From the Director: Water Touches Everything We Do at the American Littoral Society

I was lucky to have a childhood filled with healthy local waterways. In them I found fish, turtles, an occasional snake and lots and lots of mud. Mostly, they were great places to explore, to be on my own or with my brother, to grow our appreciation for the natural world.

“We’re going to the creek” was a common parting call (usually from halfway out the back door) in our house. Waterways were the geography of my childhood, and no doubt put me on the path which led to the Littoral Society.

Everyone deserves healthy local waterways. Accessible, healthy local waterways.

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Much time and energy at the American Littoral Society is focused on protecting healthy local waterways, restoring those with problems, and ensuring that they are all accessible to everyone.

As part of that, we are working to design and advance “Green Infrastructure” to deal with polluted water that runs off streets and parking lots into streams. We are also advocating for strong water pollution controls in order to protect drinking water for people, as well as the bays and estuaries in which we fish or swim. And we are always working to ensure that people can get to these waters, by campaigning for laws that protect public access to shorelines.
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Even in these times of pandemic, we are working hard to keep our members and the public connected to the coast and healthy local waterways. There are many opportunities described in this month’s e-newsletter for fostering or renewing that relationship, and I hope you have a chance to jump in.

You may not come home muddy, with tadpoles in a jar. But you just might.