Friends of Burlington Island is excited to be part of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed because we’ve been advocating for our corner of the watershed, Burlington Island, for over a year now. What does it take to create a successful organization? Well to start with, you need a clearly defined purpose, but you also need passion to make a go of it, so the members of Friends of Burlington Island are dedicated to the purpose in order to achieve it. A group of people had the passion, and shared a common vision to open the Burlington Island to the public for more than a decade. They had a vision for an organization that would make it a reality, so they came together to formally meet as a group in June of 2019 to create the Friends of Burlington Island (FOBI).

June 1, 2020, marked the first day of Pride Month, which celebrates the everyone in the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus) community. The month also honors the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which saw members of the LGBTQ community fight back against harassment from the police in Greenwich Village in June 1969. June 2020 is the 50th anniversary of the first Pride March held in the United States, which was held one year after the Stonewall Uprising. This year’s Pride Month will certainly look different than those in years past, but even without the usual festivities the month remains a time to recognize the importance that LGBTQ+ individuals have in history and the ongoing fight for equal rights.

Amidst a pandemic when access to clean drinking water is crucial, the Trump administration finalized the weakened definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) within the Clean Water Act, representing the lowest level of water protections in 50 years. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule, finalized in April, rolls back bipartisan clean water protections for more than half our nation’s wetlands and millions of miles of river and streams. The rollback of clean water protections will give polluters a free pass, jeopardizing public health, the outdoor recreation economy, and the habitat for countless species.

As we’ve seen with the global COVID-19 outbreak, a crisis can come at any time with little to no notice. A public health crisis, a negative news article, or an angered ex-employee are all situations that can result in negative attention for your organization, if not handled delicately and strategically. Luckily, in the field of crisis communications, the wheel need not be reinvented because lessons in public relations are everywhere. There are tried and true ways to prepare for and adapt to crisis and emergencies that can even potentially make your organization stronger than before the situation began.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in America, there were some people that saw the novel corona virus as a “great equalizer.” The virus spread across every state and was affecting every demographic, from the common person to celebrities alike. However, as time progressed and more data was collected about the communities hit hardest by COVID-19, it became clear that while the virus itself is incapable of discrimination, systematic inequalities are forcing marginalized populations to shoulder the brunt of the impact.

The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the day-to-day lifestyles that we have all known for years. Though it’s largely been a dim time with rapid change, not all change has been negative. This pandemic has opened doors for people to have time and reason to visit the outdoors and enjoy nature more frequently. This surge of nature-based activities was the perfect platform to highlight the importance of clean water across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While physical distancing requirements have limited meetings with legislators in Harrisburg and in their district offices, we can’t stop advocating for our the watersheds that we all rely on.

On May 5th, Congressman Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Senator Jen Metzger (NY-42), Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (NY-100), the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, Friends of the Upper Delaware River, the Upper Delaware Council, and the Delaware River Basin Commission hailed the placement of fourteen signs in Broome, Delaware, and Sullivan County by the New York State Department of Transportation. For the first time in New York’s history, signage has been erected to highlight the boundaries of the Delaware River Watershed, a significant region that is home to 8 million residents and provides drinking water to 13.3 million people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Stormwater runoff is water from rainfall or snow melt that flows over roads, driveways and other paved surfaces that don’t allow water to soak into the ground. Stormwater runoff picks up pollutants from the ground and nutrients from the soil that flow into nearby creeks, streams, and rivers. This runoff is a major contributor to water pollution, especially in urban area.