An Email for the Ages

  
I get a significant number of emails conveniently cloaked behind the veil of anonymity on a regular  basis. 99% of the time, I read and then delete them, as I have little spare time and almost no inclination to communicate with people who don't have the moxie and/or integrity to identify themselves from the get-go. 

Recently, I received yet another anony-mail which opened (verbatim) as follows:

"this article is just getting around.....but where have you and other proponents of clean rivers been???..."

 

For those that visit this blog often, and for others that have known me long before I began posting on Susquehanna River Navigations in ~1999, I have been an environmental advocate, primarily for the Susquehanna, for most of my life...especially after I earned a degree in environmental sciences from Wilkes in the late '70's. S-o-o-o...to have someone question "where I've been" as an advocate for clean rivers put me - immediately - in a frame of being that would have pegged a sphygmomanometer on the spot.

 

Straying from my norm, I decided to respond to the email and simply asked if the sender had a name. To his credit, he did respond a few days later and, in good faith, I'll assume that I was provided with his real name.

 

So to JL in Y-ville, here's my response:


I have been "blogging" about the Susquehanna and related environmental issues for well over a decade.

 

  

I have paddled over 2,000 miles on the Susquehanna and its tributaries, introducing many new paddlers to the beauty of this river and educating them on how to protect it.

 

 

 

 

I have twice nominated the Susquehanna River to the #1 spot on American Rivers' annual Most Endangered list, in 2005 and 2011.

 

 

 

 I was recognized by American Rivers for my efforts to stop the inflatable dam...

 

 

...and even made their centerfold. ;o>

 

 

 

...and received a special award for my efforts in 2008. 

 

 

 

I have invited hundreds of people, both young and old, to paddle with me and explore the majestic Susquehanna...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have networked and established relationships with some of the greatest river/environmental advocates of the past half century...

 

 

 

 

 

I have written countless letters to the editor, spoken with dozens of reporters and radio show hosts, and traveled thousands of miles over the years to speak in front of the NY DEC, PA DEP, SRBC, US EPA and various community groups.

 

 

 

 

 

And I have helped fund some of the ( in my opinion ) most damning fact-based scientific research that proves beyond all reasonable doubt the natural gas industry is degrading our watershed, and environment, at will and with the full knowledge and support of our current Governor and his team of misfits.

 

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So, to JL from Y-ville:  I could go on for days here recapping my efforts over the past few decades, but alas...in the end, it really would accomplish nothing noteworthy. Thank you for asking where I've been all this time. It truly gave me pause and caused me to realize what a total and complete slacker I am.

 

Finally, I cannot speak for the "other proponents" of clean water out there, but if you bothered to spend some time researching who's doing what, you'll find there are plenty of individuals and groups working hard to protect our waters.

 

JL: Your turn. 

 

What have you done lately...or over the past decade?