quality monitoring project that trains volunteers to survey streams and freshwater marshes for large #AquaticInsects (macroinvertebrates) which are sensitive to environmental stressors and can be indicators of #wetland health. After this training session, you’ll have the tools to choose and survey your own stream or freshwater marsh and contribute invaluable data to Maine’s water quality monitoring efforts. If you’re interested in getting outdoors, learning something new, and protecting your local #watershed, this community science project is for you!

"We will meet at the parking area for the Northern Trailhead and go on a short walk from there. Wear clothes and shoes you’re comfortable walking in and potentially getting wet, waders or muckboots are encouraged and some may be provided."

FMI and to register:
https://maineaudubon.org/events/marsh-and-stream-explorers-field-training-in-westbrook/

#SolarPunkSunday #CitizenScience
#NatureBasedLearning #MarshExplorers #StreamExplorers #WaterIsLife #ClimateChange #CitizenScientists #ObservingNature

Northern Manitoba could see ‘protected land’ label for Seal River Watershed
A proposal from the First Nations in the Seal River Watershed Alliance, along with the provincial and federal governments proposes designating the watershed as protected land.
#Environment #Politics #NorthernManitoba #SealRiverWatershed
https://globalnews.ca/news/11806282/seal-river-watershed-protected-land-proposal/
Northern Manitoba could see ‘protected land’ label for Seal River Watershed
A proposal from the First Nations in the Seal River Watershed Alliance, along with the provincial and federal governments proposes designating the watershed as protected land.
#Environment #Politics #NorthernManitoba #SealRiverWatershed
https://globalnews.ca/news/11806282/seal-river-watershed-protected-land-proposal/
Public asked to weigh in on plan to preserve Seal River watershed through parks, national reserve
A vast and biodiverse ecosystem in Manitoba's north is one step closer to long-term protections that the province and Ottawa have been talking about extending for years.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/seal-river-watershed-preservation-plans-9.7168275?cmp=rss
Public asked to weigh in on plan to preserve Seal River watershed through parks, national reserve
A vast and biodiverse ecosystem in Manitoba's north is one step closer to long-term protections that the province and Ottawa have been talking about extending for years.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/seal-river-watershed-preservation-plans-9.7168275?cmp=rss

"Today, the Senate voted along partisan lines to revoke a 20-year mineral withdrawal protecting 225,378 acres of public lands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area #Wilderness #watershed from toxic #mining...puts one of the country’s most visited Wilderness Areas in danger of permanent #pollution from a proposed sulfide-ore copper-nickel mine that Chilean mining giant Antofagasta has long sought to develop directly upstream ... through its subsidiary, Twin Metals.

https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/senate-votes-to-strip-minnesotas-boundary-waters-of-protection-from-mining-pollution

Senate Votes to Strip Minnesota’s Boundary Waters of Protection from Mining Pollution

Earthjustice weighs legal options to stop Chilean-owned Twin Metals mine

Earthjustice

Montana Free Press: In selenium standard dispute, court sides with DEQ, conservation groups - https://montanafreepress.org/2026/04/10/in-selenium-standard-dispute-court-sides-with-deq-conservation-groups/

Elk Valley Resource, formerly owned by #TEK and now operated by #Swiss firm #Glencore, operates #coal #mining in #BC, #Canada, and has been fighting #selenium regulation from their mine waste into the #Kootenai #watershed.

Selenium poisoning is not currently mitigatable. Once a watershed becomes toxic, there is no known way to recover.

#MT #MTPol #BCPoli #ff #coalmine

In selenium standard dispute, court sides with DEQ, conservation groups 

The ruling allows the selenium standard for Lake Koocanusa to stand.

Montana Free Press
Why forest loss is making our watersheds leak rain

It's a well-established fact that forests and water are deeply connected. For decades, paired-watershed experiments—a scientific method for evaluating land-use impacts on water quantity or quality—have shown that when we lose forests, the total amount of water flowing through our rivers tends to rise.

Phys.org
‘On A Whole Other Level’ - Rapid Snow Melt-Off In American West Stuns Scientists
--
Experts say brutal March heat has left critical snowpack at record-low levels – and key basins in uncharted territory
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/01/snowmelt-american-west <-- shared media/technical article
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https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf <-- shared National Significant Wildland Fire Potential @ 04/01/26 (for the next four months)
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[ extreme lack of snowfall already in the ‘25/’26 US West winter to begin with, and now this… ☹ ]
#GIS #spatial #mapping #remotesensing #weather #metrology #climatechange #extremeweather #snowpack #USWest #USA #winter #heat #melting #snowmelt #risk #hazard #water #hydrology #waterresources #watersecurity #agriculture #wildfire #risk #hazard #firerisk #watersupply #watershed #management #planning #Colorado #Utah #California #earthobservation
@the Guardian | @nasa | @California Department of Water Resources

I've been working on a personal GIS project dedicated to spots across the United States that should be be conserved, and one of those, is the Altamaha River in Georgia. It's formed at the confluence of the Oconee and Ocumulgee Rivers and flows for 137 miles before discharging into the Atlantic.

#activism #wildlifeconservation #conservationarea #watershed #gis #georgia #tributary #unitedstatesofamerica #southernusa #water #naturegeography #geography #education #googlemaps