[Riverweb] Clean Water Action Alert

[csmith at prairierivers.org]

We apologise for any cross posting.

Illinois Clean Water Action Alert for January 7, 2008

The Office of Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn periodically sends out Action
Alerts to provide information on meetings, news and action items, events,
and other useful information on issues of clean water, the Illinois River
Coordinating Council, Great Lakes, and other initiatives from Lt. Gov. Pat
Quinn.

Topics covered in today's Action Alert:
1.        IRCC First Quarter Meeting
2.        Great Ships Initiative
3.        National Shooting Sports Foundation Annual Report
4.        International Rivers Symposium
5.        Clean Water Tip of the Day

The first quarterly Illinois River Coordinating Council Meeting will take
place on January 24, 2008.  The meeting is open to the public and the
logistics are below:

IRCC First Quarter Meeting
1:30 pm
January 24, 2007
Discovery Center Orientation Theater
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Rd., Brookfield, IL

National Shooting Sports Foundation Annual Report

A new report, \"Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~
A force as big as all outdoors,\" spotlights the immense impact hunters and
anglers have on the economy at the national and state level. View national
and state-by-state rankings, press releases and fact sheets as well as the
complete report at the link below.

http://www.nssf.org/07report/


Great Ships Initiative 2008 Season
The Great Ships Initiative -- a collaborative effort to end ship-mediated
invasive species introductions in the Great Lakes, managed by the
Northeast-Midwest Institute -- opened its solicitation for applicants
(http://www.nemw.org/GSI/solicitation.htm) for ballast treatment testing in
2008. Any developer of a promising ballast treatment system is invited to
apply for GSI research services, some or all of which may be provided by the
GSI free of charge. The research services range from bench-scale testing to
full-scale testing in a shore-based facility and on board ships. Contact
Allegra Cangelosi (acangelo at nemw.org) at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.


Many Waters, Many Lands
2008 International Symposium on River Management and Ecosystem Services

September 21-23, 2008
Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago, Illinois

Hosted by:
.        Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, State of Illinois
.        National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
.        Lewis and Clark Community College

Background and Conference Vision

At the intersection of ecology, geography, and economics there is a
burgeoning field that provides greater understanding and meaning to policy
decisions to address emerging environmental problems.  This new field is
called "ecosystem services," which works to establish a monetary value or
societal benefit to a thriving natural environment where our communities
reside.

Many opportunities exist related to nature's services and their valuation,
including market-based approaches to address some of our most pressing
environmental issues.  For example, Chicago hosts a climate exchange which
voluntarily caps emissions for companies and municipalities that join and
trade excess credits on an open market.  This is a model of ecosystem
services and policy implementation that appraises what has been thought of
in the past as a free and limitless asset.

The symposium is titled, "Many Water, Many Lands: 2008 International
Symposium on River Management and Ecosystem Services."  Policy makers and
scientists will facilitate a healthy exchange on the services of rivers and
watersheds.  Presenters will include Illinois' Sister River representatives
from Poland and Japan with policy makers and leading scientists from around
the world.  The delegates will take home an improved understanding of
ecosystem services and how policies are formed to create mechanisms that
will adequately quantify environmental value.

The official language of the conference is English.

For more information, please contact:

Conferences & Institutes, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Phone: 1-877-455-2687                Fax: 217-333-9561


Clean Water Tip of the Day

Repair leaks in your sinks and toilets. Even repairing a slowly dripping
faucet can save 5 gallons a day. A leaking toilet can waste up to 50 gallons
of water a day. (Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If the color
shows up in the bowl without the toilet being flushed, you have a leak to
repair!)

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We encourage you to pass this email message along to your colleagues and
friends.  For more information on Clean Water Illinois, please visit:
http://www.CleanWaterIllinois.org.

If you want to contact Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, click on the contact link
below.
http://www.standingupforillinois.org/contact/
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To read the Lt. Governor's Privacy Notice, click below.
http://www.standingupforillinois.org/legal/privacy.php
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***PLEASE NOTE NEW ADDRESS***

Cecily Smith
Interim Watershed Organizer
Prairie Rivers Network
1902 Fox Drive, Suite G
Champaign IL 61820
217.344.2371