SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – For 27 years, the Black River Action Team (BRAT) has been working to clean up and help out the waterways in Windsor County, Vt. Springfield resident Kelly Stettner began organizing volunteers in 2000 to haul tires, shopping carts, and other junk from the river in her spare time from a desk job; she has since cultivated the Black River Action Team into a full-service group that works throughout the 202 square miles of the river’s watershed. BRAT organizes several cleanups every year; culvert and stormwater cleanouts and mapping; planting of native vegetation on streambanks and floodplains; shoreline improvement projects to retain stormwater on the landscape and protect water quality; monitoring of sites on streams, lakes, and swimming holes for nutrients, chloride, bacteria, and other parameters; educational opportunities such as “bug hunts” to look at stream creatures, dragonfly surveys, and aquatic plant workshops; and more.
As the summer winds down, BRAT is just ramping up for the 27th annual RiverSweep cleanup, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., at the Riverside Middle School in Springfield Vt.
While Stettner still manages the overall organization through BRAT’s fiscal sponsor, Tiny Seed Project, of Hardwick Vt., all of these projects are successful because of volunteers and partner groups from the communities within the watershed: Springfield, Weathersfield, Perkinsville, Cavendish, Proctorsville, Ludlow, Plymouth, Mount Holly, Andover, Baltimore, and Reading. While some of the work is grant-funded by both the state and private foundations, BRAT relies heavily on private donations from individuals and local organizations.
Please consider showing your support of all the work done by Black River Action Team over the past 27 years by making a donation of any amount. Checks can be made out to Tiny Seed Project (note “BRAT” in the memo section) and mailed to TSP at P.O. Box 112, East Hardwick, VT 05836. Donations are also welcomed online through the Givebutter platform at www.givebutter.com/BRAT.
Stettner invites everyone to get more information about volunteer and educational opportunities by emailing blackrivercleanup@gmail.com or visiting www.blackriveractionteamvt.org.