It’s the committee’s Third Year Anniversary! Join us at our next meeting of the Tonawanda Creek Watershed Committee scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at the new U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Building, 1101 Casey Road, Basom, NY 14013. Phone (585) 948-5445 (All meetings are open to the public and you are welcomed to attend.)

Guest Speakers:

- Fran Wagner, President of the Scajaquada Creek Canoe Club will discuss the clubs dedication to improving the environmental health of Scajaquada Creek. The 30 to 40 member club are involved in conducting stream cleanup’s, water quality and wildlife monitoring, and creating access for canoes and kayaks, as well as paddling together on the waterways of Western New York. Several members just participated in the Adirondack Classic, a three-day canoe race.

- Sheila Hess, CEO of Conservation Connects and Executive Director of New York Green will discuss the importance and benefits of partnerships in watershed planning and natural resource conservation. Sheila will review techniques for building relationships and creating synergy with traditional and nontraditional conservation partners.

Great strides have been made in forming a multi-county alliance devoted to the Tonawanda Creek Watershed, which lies within parts of Wyoming, Genesee, Erie and Niagara Counties. On December 2, 2009 a meeting was held at the Corfu Community Center to discuss the feasibility of forming a multi-county Tonawanda Creek Watershed group. This initial meeting was well attended, including officials and interested citizens from: Genesee County: Soil & Water Conservation District, Planning Dept., Health Dept. and Legislature; Towns of Pembroke, Alexander, Bethany and Darien; Tonawanda Band of Seneca’s. Wyoming County: Soil and Water Conservation District, Planning & Development Dept., Emergency Management Dept., Towns of Sheldon and Bennington. Erie County: Soil and Water Conservation District, NRCS, Buffalo-Niagara Riverkeeper, Water Quality Committee, Dept. of Public Works, Environmental Planning/Storm water Coalition, UB Law Environmental Attorney, Towns of Clarence and Amherst. Niagara County: Town of Royalton. Regional: NYS Soil & Water Conservation Committee, Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council, Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative, and US EPA Region 2.

“A lot of work is already going on separately. We need to connect and make a coordinated effort,” said Mark Gaston, District Manager of Erie County SWCD.

A large list of concerns and goals for the watershed were expressed, including water quality, erosion and sedimentation control, stream bank stabilization, flood control, habitat protection and recreational use.

By nearly unanimous consensus, it was decided to proceed with formation of a Tonawanda Creek Watershed Committee. “We must identify stakeholders and make sure they are involved. Communication is vital,” said Paul Fuhrmann of the Erie County Water Quality Committee, adding “The database of knowledge of this diverse group is invaluable”.

If you are unable to attend but are interested in joining this effort or have any questions, please send email to Tonawandacreek@yahoo.com or contact Elizabeth Bentley-Huber at Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District at 585-343-2362 or at Elizabeth.Bentley-Huber@ny.nacdnet.net. View our website at http://tonawandacreek.shutterfly.com

JOIN US FOR A WINTER GEOCACHING LEAP DAY EVENT !!

Event:  GC39DCC - LEAP....MEET....and RIDE! (http://coord.info/GC39DCC)

What:  A geocaching event celebrating the third Leap Day in geocaching history and promoting the Herschell Carrousel Museum

When:  Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Time:  5:30pm - 7:30pm

Where:  Herschell Carrousel Museum, North Tonawanda

Who:  Any and all geocachers, and anyone interested in learning about geocaching!

Have you heard of Geocaching?  If not, it is a high-tech treasure hunting game that takes place around the world.  You use your GPSr unit, or other navigational device, to hide and seek containers worldwide. Basically, you upload coordinates from a geocaching website, you plug them in to your GPSr, follow the coordinates and start looking for a container.  The container could be as small as your fingertip or as big as a .50 cal ammo can (rarely larger).  Once found, you will normally find a logbook to sign and some trinkets to trade.  It is a great year-round outdoor activity!!  You get a lot of exercise (sometimes without even realizing it) and you get to visit some neat historic and scenic places.

Registration is encouraged at Geocaching.com (direct link to listing: http://coord.info/GC39DCC).  An account is required to register and is absolutely free!  Donations of $3.00 per adult and $2.00 per child aged 12 and under are requested to help cover costs.

The event is specifically trying to promote:

• that geocaching is year-round.  This event is the perfect excuse to geocache during the winter months!
• that this is a once-every-four-years opportunity and a great way to meet some of those geocaching challenges, such as caching 366 days a year!
• a great place to meet and greet cachers you've read about in the logbooks of the caches you've found.  You can put faces to the names!
• the Herschell Carrousel Museum, with the event being held there
• the cache GC26TX5 Once Around is Never Enough! (http://coord.info/GC26TX5) which promotes our local history of the carrousel

Hopefully, we will see you there!!

Thank you for voting!

Elsewhere, in Lockport and Hamburg, another 250 workers will be let go in the coming weeks. An article in the Buffalo News this morning reports:

At Delphi Corp.’s Town of Lockport plant, 175 of its 1,540 hourly workers received layoff notices last Friday, said Gordie Fletcher, president of UAW Local 686 Unit 1.

Ford Motor Co.’s stamping plant in Hamburg has 75 of its roughly 800 workers on layoff, and is preparing for a weeklong shutdown in early February, said Charles Gangarossa, president of UAW Local 897.

If "production needs increase," workers could be called back to the plant in Tonawanda, but no one's holding their breath. Forecasts for future auto sales are bleak.

Fletcher said he has “no idea” when the laid-off workers at Delphi will be brought back. “Obviously our hope is that we bring everyone back,” he said. “The current state of the economy is putting a crunch on everybody.”