Ever see those license plates with the whales and wonder what they're for? Thanks in part to a Massachusetts Environmental Trust grant (funded by those plates), as well as generous grants by Massachusetts Riverways and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Jones River Watershed Association and the town of Kingston are proud to announce Ready, Set, Action! This on-the-ground restoration program will involve students and teachers from Silver Lake High School, training them in efforts to improve the native habitats and species diversity of Pine Brook and Howard Brook, tributaries of the Jones River.

JRWA and the town of Kingston are excited to be kicking off a new project of river restoration, community outreach, and education. The project Ready, Set, Action! provides on-the-ground restoration efforts to improve the native habitats and species diversity of Pine Brook and Howard Brook that feed into the Jones River.

We will be partnering with several organizations in Ready, Set, Action! including the Town of Kingston Conservation Commission, Town of Kingston Open Space Committee, Silver Lake Regional High School, and Rushing Rivers Institute.

There are several components of this project which will ultimately require three years to fully implement. We will: 1) work with the Town of Kingston to develop a management program for the Cranberry Watershed Preserve; 2) conduct teacher and volunteer workshops on how to perform a habitat assessment; 3) work with teachers, their students and volunteers to facilitate a habitat assessment of Pine Brook; 4) work with teachers, students and volunteers to develop native habitat restoration nursery stock on the Preserve; 5) conduct on-the-ground restoration of Pine and Howard Brooks by restoring natural stream conditions; and 6) develop a how to video describing the environment, the steps in assessment and monitoring, and the work accomplished.

The Ready, Set, Action! project is possible thanks to generous funding from:

• The Massachusetts Environmental Trust http://http://www.masslandandwater.info/index.html. The license plates really do result in environmental successplease support them. Reserve your new Land and Water plates!
• The Massachusetts Riverways Program http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/river/. Their technical expertise and financial assistance have helped make this project a reality.
• The Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/. NRCS understands the urgency of protecting and improving wildlife habitat.

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