Friends of Wetlands Newsletter, available to all

Friends of Wetlands (FOWL), a local all-volunteer organization, has just published its December Newsletter. Everyone is welcome (and invited!) to read and download the newsletter, to learn more about current challenges to wetland ecosystems in northern Ohio. FOWL actively works to educate the public about the essential and multiple roles wetlands have in the environment, and is completely funded by memberships and donations. Enjoy the newsletter, sign up for FOWL email alerts, and consider being active in the organization by participating in the Stakeholder's Meeting on January 9.

Exciting news in this newsletter: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be speaker at the 2nd Annual EcoWatch Green Gala. Kennedy, a visionary leader and advocate for the environment, spoke to thousands gathered at the 2007 American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C. His address at the Green Gala is certain to be dynamic and inspiring.

Also included in the newsletter is William E. Stafford's poem, The Well Rising:

The well rising without sound,
the spring on a hillside,
the plowshare brimming through deep ground
everywhere in the field—

The sharp swallows in their swerve
flaring and hesitating
hunting for the final curve
coming closer and closer—

The swallow heart from wingbeat to wingbeat
counseling decisions, decision:
thunderous examples. I place my feet
with care in such a world.

This poem was chosen by a reviewer on NPR's April 14 "Morning Edition" news program (90.3, 89.7 FM) as the one which, if all people read it, would be most likely to save the planet.