environmental sustainability
All of August, Union Craft in Medfield is offering its new Roundup & Match program benefiting FTJF.
The official kickoff is Wednesday, August 6th, from 4:30 to 8pm where FTJF Board members will be on hand to talk about its 2-Year Strategic Plan for the Watershed and other important initiatives. Come get a brew and something to eat.
And, by all means, please come see us! Bring your ideas to share!
Buy your tickets here until Noon, Thursday, when all sales end- http://bit.ly/FTJFTrueChesapeakeKickOff
Many thanks for supporting the highly successful Jones Falls Celebrates Senator Ben Cardin on September 7th at White Hall Mill. Enjoy browsing the photo gallery for the evening created by Tedd Henn, Side A Photography: Jones Falls Celebrates Sen Cardin 9-7-2023 photo gallery. Thanks to all our sponsors! See the slideshow from the evening below.
Date: Thursday, September 7, 5-8pm
Location: Whitehall Mill 3300 Clipper Mill Road Baltimore, MD 21211
Hosted in partnership with:
Date: Friday, September 23, 2022, Conference 8:00am – 4:00pm / Networking / Happy Hour 4:00 – 6:00pm
Saturday, September 24, 2022, Outfall Screening / Stream Walk, 9:00am – Noon
Location: Union Craft Brewing, Main Hall, 1700 W. 41st St, Baltimore, MD 21211. Free on-site parking.
Includes one-day conference attendance, continental breakfast, boxed lunch by The Lunchbox Lady, coffee, tea and light fare from Vent Coffee, and Happy Hour beverages from Union Craft Brewery, treats the Charmery (ice cream) and more. Up to 7 PDH’s are available through ASCE with conference attendance.
Community Volunteers and Non-Profit Staff – $100
Government Employees – $125
Professionals – $150
Outfall Screening Field Walk on Saturday (additional – limited to 25) – $25
Friday, September 23, 2022, Conference 8:00am – 4:00pm
Networking / Happy Hour 4:00 – 6:00pm
Join fellow environmental professionals and practitioners, community activists and greening volunteers to learn about the science and strategies driving policy and practices of sustainability in our waterway ecosystems. Listen to and question more than 15 expert speakers about the health of local waterways, the future of storm water management and green infrastructure and how flood control policy is evolving with climate change. Throughout the conference day, meet storm water technology organizations/vendors.
During Networking / Happy Hour from 4pm to 6pm, connect with the great diversity of conference participants.
Saturday, September 24, 2022, Outfall Screening / Stream Walk, 9:00am – 12:00pm
Find out first-hand the state of the Jones Falls flowing alongside the Union Craft property and adjoining the JFX. (Additional cost —limited to 25 participants) during a stream walk led by Blue Water Baltimore staff.
8am – 9am: Attendee check-in, coffee, tea and light fare
9am – 9:15am: Welcome and logistics
9:15am – 9:45am: Keynote speaker – Del. Tony Bridges, Executive Director, Blue Water Baltimore
9:45am – 10:45am: Environmental Science Panel
Moderator: Tanaira Cullens (Biohabitats)
Wolf Pecher (University of Baltimore)
Bob Summers (Ecologix)
Stan Kemp (University of Baltimore)
10:45am – 11am: Break
11am – 12pm: Engineering Green Panel
Moderator: Nick Lindow (Cityscape Engineering)
Chris Streb (Biohabitats)
Dong Hee Kang (Morgan State University)
Stewart Comstock (MDE)
12pm – 1pm: Lunch and Jones Falls Drone Video
Presenter: Katie O’Meara (MICA)
1pm – 2pm: Environmental Sustainability and Policy Panel, Part 1
Moderator: Mac McComas (JHU)
Dr. Ela-Sita Carpenter (USFWS)
Ashley Traut (GBWC)
Alice Volpitta (BWB)
2pm – 2:30pm: Break
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Environmental Sustainability and Policy Panel, Part 2
Moderator: Jessica Krueger (AECOM)
Melissa Miklus (RKK)
Kimberly Grove (BC DPW)
Carmera Thomas (Conservation Fund)
3:30pm – 4pm: Closing Remarks
Eric Schott – (University of Maryland)
4pm – 6pm: Happy Hour and Networking at Union Craft Brewing
9am – 12pm: Stream Walk at Union Craft Brewing: Outfall Screening on The Jones Falls
Alice Volpitta (Blue Water Baltimore) and/or Barbara Johnson (BWB)
Email questions to thejonesfalls@gmail.com.
Join us on Good Deeds Day Sunday, April 11th at 12:00 PM for a stream clean-up with the Friends Of The Jones Falls. We will work together to pick up trash and remove invasive species from the area. We will gather in the parking lot of Union Craft Brewery and then walk to the location of the clean-up. If you need any accommodations to make this event accessible to you, please reach out to Harry at harry.marek@werepair.org.
The Friends of The Jones Falls is hosting special virtual presentation to get you buzzing for spring gardening, and the start of our Jones Falls cleanups! Consider making a donation to the Friends of The Jones Falls to support programs like this and initiatives that steward the Jones Falls watershed.
You’ll learn about the top 10 alien invasives afflicting the Jones Falls watershed and how to spot and eradicate them.
We will be joined by master gardener Debbie Swartz. Debbie co-chairs the Bay Wise Master Gardening program in Baltimore City through the University of Maryland Extension, and coordinates the Bay-Wise Maryland Yard Stick — the rating system for how gardens and landscapes benefit local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
Books recommended are: Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed (free download) Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, by Douglas W. Tallamy (updated and expanded version); Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer; The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, by Peter Wohlleben; Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines by William Cullina.
I grew up in Baltimore and though I was an outdoorsy child, I must admit that in my youth I believed the Jones Falls was just the name of an expressway. Having done more exploration, trail navigation and sightseeing as I’ve gotten older, I realize the Jones Falls is really a hidden gem. While it can be missed by those whizzing by in a vehicle, its charms are best captured when observing it while on foot. I’ve captured my thoughts in a poem below, titled “The Falls.”
Water rushing, leaves rustling
A siren wails in the air.
Your charms hidden away from plain view,
But when found, one must stop and stare.
With exposed rock and variable drops,
your waters dance with ease.
For biker, runner, paddler and walker,
your babbling aims to please.
Whether tunnels graced with graffiti
or bedrock marred with time,
your lapping never ceases
to take a chance and wind.
Around and over and under you go,
your flood waters are respected by all.
In Baltimore there can only be,
one place we call “The Jones Falls.”
Aside forested buffer and channeled concrete,
you greet the city lover.
Tis recognized there is no other
and so your praise, we must usher.
By Tanaira Cullens. Tanaira serves as Board Secretary for the Friends of The Jones Falls. She works as an environmental scientist for Biohabitats and lives in Loch Raven.
Friends of The Jones Falls