We are very excited to unveil our new storefront display showcasing our work and the River we all love.

Drop in, check out the display, and pick up this year’s special 35th anniversary t-shirt and calendar.

Interested in working at Save The River this summer?  We are looking for qualified candidates to work at Save The River this summer from mid May through Labor Day.  We are currently accepting applications and interviews will begin in early Spring.   Resumes can be sent to Kate Breheny, Program Manager at Kate@savetheriver.org.  Photo: Sara Orvis, 2012 Summer intern collects water samples for the Beach Watch program.

Check out the new Waterkeeper PSA. We are very proud to be part of an organization that works to assure swimmable, drinkable, fishable water around the globe.

Save The River’s website is the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) site of the month! Check it out (click here) or on the badge below.

GLIN links hundreds of agencies and organizations serving the Great Lakes region. You may not have visited them all yet, especially with new data and information and more partners coming online every month. Because partnership is the core of GLIN, each month they highlight the wealth of information available on the web site of one active GLIN partner. These partners work closely with the GLIN Project Team to ensure that their information is integrated into the regional network; in turn, these partners point back to relevant GLIN pages from wherever appropriate on their own web sites so that people can easily find information about a topic of interest.

Save The River, as the Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper, created the Riverkeeper Monitoring Program, a thriving community-based program to teach volunteers how to spot critical indicators of the River’s health while they are on the St. Lawrence River. Volunteers receive training in identifying problems that can impact water quality, tracking down sources of pollution and how to effectively report these problems to the proper authorities. As a result Save The River is amplifying its capabilities as the Riverkeeper and is vastly better able to assess and advocate for the health of the River.

Save The River is actively expanding the program to reach community members on both sides of the River. Staff worked with area scientists to update its Riverkeeper Identification Guidebook to include relevant Canadian content. The accompanying PowerPoint presentation has also been updated to speak to both Canadian and U.S. issues. Volunteers completing the training are given the Guidebook and a Save The River T-shirt to help identify them while they are out on the River.

Over the past five months Save The River has collaborated with local organizations to deliver twelve Riverkeeper trainings – ten in New York (eight new and two to repeat groups) and two in Ontario. Four were held at the Save The River office, two were held at the Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton four were held at the Minna Anthony Nature Center on Wellesley Island and two were held at the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Network Office in Lansdowne, Ontario. To-date Save The River has trained over 500 volunteers using the Riverkeeper Monitoring Program.

Support from the St. Lawrence River Research and Education Fund has made it possible for Save The River to make progress towards expanding our Riverkeeper Monitoring Program and increasing the knowledge and importance of the St. Lawrence River and its protection in our communities on both sides of the River.

Save The River will offer training sessions for its Riverkeeper Monitoring Program on Saturday, August 18^th at 10:00 a.m. and Tuesday, August 21^st at 6 p.m. at its office at 409 Riverside Drive, Clayton.

As the Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper, Save The River is the primary voice and advocate for the health of the River and our right to clean water from the River’s beginning in the vicinity of Cape Vincent to the Massena / Cornwall area. To cover an area that large it relies on volunteers to be its eyes and ears on the water.

Riverkeeper volunteers are trained to assess potential pollution problems and to effectively report these problems to the appropriate agencies. They also receive training to recognize wildlife die-offs, invasive species and subtle changes in the River that indicate negative impacts to this fragile and already stressed ecosystem.

Since Save The River began its Riverkeeper Monitoring Program in 2008, more than 200 volunteers have been trained and now use the skills they have acquired to monitor the River.

Attending one of these hour-long training sessions is all that is needed to become a Riverkeeper volunteer. All volunteers will be given Save The River’s Riverkeeper Identification Guide as an on-the-water guidebook and a free t-shirt.

Interested volunteers should contact Save The River, 315-686-2010 or e-mail Kate Breheny, Program Manager at kate@savetheriver.org.

Clayton, NY (May 23, 2012) – Save The River today announced that Lee Willbanks is joining the organization as Executive Director in early June.

Mr. Willbanks brings to Save The River a strong knowledge of River and North Country issues, most recently serving as chief of staff to former New York State Senator Darrel Aubertine whose district included the St. Lawrence River. His career has been diverse, ranging from environmental counsel to an independent power producer to Cornell Cooperation Extension where he worked in youth development. He originally comes from Alabama where he canoed the rivers and lakes of his home state, before coming to central New York to earn a Law Degree and Masters of Public Administration at Syracuse University. He and his wife Judy Drabicki have two adult children and spend as much time as possible boating on the St. Lawrence River.

“After a thorough search, we are thrilled to welcome Lee Willbanks as Save The River’s next Executive Director. Lee’s commitment and enthusiasm for our mission of protecting the St. Lawrence River combined with his legal and legislative background are a great fit for the organization. His expertise comes at a key moment for Save The River as we continue to battle the forces who invariably place their own interests ahead of the well-being of the River,” stated Teddy McNally, President of Save The River’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Willbanks will start with Save The River in early June and will work with current Executive Director Jennifer Caddick until her departure at the end of June.

For more than 30 years, Save The River has been the leading grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the Upper St. Lawrence River and Thousand Islands region. Save The River’s policy programs protect the River by advocating for navigation practices on the St. Lawrence Seaway that are protective of River health, fighting for environmentally protective water levels regulation plans, and advocating for regional Great Lakes restoration programs. Save The River also organizes on-the-water monitoring programs that track River health and educates area students about River issues through the Save The River In The Schools program. Save The River is also a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, serving as the Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper.

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For more information contact Jennifer Caddick, Save The River Executive Director, (315) 686-2010.