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What does it take to travel 8,606 miles in 54 days with 13 Udall Scholars on a biodiesel bus? Ask Bret Muter.
2005 Udall Scholar Christina Carbaja led Muter and the other current scholars on Purdue University’s Geological Walking Tour.
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On June 12, Bret Muter, along with 12 other Morris K. Udall Foundation scholars, set off on a seven-week, cross-country adventure to promote public service and the legacy of the late Congressman Udall who championed environmental awareness.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992, The Morris K. Udall Foundation honors the Arizona Congressman’s thirty-year legacy of public service. The foundation’s missions include identifying critical environmental issues, training professionals in environmental fields, providing educational outreach and giving scholarships to students of environmental policy.
Muter served as tour manager for the group that traveled across the country in a green-certified biodiesel motor coach to highlight innovative solutions to environmental and Native American issues in more than 30 locations, including major cities, Native American communities, national parks and college campuses.
The kickoff event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., showcased the Legacy Bus, crew and tour sponsors, and featured a number of distinguished members of Congress, including Vermont Senator Bernard Sanders and Congressman Udall’s son, Colorado Representative Mark Udall, as well as Deputy Secretary of the Interior and Udall Foundation Trustee P. Lynn Scarlett.
During the tour, the scholars participated in local public service projects and other activities, such as beginning the construction of a composting cooperative in New Orleans to be used in neighborhood bioremediation efforts, salvaging used bicycles from the waste stream with Working Bikes in Chicago, and exploring national parks through photography with local youth in Acadia National Park, Maine. The Udall Legacy Tour ended in Tucson, Ariz., on August 4.
Muter is no stranger to environmental issues. While at Ferris he founded the FSU Outdoor Club, worked as a docent in the University’s Card Wildlife Education Center and created the first recurring outdoor column for the student newspaper, the Torch.
After graduation, Muter moved to Tucson to join the Udall Foundation as a summer education intern for the Parks in Focus and scholarship programs. He also worked as a program assistant for the Foundation, coordinating two Parks in Focus programs during 2007 one in Arizona and the other Michigan in addition to putting together the logistics for the Legacy Bus Tour.
Among the tour’s many events, one of the most poignant was a stop in the Bronx on the anniversary of Congressman Udall’s birth. While still on the road, the event fresh in his mind, Muter wrote about the surprising ecological diversity along the Bronx River and the vitality of community members working to maintain and improve that environmental health:
On hand
to help kick off the Legacy Bus Tour was Congressman Udall’s
daughter and Foundation Vice Chair Anne Udall, and Foundation
Chair Terry Bracy. |
It’s
not often that one celebrates a birthday by planting trees, removing
invasives and leading a classroom full of excited fourth graders on
an expedition in a local park. On Friday, June 15, we celebrated what
would have been Congressman Morris K. Udall’s 85th birthday by teaming
up with several local organizations in the Bronx to host a daylong
celebration of environmental events and public service activities.
In the tradition of all great birthdays, however, we did end the day
with cake! The day began quite early as we headed from our hostel
in Manhattan into the South Bronx to our first site Shoelace Park,
a small park that borders a portion of the Bronx River.
There the crew met with members
of the Bronx River Alliance, joining them for a morning of invasive
plant removal and planting native species.
At the same time, we hosted a
mini Parks in Focus program with 23 fourth grade students from Public
School 304 to explore the flora and fauna, as well as the art of photography,
in Shoelace Park.
After wrapping up with our morning
activities, we headed to Bronx Community College to attend an alternative
energy forum, which emphasized the use of compact fluorescent lighting
in both homes and businesses.
To conclude the day’s festivities,
we jumped on the bus to head to Barretto Point Park (a former “brown
field” site that is now a gorgeous public park) for a picnic with
folks from Congressman Jose Serrano’s office, as well as other community
leaders.
For me, June 15 was more than
a day of celebrating public service. Visiting the Bronx was an eye-opening
and personally inspirational experience. Before I had begun planning
this stop, I had been unaware of all the great initiatives and the
amazing work already taking place in the Bronx. And even though I
had read a lot about the community’s environmental success stories
over the past couple months - it was exciting to see and experience
some of them firsthand.
For example, a few months ago
I never would have imagined that there is a flourishing riparian ecosystem
within the Bronx, but the Bronx River and its bordering parks are
now frequented with lush vegetation and amazing wildlife. It wasn’t
long after we arrived at Shoelace Park before we were watching mallards,
egrets and other birds using the river a truly amazing sight, considering
we were virtually footsteps away from the hustle and bustle of the
city. You may also know that the Bronx now has its first resident
beaver in more than 200 years named Jose, after Congressman Serrano,
in recognition for his commitment to revitalizing the Bronx River.
And perhaps equally important
the change is being noticed within the community.
Probably the day’s most heartening
experience took place that morning. Most of our group had ventured
down to the bank of the river to begin native species planting and
invasive removal efforts, while the handful of us coordinating the
mini Parks in Focus program were waiting for the class to arrive,
when a man running by stopped to ask us if we were “the group” responsible
for the park. We weren’t, of course; however, we pointed out the Bronx
River Alliance for revitalizing and maintaining the park.
Immediately, the man piped up
and said, “Well, whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it.” He then
went on to tell us about how great it is to have the park in the neighborhood
and how happy he is that the area has been revitalized. He lit up
as he told us how he enjoys taking his grandson there to watch all
of the birds and other wildlife. At one point he even referred to
one area of the park as an “enchanted forest.”
Similar sentiments of appreciation
were a common thread throughout the day.
While listening to some of the
community members’ stories their failures and successes, as well
as their battles as they continue to plan for a more environmentally,
economic and socially sustainable future I began to realize that
as large as the Bronx is, it really has a “small-town” feel. The people
we met with who live there have a strong passion and sense of commitment
and responsibility to improving their local community for themselves,
their families and their neighbors.
Our visit to the Bronx is one
that has left a lasting impression on me, and I do really hope that
I will have the opportunity to visit again soon to offer a pair of
able hands.
I can’t think of a better way
or a better place that we could have spent Mo’s birthday. I’m sure
he would have loved this!
This piece, along with other blog posts, photos and videos documenting the tour’s many adventures can be found http://blogs.udall.gov.
The Legacy Bus Tour closed out the Udall Foundation’s yearlong “Celebration of Public Service” marking the 10th anniversary of the Foundation’s education programs.
For more information about the Morris K. Udall Foundation or the Udall Legacy Bus Tour, visit www.udall.gov.
Thanks to the Udall Foundation for information and photographs used in this article.
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