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            The DCYC Green Boating Initiative will support Green Boating in the Jamaica Bay area and will participate in volunteer clean-ups and other initiatives to help our marine environment. If you wish to be part of the Initiative please sign up today

April 1. 2002 Boaters Take Clean Water Initiative

Barren Island, Brooklyn NY - It only seems natural that users of a National Recreation Area regard their environment as special. That is the way boaters of the Deep Creek Yacht Club, based at Gateway Marina in Gateway National Recreation Area, view the waters around Jamaica Bay. They have developed a program called the DCYC Green Boating Initiative that encourages its members to be environmentally aware and friendly in their enjoyment of recreational boating, fishing and sailing. They were recently awarded a grant from the Boat/U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water to continue the program that began last year. Bill Woodroffe, Commodore of the club, was very pleased that they received the funding which will be used to purchase boat decals and print pledge forms and other environmental information for the boaters. "As users of this great recreational asset in Jamaica Bay, boaters see first hand the stress the bay is under. It is surrounded by 2 million people in an urban and industrialized environment. As a boater I believe we can and should treat these waters as a great recreational asset and still respect the environment. Otherwise we will see more fences and walls preventing any access to the bay. Boaters are not nearly the major contributing factors stressing the bay but we all must do our part in being environmentally aware and friendly." The club boaters who sign on to the DCYC Green Boating Initiative agree to ten specific steps they will take to keep the waters cleaner. These include using less toxic cleaning products, keeping oil and wastes out of the water, using marine pump-out stations, recycling and other steps that are environmentally friendly. By placing the bright green and yellow initiative decal on their boats they hope to spread the word about green boating to others on the water. Gateway Marina, a concession within the National Recreation Area, is cooperating with the club's initiative by offering discounts for pump-out services for participating members. "I would like to see others get involved in practical and positive steps to protect this great bay," said Bill Woodroffe, "And I not only mean the boaters but other users, businesses and even government installations that line the shoreline and affect the bay much more than individual boaters. We are, in the end, all in the same boat!" The Deep Creek Yacht Club, formed in 1959, has one of the largest number of active boating members in the area and works closely with the National Park Service in such things as public sailing programs and boat restoration. Commodore Woodroffe commented that "the marina location within the National Recreation Area is ideally suited for these activities and we feel that we are helping to fulfill the National Parks objectives for this terrific asset".