Dennis Regan took the job of Berkshire Manager for the Housatonic Valley Association in 1999 because he had a strong interest in the management of water resources and loved to kayak. That was 20 years ago and he didn’t think he would be here that long. Now, on the verge of retirement, he is glad he did, for he worked with some great people and was involved with some wonderful projects.
One of those wonderful projects was the Stream Team project, where HVA goes to various communities to get people involved in protecting the river. After some training, volunteers then go to specific sections of the river and document what they see — the good, bad and ugly. With the information obtained, they meet and report on what they saw and make recommendations on what they would like to see happen.
“That’s the challenge,” Regan says, “getting all of that information and compiling it down with specific concrete recommendations.
“People get excited about the environment when they know more about it. In providing people an opportunity to know more about the Housatonic River, they get actively involved in it.”
