This edition of Between Two Great Lakes has us meeting with staff from Rich's to talk about why they choose to continue their longtime support and engagement with Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. We also highlight their responsible business strategy called Generations of Good, as well as how good it is to bird watch by their corporate headquarters along the Niagara River.

The Niagara River/Lake Erie Watershed in New York State contains 1.5 million acres of land and has more than 1.1 million people living in it. Today's show looks at how the region can be protected by working together.

The watershed covers 116 municipalities, 5,543 miles of rivers and streams and 1450,000 acres of state and federally listed wetlands. Many people and groups work to protect this watershed, which is a large undertaking. An organization supporting this effort is the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance (LEWPA). The group coordinates efforts between Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie counties to address water quality issues in this region.

Learn more about them here: https://www3.erie.gov/environment/lake-erie-watershed-protection-alliance

For our ongoing Coastal Resiliency podcast series, we spoke with Cassandra Pinkoski with the Chautauqua County Soil & Water Conservation District. We met in Dunkirk to learn about shoreline resiliency work along the Lake Erie coastline.

Continue learning about how we are building a resilient coastline at https://bnwaterkeeper.org/climate-resiliency/

This the kickoff to our ongoing Coastal Resiliency series. We're talking about how we and our partner organizations are working to create a resilient coastline for Lake Erie and the surrounding communities.

This episode highlights how Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is defining coastal resiliency, what challenges are out there and future steps towards improvement.

It's a vast project we hope to make easier for people to understand and know why this is such an important time to look at these issues and what it means for the Western New York community. Continue learning about how we are building a resilient coastline at https://bnwaterkeeper.org/climate-resiliency/

Music on today's show is from Snowbelt. Listen to them here: https://snowbelt.bandcamp.com/

The answer: not big, but this plastic item can be a big problem when looking at its impact on the environment.

Today's show looks at how Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is trying to understand nurdles, how we train volunteers to look for them and how having the information about what's out there helps us in our advocacy efforts. The guest today is Elizabeth Cute, senior program manager at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper.

Be a part of the solution, learn more about plastic pollution here: https://bnwaterkeeper.org/plastic-pollution/

Thanks again to the band Snowbelt. Listen to them on bandcamp: https://snowbelt.bandcamp.com/

Tell everyone you know: New York is a Great Lakes State. Our Legal Director Margaux Valenti stops by to share what this means. And after you listen to this episode, you'll understand the importance of that message and why we are spreading it far and wide. Now all together: New York is a Great Lakes State!

Music from Snowbelt, a Buffalo based band.

How did we get those awesome shoreline plantings to take root? Good chance it involved a rock sock. This fun name for a tool used in living shoreline projects has been used in various ways around the country, and we've been able to work with partners to take advantage of it for our own restoration projects.

This episode we talk with Charles Oddo, project manager and senior designer at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, about living shorelines, healthy ecosystems, and what makes a rock sock.

See a video of the rock sock creation and learn more about our volunteer opportunities at https://bnwaterkeeper.org/restorecorps/

Artist and fly fishing guide Alberto Rey talked to us about his current exhibit focusing on the Niagara River and how the art can reflect the importance of the river's natural heritage and challenges.

This is Part 2 of a two part interview.

Alberto Rey's art exhibit, Biological Regionalism: Niagara River, Western New York, is on display until Feb. 25, 2024 at the ⁠Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University⁠. You can learn more about Alberto at https://albertorey.com/

Music in this week's show is from Snowbelt. You can stream their music here:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0fM7g40BsQRxtS8XepPuZF?si=zTPaYdIyQSGc5tpML7JO2w