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Executive Director Corner
Well
the State Fair set an attendance record this year for the most visitors since
moving to Grand Island. I know I was out
there for five different days and the first Saturday had over 63,000 visitors
and I think 50,000 stopped by the Trust booth.
I asked a lot of trivia questions and gave out a lot of fans, frisbees,
note pads and sticky notes. It was
gratifying getting a lot of “thank you for the projects you guys fund”
comments. People would see the sign
thanking the Trust for helping fund the waterfall exhibit and aquarium and they
would tell me they were really glad the Game and Parks decided to have a
presence at the new Fair and thanks for helping fund the exhibit. All of the staff took turns manning the booth.
Sheila
covered World of Water and I covered Heron Haven’s Wetland Festival last
weekend in Omaha. Both events were loaded with lots of kids and young families. This week, Sheila and I are covering Husker
Harvest Days and this weekend I’ll be headed to the Ponca Outdoor Expo held at
Ponca State Park. If you get to the
Expo, stop by our booth, we’ll be in the main lodge.
We
welcome a new board member that you can learn more about in the article
below. I had a brief chance to visit
with Ryan on the phone and can’t wait to have him join us at the next board
meeting. We still have one opening to
fill on our board, but Kevin Peterson will continue to serve until that
appointment is made.
Husker
football and volleyball are moving along. The football team almost mounted an impossible comeback in Oregon, but
I’m so glad they didn’t collapse like a wet paper bag. The volleyball team started the season with a
couple of losses but beat a powerful UCLA team twice last weekend. I think both the volleyball and football
teams could go up or down this year, so hold on to your seats, it might be a
bumpy fall season.
Have
a safe harvest and try to get out and wet a line before it gets cold.
Mark A.
Brohman
Executive
Director
 Ryan K. McIntosh
New Board Member Appointed to The Trust
A new member has been appointed to the Trust Board by Governor Pete Ricketts. Ryan K. McIntosh replaced Henry "Rick" Brandt commencing September 7, 2017.
Ryan is a Captain in the Nebraska Army National
Guard and worked full-time with the National Guard between graduating
from college and beginning law school. Ryan is Airborne qualified and
has completed numerous airborne jumps while as a Detachment Leader in an
Airborne Infantry company. He also serves as Legislative Chairman for
the Nebraska National Guard Association and has drafted veteran
legislation and testified in several legislative hearings on behalf of
the National Guard Association and the Nebraska Veterans of Foreign
Wars.
Mr. McIntosh said, "I am honored to be appointed to this position by Governor Ricketts. I look forward to this opportunity to continue my work in wildlife habitat and conservation projects and I hope my background in Natural Resources and Water Law will allow me to be a great addition to the Board."
Ryan works with the Mattson Ricketts Law firm. Ryan’s practice areas are municipal law, estate planning, real estate
transactions, and agriculture and natural resources law. Ryan enjoys
golf, hunting and being outdoors whenever he can.
Ryan grew up outside of Unadilla and graduated from Syracuse High
School. Ryan is married to Leslie (Watermeier) who grew up on a farm
outside of Syracuse. They have three children, Oliver, Reagan and
Calvin.
Nebraska Environmental Trust Invites Comments on 2018 Applications!
The Nebraska
Environmental Trust entered the 2018 grant cycle on September 5, 2017 receiving
112 new applications and 39 carry-over projects requesting a total of $42,320,516 in grants. Last year the Trust
received 130 new applications and 52 carry-over projects. The Trust has
completed 24 grant cycles and will announce the results of the 25th round
of award recommendations in February 2018.
As part of the
grant application process, the Trust invites members of the public to review
the proposed grants and provide written comments about the projects. A summary
of each proposal will be available soon on the Trust’s web site www.environmentaltrust.org.
Comments on the grant applications will be accepted until April 4, 2018 at the
Nebraska Environmental Trust, 700 S 16th Street, PO Box 94913,
Lincoln, NE 68509-4913 or via e-mail to marilyn.tabor@nebraska.gov.
The Nebraska
Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. Using
revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided over $275 million in
grants to more than 2,000 projects across the state. Anyone – citizens,
organizations, communities, farmers and businesses – can apply for funding to protect
habitat, improve water quality and establish recycling programs in
Nebraska.
 Fertig Prairie
Local Wachiska Audubon Society Protects Prairie
Wachiska Audubon President Gary Fehr announced recently that
Wachiska has completed the purchase of the 45 acre Fertig Prairie west of Schuyler,
Nebraska. “The purchase is part of our chapter’s 25 year program to protect native tallgrass
prairies in each county in southeastern Nebraska”, said Fehr. “This prairie is a valuable one due to
the stewardship of the Fertig family over many years. It has a wide
variety of tallgrass plant species as well as insects and other animals. We plan to continue to make prairies like this one available for
education as the Fertig family has done”.
“We were fortunate to receive grants from the Nebraska
Environmental Trust, the Woollam Foundation, the Cooper Foundation, and the Lower Platte
North NRD. Their generosity allowed this purchase to happen",
said Fehr.
As with the other
prairies that they own, Wachiska will leave Fertig Prairie open all year
for students, hikers, researchers, and birdwatchers. Visitors are welcome. Wachiska holds half day educational events, called Prairie
Discovery Days, on their prairies each September for fourth grade classes from nearby schools.
To learn more about Wachiska Audubon’s prairie program, Fehr
encourages people to contact Wachiska Audubon’s office in Lincoln or check their web site at: www.WachiskaAudubon.org.
Mayor Cuts Ribbon For New Hazardous Materials Collection Center
Mayor
Chris Beutler joined local public and environmental health officials to
celebrate the opening of Lincoln’s new Hazardous Materials Collection Center
(HMCC), 5101 N 48th Street.
The
permanent facility for the disposal of hazardous materials will serve Lincoln
and Lancaster County residents as well as qualifying small businesses, such as
home based operations, nonprofits, churches, and others that produce less than
220 pounds of hazardous waste per month.
“For the
first time, residents of our City and County will have the ability to dispose
of their most toxic and hazardous household products and waste all year long,”
Mayor Beutler said. “Small businesses will have a lower-cost option for
hazardous waste disposal. And we will now be closer to reaching one
of our Taking Charge goals of diverting at least 100-thousand pounds of toxic
material from the landfill annually. With this Center, we will
reduce health risks from poisoning and spills and we’ll reduce the risk of
environmental contamination of our water, land and air.”
The HMCC
will accept household hazardous waste by appointment only on the first
Wednesday and the third Saturday of each month. The first collection date
will be Wednesday, October 4. Residents can schedule appointments at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: household) or by
calling 402-441-8021. Residents will be asked to identify the types and
amounts of waste they plan to bring. Small businesses can call
402-441-8002 to see if they qualify for disposal services.
The cost
to design, build and equip the HMCC was $1.58 million, which included $430,000
from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and $400,000 in
grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET). Mayor Beutler thanked
the funding partners for their investment. The ribbon-cutting event was
attended by Jim Macy, NDEQ Director; Mark Brohman, NET Executive Director; and
Charlotte Burke, LLCHD Interim Health Director.
With the
opening of the new facility, fewer household hazardous waste mobile collection
events will be offered. The new HMCC will accept the same materials
collected at the mobile events. That
includes items that contain mercury (CFLs, thermometers), pesticides, household
cleaning products, paint thinners, stains, oil-based paint, pool cleaning
chemicals and mixed or old gasoline. A complete list of accepted items is
available at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: household).
The HMCC
does not accept latex paint, motor oil, fertilizers, gas grill cylinders,
medicines and pharmaceutical waste, electronics and batteries. For
information on recycling these and other materials, check the “Waste Reduction
and Recycling Guide” at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: recycle guide).
 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the Facility
Upcoming Events
- Husker Harvest Days - September 12-14, 2017, Grand Island, NE.
- 13th Annual Missouri River Outdoor Expo - Saturday/ Sunday, September 16-17, 2017, Ponca State Park, NE.
- 4th Quarter Board Meeting, Thursday, November 2, 2017 - Ferguson House
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