Column: Finding and amplifying the voice of our river and those who depend on it starts with your support - both financially and through volunteering

Riverkeeper note: The following column was written by Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. You can contact him directly at [email protected]

One of the things I looked forward to as a teenager raising Jersey dairy cows with the local 4-H club was the annual show season.

I would take a few of the family's best animals to the local fairs each summer and take turns with my brother every other night sleeping over at the fair – making sure the cows kept clean and content, but also enjoying the sights, smells and sounds of the county fair scene with our friends.

Until late at night, propped up in a sleeping bag over a few haybales trying to sleep while the neighboring goats would try to serenade me with a symphony of ear-shattering "baas."

Did they want more grain? A fresh bucket of water? An extra section of alfalfa? Someone to clean their pen or rub that itchy spot between their weirdly shaped horns? Regardless, decades later, I still struggle with goats.

But at least they have a voice and they know how to use it.

We grow up with brightly colored Fisher Price toys and preschool songs teaching us that goats go baa, cows say moo, horses neigh and ghosts … well, they supposedly go “boo.” And thanks to the YouTube group Ylvis, we can better appreciate what a fox apparently says.

Most birds make noises – distinct songs that are unmistakably their own. We can walk into a wetland and enjoy the distinct konk-la-ree of the Red-Winged Blackbird or water-pump-like sound of an American Bittern.

Thanks to technology, we can track those sounds and better understand how those voices have changed over time, that certain birds are missing from areas that they once called home because we have impacted habitats in ways we never realized.

Use of chemicals like DDT almost completely silenced the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey and other key raptor species. Changing in farming practices and field use (and sizes) has greatly reduced grassland species like Bobolink, Meadowlarks, Northern Harriers and Kestrels. Changes in water chemistry impacts certain species like Louisiana Waterthrush that depend on a fresh buffet of macroinvertebrates.

These voices – or lack thereof – can tell us a lot.

However, what sound does a hellbender make?

Our state amphibian, which some experts suggest has endured a 95 percent reduction in habitat across the Susquehanna River basin alone, what does this unique species say when it needs our attention? How does it cry out for help when a chemical spill poisons the water it aspirates through its own wrinkly skin? Or when a construction project upstream sends a cloud of muddy silt that entombs it in the large rocky streambed it needs to survive?

How about the native brook trout – our state fish?

What voice does it have when the agency created to protect and promote fishing and boating approves the stocking of hatchery-raised trout into the same clean headwaters it calls home, introducing direct competition and potential issues? How about when fluid levels trend downward due to changes in weather patterns and extra water draws and changing water temperatures that can wipe out sections of macroinvertebrates and other essentials?

What is the sound of the person who feels his/her water is polluted by an unknown source? Or a corporate entity with a legal team whose salary is higher than the nearby town budget? Or when faced with a buzzword project that may threaten natural resources and potentially personal and public safety?

There is strength in numbers and in sharing a voice, one squeaky whisper can become a choir, a solo amplifies into an ensemble and a cause can manifest into a full-fledged Broadway show.

The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association this year is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and has done quite a bit in the past decade to help those who felt marginalized find their voice. From founding Riverkeeper Carol Parenzan's work in a local prison to teach water testing skills and other resources to those looking to soon re-enter society to efforts from our association in helping the hellbender receive national acknowledgement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for protections and water sampling and water treatment we helped put in people's homes to give them clean water, we have worked to help people and creatures find a voice and a safer way of living. 

We are working to better understand and educate others on the concepts of public meetings, hearings and how to protect and project your voice in the full spectrum of those sort of situations. We are sharing out more opportunities for people to have a say in bigger decisions, from how species are protected to community awareness and efforts to safeguard resources in your own backyard.

We also work hard to connect people of all ages to our waterways and natural resources. Our HERYN (Helping Engage our River’s Youth with Nature) kayaking and fishing day programs help young people hear the symphony of voices within our river system and connect in a way that they’ll want to be stewards for our streams and all that live in them.
​
Our Vernal School effort bridges partnerships with more than two dozen groups to offer environmental education to students with hands-on learning.

And our online blog feed and podcast series has produced hundreds of stories and educational opportunities to connect people with real situations and research being done right here in our region and opportunities to stand up and improve the voice for the vulnerable among us.

We encourage you to help us intentionally grow this effort by considering a year-end donation directly to the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association or Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership. Consider a membership to the MSRKA or Vernal School. Or, join us as a volunteer.

Together, we will continue to help provide a voice for those who may lack one. 

Have questions? Send an email!