This fall, the National Park Service, Groundwork Somerville, YMCA Boston and Wilderness Inquiry will be hosting an exciting canoeing event on two of our important local rivers: the Mystic River in Somerville (September 22nd, 2015) and the Neponset River in Boston (September 23rd, 2015). The Wilderness Inquiry Canoemobile, a fleet of six 24’ Voyageur canoes, delivers place-based education on urban rivers and waterways that offers youth a chance to canoe, learn, and interact in and around their local rivers. As part of its national tour of 31 cities, the Canoemobile will be delivering 2 days of programming in Boston and Somerville.
The event is coordinated and funded by the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, hosted by YMCA Boston and Groundwork Somerville and implemented by Wilderness Inquiry and a number of community-based organizations. The Canoemobile is a program of Wilderness Inquiry in partnership with Nature Valley and many federal, state, and local organizations that care about healthy lifestyles for today's youth.
The event will include water and land-based activities throughout the day. Each of the canoes (24-foot, hand built wooden boats) seats nine students and one environmental educator-canoe guide, allowing participants who have never been on the water to have their first paddling experience. Participants study water quality, climate change, and ecosystem restoration while on the water. Partner organizations facilitate interactive land-based curriculum stations, which typically includes environmental education (i.e. water quality and wildlife ecology), outdoor recreation (i.e. pitching a tent, building a small raft or tying knots) and historical/cultural interpretation (i.e. learning about the history of the river).
For more information:
Event website: http://www.groundworksomerville.org/programs/youth-programs/canoemobile/
Canoemobile program: www.wildernessinquiry.org/canoemobile
