Saturday, February 7th, Save The River’s will once again provide area residents and public officials the opportunity to hear from scientists, experts, activists and educators about issues of importance to the health of the St. Lawrence River. The 26th Annual Winter Environmental Conference is open to the public and anyone interested in the future of the River is encouraged to attend.

Conference topics will include:

To Ship or Not - with the pace of oil extraction from the U.S. Midwest and Alberta tar sands picking up and increasing the pressure for ways to ship it to overseas markets the waters and watershed of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence River are being considered as potential routes to the sea.

A panel of experts will examine the implications of moving these new, toxic cargoes on and near the St. Lawrence River. The panel will include Kushan Dave, Cornell University, co-author of the recently published report "A New Era of Crude Oil Transport", Anthony Mangoni, District Response Advisory Team Supervisor, Ninth Coast Guard District, Gary McCullough of the NYS DEC, and Emma Lui from the Council of Canadians. There will also be a visual presentation about the source of this potential new cargo by Alex MacLean.

State of the River - Speakers will provide updates on issues directly affecting the health of the St. Lawrence River. Dereth Glance, Commissioner to the U.S. Section of the International Joint Commission, will speak about the status of Plan 2014 and other water quality initiatives being undertaken by the IJC.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office, will provide an update on microbeads, the tiny plastic particles contained in personal care products, that have been found in alarming concentrations in the River, and the effort to ban them in New York.

A research scientist from the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences will speak about his research on the American Eel a once thriving and still iconic and culturally significant, but threatened St. Lawrence River inhabitant.

Attendees will also hear about programs aboard the Tall Ship Fair Jeanne, the Canadian sail training ship operated by the Ottawa-based youth charity, Bytown Brigantine Inc. from the captain and president and from Mary Bowman, Thousand Island Middle School teacher, who sailed on the NOAA research ship Lake Guardian.

4:00 p.m. - Cocktail Reception with cash bar

Conference registration fee: $45 Registration includes coffee, lunch, and cocktail reception with light hors d’oeuvres. Please RSVP by Friday, January 30, 2015 by returning the reservation form to Save The River or by calling us at (315) 686-2010.