Mississippi River campaign launches new ways to take action

Posted on behalf of the Mississippi River Network.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Visit. Learn. Tell Congress what’s up. The newly redesigned website for the 1 Mississippi campaign urges visitors to get involved in a great variety of ways to protect America’s greatest River. The site–www.1mississippi.org–is designed to reach a broad array of Mississippi River residents: River rats, advocates and members of the general public who are interested in learning about nature and the world around them.

The new website has exciting new features like testimonials from River Citizens—people who take small actions to make a big difference, video clips about wildlife and even a direct link for River Citizens to tell Congress what they think.

“Visitors will now have more access to the information they need to make informed decisions about how to protect their drinking water, their parks and their Big River,” said Laura Cohen, Project Director at The Confluence Partnership. “This is a very valuable resource for environmentalists of all stripes.”

1 Mississippi is a campaign of the Mississippi River Network, a coalition of 39 organizations from around the basin. The Mississippi River Fund, an organization in Minneapolis, MN, is part of the Network.

Currently featured on the site’s “Tell Congress What’s Up” page is a way for River Citizens to communicate directly with their members of Congress about the need to protect conservation funding in the next Farm Bill.

“Connecting citizens with those elected to represent them is an intrinsic part of this campaign,” said Bill Wenzel, the Policy Manager for the Mississippi River Network. “Especially in these tough economic times, it is important that everyday people get their voices heard as Congress makes budget decisions with long-lasting repercussions for our health and environment.”

The new 1mississippi.org makes it easy to become a River Citizen. Individuals can sign up for free online and get connected to a network of thousands of people all over the country who want to protect America’s Greatest River.

River Citizens live in many different states, but all are connected to each other through this mighty River. We are one nation and 1 Mississippi. 1 Mississippi is a campaign organized by Biodiversity Project and supported by the McKnight Foundation and the Mississippi River Network: Headwaters to the Gulf.

For more information, contact:
Nancy Paraskevopoulos, 1 Mississippi Campaign Manager
Phone: 773-897-0017
Email: nparas@biodiverse.org