Dear Supporter,
What an amazing spring! As we turn our minds (and hands) towards contemplating the warmer spring sunshine (especially after the winter we’ve just experienced), I wanted to write to you with exciting news from the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Your Board of Directors was successful in hiring an experienced Executive Director, Lois Corbett, bringing her home to New Brunswick from a successful 25-year career in environmental policy development. With her guidance and steady hand, we hope to grow CCNB, both by developing more positive environmental and conservation projects that will involve an increasing number of the province’s citizens and businesses, and through public policy fronts, in action with government and industry, promoting sound environmental policy to decision makers.
Lois joins a wonderful team at CCNB:
- Stephanie Merrill, our freshwater program director can’t wait for spring! Her work in supporting local communities’ drinking water and watersheds continues – for example, she recently commented on the National Academies of Science report on the impact of shale gas development on human health and the environment. Stephanie’s also busy working on a re-launch of the Buy Local website (watch for that at the end of this month), which will connect over 400 growers and suppliers with citizens eager to try fresh NB produce, help grow a sustainable local food market and protect the environment;
- Not one to let a few late winter snowstorms get her down, Tracy Glynn, our forest campaigner, has had a very busy quarter – organizing a press conference with biologists and other experts about the environmental impact of dousing our forests with herbicides, and working with other groups to promote an alternative to the government’s latest bad news Crown forestry plan.
- Nadine Ives, who runs our No Child Left Inside project, has been working with parent committees and enthusiastic teachers and principals, all dying to break free of winter blahs by building more interpretive nature projects on school grounds where our children can take their natural inquisitiveness outside and learn about the plants and animals in their school backyard; and,
- Matt Abbott, our intrepid Fundy Baykeeper and marine issues program director, didn’t just spend all winter working on the CCNB boat (okay, he did do some of that). He collaborated with Waterkeepers from all over Canada who recently came to Saint John to plan next year’s program. He will soon release a “State of the Bay” report, which will detail the present and coming threats to the Bay of Fundy’s unique ecosystem, and celebrate the positive actions community and fisher groups have taken, as well as opportunities for positive environmental change to protect the Bay. And, in preparation for a spring time of public meetings and perhaps even a hearing, he’s been poring over the materials and meeting with other experts about the environmental impacts of the proposed Energy East oil pipeline, the first ever project of its kind in the province.
All of this work, and planning for another influential year, could not have happened without the ongoing support from members and donors like you. Each spring, CCNB supporters dig into their wallets and cheque books, donating $25, $50, $75 and sometimes more to help their provincial environmental advocacy voice grow stronger.
I hope you will consider donating again in the spring of 2014. Take a moment to consider what your support will help us achieve:
- We are facing a rollback in environmental regulation with respect to clearcutting in NB’s unique Acadian forests. The government’s plan to increase the size of clearcuts and the total amount of public wood ceded to private interests could last 25 years – with your support we can work through these very important spring and summer months to reverse this dangerous plan;
- Families and communities are worried about the risks to their health and to their drinking water from proposed energy projects, whether it is shale gas developments in the south and western part of NB or a proposed oil pipeline crossing important watersheds, fishing rivers, and wetlands from Edmundston to Grand Lake to Saint John and points in between. With your donation, CCNB staff and volunteers will be better positioned to help people give voice to their environmental concerns; and,
- Meanwhile, the provincial government has still not released its updated Climate Change Action Plan, and we all need to do more to support the development of our fledgling renewable energy industry. Insiders say we won’t see a new provincial wetlands policy either, as government business grinds to a halt, going forward into this fall’s election. A contribution from you this spring to CCNB will help us to grow solar and wind power projects, and sharpen our spades to develop better government policy.
You can pay online through CanadaHelps
You can also send a cheque payable to “Conservation Council” to:
180 Saint John St.,
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4A9
Wetlands, farm fields, forests, our bays, rivers and streams are all popping with signs of spring. This season, they need our attention and protection more than ever. Please consider donating to support the work of your Conservation Council to make this Spring Appeal our most successful in years.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Coburn
President
P.S. This spring, we are counting on you to help us grow the Conservation Council’s exciting line-up of positive projects and important policy influence. Together, we can make a difference.
P.P.S. Busy volunteers have just today finished raking leaves from our beautiful Conserver House backyard at 180 St. John Street in Fredericton. And that makes us think barbeque! Would you like to come? Email Tracy at info@conservationcouncil.ca with the subject line Add Me to Your Invite List!