Partnership Celebrates 10th
Year of Loving the White River

Mary Russ, the new director of the White River Partnership takes a moment of quiet with the river that her organization is sworn to protect. The 50-mile long White River is the longest undammed river in Vermont. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

In honor of 10 years of helping local communities improve the cultural, economic and environmental health of the White River watershed, the White River Partnership will host a benefit auction and annual meeting on Nov. 11 at 5 p.m at the Royalton Academy building in Royalton.

The Partnership's new director, Mary Russ, will be on hand and is anxious to meet the organizations members, as well as the general public. Don't worry about the formality of an annual meeting, she advised, as there will be little of that—mostly the auction and meeting and greeting.

She cheerfully defines the mission of the Partnership as "bringing together people who love the White River in order to keep it happy."

Russ, who succeeds Annie Bourdon in the position, grew up in Memphis, Tenn., and graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina. She comes to the Partnership from Vermont Law School, where she got a Masters in Environmental Law in 2001 and then stayed to work in the career service office.

She's the only full-time employee of the Partnership, which has an annual budget of about $100,000. Betsy Shands, a part time employee, coordinates the Forestry Work Group.

The White River Parnership dates to 1996, when Dennis Borchardt, then head of the George D. Aiken Research Conservation and Development (RC&D) organization, obtained a million-dollar federal grant. The idea was to attract volunteers to work to improve the health of the 50-mile long river and its tributary brooks as well.

To that end, the Partnership established two "Stream Teams" of volunteers, one serving the lower White and the other the upper parts of the watershed.

Ever since 1996, therefore, Partnership volunteers—including local farmers, fisherman, landowners, business owners and others—have donated countless hours of their time (and lots of sweat) planting trees, sampling water quality, and pitching in on stream restoration projects.

In recognition of their accomplishments, the Partnership won the Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention as well as the Excellence in Riparian Management Award from the USDA Forest Service in 2003.

The Partnership completes a variety of projects every year to make the White River watershed a healthy place to live, work, and play. This spring, for instance, the Partnership joined forces with eight local schools to plant 3000 trees along the White River and its tributaries.

This summer, the Partnership completed its sixth annual water quality monitoring program, which is designed to better understand threats to water quality and public health. And this fall, the Partnership is undertaking a stream restoration project in Granville and corridor planning projects on Ayers Brook and the upper White River.

It is to celebrate the 10 years of volunteer efforts that all Partnership members—and any non-members interested in attending—are invited to come to the Royalton Academy on Nov. 11, Russ said. Doors open at 5 p.m with auction items from local businesses up for bid.

"Come join the fun, bid on some auction items, sample the refreshments—and know that your donations will help improve the health of the White River watershed," she declared.