LAKES APPRECIATION MONTH

Each year the month of July is recognized as Lakes Appreciation Month!

Sure, you may work on them, play on them, drink from them and dive into them, but have you recently taken the time to really appreciate your local lake, pond, or reservoir?

With increasing populations, development, and stressors on our waterbodies, we really need to take the time to consider where we’d be without water, and all life that relies on this valuable resource. We often take for granted that these resources will always be there and be useable.

Lakes Appreciation Month is the ideal time to set aside a week, a day or even just an hour to celebrate your favorite lake, pond or reservoir by participating in one or more of the following activities:

  • Assist with volunteer monitoring activities on your waterbody or in your watershed
  • Participate in the annual Secchi Disk Dip-In. More information can be found online at http://www.secchidipin.org.
  • Take a day off and visit a local lake or pond
  • Go boating, kayaking, canoeing, sailing or rowing
  • Go swimming or SCUBA diving
  • Go fishing
  • If you are not a lake manager, contact your local lake management agency and see if you could shadow a limnologist for a day
  • If you are a lake manager, coordinate activities in your office or on a local waterbody for others to participate (bring sampling equipment, id keys and other interactive materials)
  • Organize a lake clean-up event
  • Organize a watershed clean-up event
  • Organize a watershed storm drain stenciling program
  • Have your septic system pumped if you live close to a waterbody
  • Go to a local or state park beach on the shores of a lake, pond or reservoir
  • Go birding or picture taking around a lake or pond
  • If you are an artist, draw or paint a lake scene and put it up in your home or office to remind yourself of the great time you had at the lake while you were creating this work of art
  • Organize a field trip for students
  • Organize a family day at a local lake or pond

Most of all, remember to enjoy and appreciate these valuable freshwater resources!

Make the Most out of Lakes Appreciation Month

With a whole month dedicated to Lakes Appreciation, why not take the time to bring some attention to local freshwater resources, to either extoll their values or initiate action to protect, enhance, or rejuvenate them? Following are some ideas for bringing attention to lakes, ponds reservoirs near you.

First, why not ask for a proclamation from your state's governor? Here's how:

  1. Call the Governor’s office and speak with a staff person.
  2. Identify yourself as the President of the Statewide Chapter of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) or other organization where applicable.
  3. Ask for the Governor to sign a Proclamation of Lakes Appreciation Month for your state in July of that year.
  4. Be prepared to draft the proclamation (see example below).
  5. Prepare a news release, attend the signing and print information in the chapter newsletter to let members know. Activities and publicity about activities will encourage the public and lake property owners to appreciate their lake.
  6. Give lake groups ideas of how to celebrate Lake Appreciation Month (see above).
Sample Proclamation Language

WHEREAS, the State of (state name) is blessed with more than (#) lakes and ponds (and/or (#) acres of lakes and ponds within its boundaries; and

WHEREAS, lakes and ponds are important resources to the (state name) way of life and its environment, providing sources of recreation, scenic beauty and habitat for wildlife; and

WHEREAS, (state name) lakes are valuable economic resources for (state name) businesses, tourism and municipal governments; and

WHEREAS, over (#) citizen volunteers have demonstrated their intense interest in (state name) lakes by actively monitoring lake quality over the last (#) years through the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program; and

WHEREAS, the State of (state name) recognizes the need to protect these lakes and ponds for future generations;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, (Governor’s name), Governor of the State of (state name), do hereby proclaim July 20xx as

LAKES APPRECIATION MONTH

In the State of (state name), and invite all citizens to take due note of the observance.

With or without a proclamation you can still work to initiate some media coverage for lake-related events in a few easy steps:

  1. Develop a Contact List
    Get in touch with your local media outlets and identify contacts and their phone/fax numbers/e-mails. Local media include newspapers (dailies and weeklies), cable television stations, and local TV and radio stations. Don't forget college media stations. To get the right contact, ask who would be the most appropriate person to cover your event. Ask how far ahead of the event you should send the news release and how they prefer you send the release (i.e., via fax, mail, or dropping it off).
  2. Write a News Release (2 – 4 weeks before Lakes Appreciation Month)
    Generally the media will be more interested in covering the event if:
    • The story is of interest to many people (How clean is our lake?), there is conflict (Development pressures in our watershed are affecting our lake), There is a human-interest angle (The 4th grade class of the elementary school will be on hand to pick up trash alone the shoreline), and if local community leaders or celebrities will attend (The mayor has been invited to measure lake transparency).
    Tips on writing a good news release:
    • At the top left corner include your organization name, a contact, and phone number (day and night) for follow up questions.
    • Start with a good headline. (ALL CAPS, centered and underlined). Remember you are competing with lots of other news releases that come across a reporter's desk. Include the key points in your headline. For example, "Local volunteers to sample health of Lake Wannabeclean on July 3."
    • The information should answer the five W's...Who? What? When? Where? Why? Bullet out your news release answering these questions. Add basic information on your volunteer monitoring program, your lake and/or watershed, and the national Lakes Appreciation Month. Throw in some facts about lake water quality nationwide. Include names of any local celebrities or elected officials expected to attend the event.
    • Limit your news release to one page and end it with # # # at the bottom center (it means "the end" in media talk).
  3. Invite the Media (1-2 weeks before Lakes Appreciation Month)
    Fax, mail, or deliver your news release, and a specific invitation to attend, to your media contacts.
    Follow the guidelines your contacts gave you. In general, fax your news release 4 to 5 days before the event. Weekly newspapers may need more time.
  4. Follow Up (1-2 days after sending the news release)
    Follow up your news release with a phone call to make sure your contacts received it. If not, be prepared to give them any details.
  5. Prepare a Media Kit (2-3 days before the event)
    Prepare a media kit that reporters can take with them to write the story. Your kit should include:
    • Background information on Lakes Appreciation Month and the Secchi Dip-in. (1 page max).
    • Any information on water quality issues or trends data (1 page max) related to the water body you are sampling.
    • Contact names that the media can use to call and obtain quotes or more information.
  6. At The Event
    Be prepared to provide "on the spot" interviews. Designate several key people from your organization to be interviewed. They should be knowledgeable about the event and be able to provide details about your program. Identify possible photo/video opportunities.
  7. If the Media Doesn't Show Up
    Even if the media are planning to attend your event, sometimes there are breaking stories that they are forced to cover instead. Be prepared! Make sure you have a friend or volunteer who can take quality pictures at the event. After the event, write up a second news release that describes the event and includes the components discussed above (local angle, interest to many people, etc). Local papers will often print news releases verbatim, so make sure it is written as a news story. Send the news release along with some good photos and names and phone numbers of people who can be interviewed over the phone. Be sure to provide a caption with the photos including the names of the people in the photos. Follow up with a phone call to make sure they received the information and ask them if they have any questions.
  8. Remember Your Thank You Notes! (The day after the event)
    If the media does cover your event, be sure to follow up and tell your contacts you thought they did a great job covering the story. Everyone likes to be thanked and this will help you to establish a relationship with the media for future efforts.