A gift for the bugs and a word from our Science Director

May 23, 2016

Friends,

High in the Siskiyou Mountains, water collects from snowmelt and precipitation. The Applegate River begins.

The 51-mile tributary of the mighty Rogue River drains more than 600 miles of forested foothills. The watershed extending into farms and small towns. The Siskiyou Salamander and spotted owl calling its length home. Its banks dotted with Douglas firs and bigleaf maples.

We know all her meanders, who relies on her, and where she needs restoration. The Freshwater Trust has been working on this river for 4 years. During that time, we’ve planted more than 25,000 trees and shrubs, protecting more than 10,000 feet of stream.

But we’d like to look closer – much closer. Myself and a few of the other scientists here have started an initiative to gather new data on how our restoration efforts are helping keep the water from warming and ensure it’s hospitable for aquatic macroinvertebrates.

These are the bugs – snails, beetles and flies – that you can see with the naked eye and are indicators of a healthy freshwater ecosystem. By better understanding them, we can be assured that we’re doing right by the Applegate and discover how to support the bugs in other waters as well.

We need $3,000 to kick off this project. Will you chip in $25, $50 or more to take our research to the next level?

Yes! I will make a gift for the bugs!

Many research projects we want to do are not funded by traditional grants or contracts. That’s why your support is critical.What we discover from this research will inform future restoration efforts on the Applegate and every other river we work on. It will help us understand how we are impacting these critical creatures and if we raise enough, we can publish the findings, and other restoration groups could benefit from the work as well. It could be a big thing for the restoration community.

Chip in $25, $50 or more now.

Sure. We’re talking bugs. But they’re absolutely critical to freshwater ecosystems, and therefore, it’s critical that as an organization, we know how they’re impacted by our work.

The Freshwater Trust has an equipment list and staff ready to kick off this project. We’d love your help to get it off the ground.

Please make a gift in the name of freshwater science – and bugs – today.

Thanks for your support,

Julia Bond
Science Director

P.S. Small things can make a big difference. This rings true when it comes to bugs in a river, and your donation to The Freshwater Trust today. Help us kick start this project and advance our understanding of freshwater ecosystems.

 


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