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Three New Hampshire Groups Receive Environmental Education Grants

Release Date: 11/08/2002
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1014

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $175,000 in environmental education grants to New England, including $32,000 for three New Hampshire organizations and $20,000 to the New England Aquarium for a region-wide program. The Appalachian Mountain Club is receiving $4,983 to work with schools in the White Mountains area, the Hanover school district is receiving $11,870 for a project on transportation choices and the Merrimack River Watershed Council is receiving $15,517 to work with Nashua students.

"The critical first step to a clean and healthy world is learning about our environment," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office. "These organizations are doing a tremendous job at helping students and citizens learn, and EPA is proud to be able to help fund their work."

The Appalachian Mountain Club is receiving $4,983 for the AMC North Country Schools Partnership in the White Mountain Regional School District. AMC will work with teachers to develop curricula that promote the use of the local landscape as a resource for teaching and learning. AMC will also be examining other ways to become involved in local schools.

The SAU 70 School District , which includes schools in both Hanover, NH and Norwich, VT, is receiving $11,870 for a project to heighten student and family awareness about the environmental implications of their transportation choices. The project's goals are to create safe, walkable communities, clean air, and healthy children.

The Merrimack River Watershed Council is receiving $15,517 for "Merrimack River CARES" (Children As River and Environmental Stewards). The project is a seventh grade environmental education implementation program focusing on the Merrimack River and Salmon Brook watersheds. This project will work with up to 22 seventh grade teachers and as many as 1,000 students of Nashua, New Hampshire. It also includes specific community activities facilitated by the schools, such as field trips and watershed events, which educate citizens residing in towns within the Merrimack River watershed about the benefits of active watershed stewardship on public health and local environmental conditions.

The Boston-based New England Aquarium is designing a traveling exhibit and training program on the sources of mercury in New England's environment, how it travels and reaches humans, and what people can do to minimize risks to them and the environment. Aquarium officials expect that 30,000 to 40,000 people will have the opportunity to interact with the exhibit and/or participate in mercury education.