From the Director

I am struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that Thanksgiving is next week! This time of the year is a whirlwind for Blue Thumb. October is our second busiest month of the year (after April). Because the weather is usually amazing in Oklahoma in October, we get a LOT of requests for education events. In October we did several Natural Resource Days and Outdoor Classrooms, a Lake Wister Family Fun Day, H2Oklahoma in Harrah, a few creek walks and Trash or Treat at Zink Park in Tulsa. 

In addition to the normal Blue Thumb activity, we are gearing up for a big celebration. Blue Thumb has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Visionary Leadership Award. We will receive the award during the Environmental Excellence Celebration at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum on Friday, November 17th. We will share photos from the awards ceremony in next month's newsletter.

In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, take time to get outside and soak in some of this beautiful fall weather. I hope you and your families have a joyful Thanksgiving.

Rebecca Bond
Blue Thumb Director

Join us for our third data webinar TOMORROW, November 14, at 6:00 pm. Cheryl will talk about using your data to advocate for your stream. Click the button below to join the webinar.

We had a wonderful hike in the Wichita Mountains on October 28th. We got a little damp around the edges, but it was nice to experience southwestern Oklahoma in rain and fog. Thank you to everyone who made it out to enjoy the morning with us.

From the Volunteer Coordinator

I am passionate about protecting Oklahoma's natural resources and making choices that contribute as little as possible to climate change. I continually struggle to find effective ways of communicating climate science. I want to emphasize the urgency of the problem without making others feel so overwhelmed they become paralyzed or apathetic. I recently came across an editorial I found helpful. The authors offer a slightly different frame for thinking about how we talk about climate change and declining biodiversity. You may find it helpful, too. You can read the editorial here. Have you come across books or articles that help you communicate effectively about climate change or other pressing natural resource concerns? If so, please share them with me! I encourage you to consult the 2024 Blue Thumb Calendar for suggestions about changing your buying habits to reduce your demand on the earth's finite resources. 

Zoning Change

I have a heavy heart today as I prepare articles for "From the Water's Edge." Earlier today I noticed that a parcel of land two miles from my home has a “change of zoning” announcement posted at its corner.  This approximately 80-acre parcel has brought me hundreds of smiles.  One could say it has sat “idle” for the 30 years I have lived here, but it has been a natural prairie and cross-timbers woodland where carbon has been stored, water has been allowed to soak into the earth, birds have been spotted, and deer seen.  The area is likely home to equally important plants and animals that remain unseen by human passersby.

It is proposed that the zoning designation be changed from agricultural to residential.  This will irrevocably alter the nature of the parcel and will reduce water infiltration and wildlife habitat, yet will create homes and income for the community of Jenks. I am debating about whether to speak at the hearing for the zoning change on November 15th and present ideas for making the development more conservation-minded, for leaving some areas wild and for leaving some trees instead of clearing the whole parcel. Is there something you could do to help protect a natural spot that has brought you joy over the years? Individually, none of us can save the planet, but if we all take action in our communities, together we can make a difference.

Cheryl Cheadle
Volunteer Coordinator

Advocacy, Part II

Beverly Woodrome and Cheryl Cheadle

Oklahoma Conservation Commission executive director Trey Lam recently spoke at a Blue Thumb volunteer event held at the Oklahoma County Conservation District office.  Director Lam said, “Volunteering makes a difference.  Not only is your data used for educating the public, but it is also part of the information that we provide to our legislators, and this data helps us to acquire federal grants that make it possible for us to get conservation practices on the ground.” 

Individually and collectively, Blue Thumb volunteers can advocate for water conservation through grassroots advocacy, lobbying, and public awareness.

Grassroots advocacy involves people using strategic tactics to educate and persuade decision-makers on the issues they care about. Organizations, campaigns, and concerned citizens can do grassroots work. Grassroots advocacy is people advocating for themselves, their communities, and their environment.*

Organizations often employ professional lobbyists, who must register and follow various ethics rules. These professionals work to form close relationships with lawmakers during and often outside of session time.        

What Blue Thumb volunteers do when advocating for streams probably best falls under the category of education. Blue Thumb volunteers occupy a unique place in being advocates for water quality.  We can use data that would not exist if we were not out there monitoring and we have a special investment in our streams.  Nobody is making us monitor – we are choosing to help our local environment with every trip we make to the stream.                           

However Blue Thumb volunteers choose to advocate for water conservation, the key- the most important thing-is to take action.  There are many ways to do this, please participate in the upcoming webinar of this topic on November 14.

Public awareness and education is the process of giving the public information or training about a particular subject. Action is not usually explicitly tied in but is often a prerequisite to action in the future. MENTOR’s Advocate Academy, 2022.

Friends of Blue Thumb (FBT) is a nonprofit organization that is primarily known for helping volunteers with small grants, particularly to help them financially with monitoring supplies and educational outreach. 

All active Blue Thumb volunteers are members of Friends of Blue Thumb.  Watch “From the Water’s Edge” for announcements to apply for grants and other important news. Meetings are held every other month via ZOOM, with one or two meetings annually in person.  If you are interested in serving as a board member, please email Chairwoman Terrie Becerra (tbererra@ecok.edu).

• https://citizenscience.org/about/Did you know that there is a whole association for Citizen Scientists? You can become a member and learn more about it here!
• Don't forget about the "Stream Selfie," a project from the Izaak Walton League.
• Listen to this 12-minute article on how trees create clouds and how to incorporate these processes in to climate models.

Oklahoma Conservation Commission

Oklahoma Conservation Districts

Project WET

Friends of Blue Thumb

Soil Health Program

Department of Environmental Quality

EnvironMentor

Macroinvertebrate ID Website