NEWS RELEASE

Founding Riverkeeper to step down
Daniel LeBlanc to retire from Petitcodiac Riverkeeper this summer

(Moncton – June 2, 2006) – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s founding Executive Director and Riverkeeper, Daniel LeBlanc, will be stepping down this summer after seven and a half years at the helm of one of New Brunswick’s most prominent environmental organizations.

Established in February 1999 as Canada’s first chapter of the US-based Waterkeeper Alliance, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper has evolved into a powerful force to win back the endangered Petitcodiac River for the benefit of present and future generations. Under LeBlanc’s leadership, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper has become an award-winning organization (Canadian Environmental Award, 2002; Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce Excellence Award, 2002) at the leading edge of environmental law enforcement and environmental communications in the province.

LeBlanc also managed to rally the support of nine of the watershed’s ten communities towards the goal of restoring the Petitcodiac by replacing the causeway with a partial bridge, a project that is now awaiting approval by the Province of New Brunswick and the federal government. True to his Riverkeeper role, LeBlanc initiated a number of environmental investigations that led to this region’s first court convictions and court orders under Canada’s Fisheries Act and triggered the process that resulted in the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans declaring the status quo illegal at the Petitcodiac causeway in March 2001, which in turn triggered the recently completed Environmental Impact Assessment on the river’s future.

During the past seven years, LeBlanc conducted over 500 media interviews and raised over $750,000 to support the cause of restoring the Petitcodiac River. He also initiated numerous other projects to achieve this goal, such as the campaign to decommission the region’s two remaining abandoned dams (Humphreys Brook, Riverview’s old Navy Dam), publishing an annual list of the watershed’s ten worst pollution sources, and stream clean-ups that resulted in over 44,000 lbs. of debris being removed from our waterways, as well as river runs and educational projects to highlight the wonders of the Petitcodiac (including its wildlife and tidal bore) and to prepare for the upcoming renaissance of the River.

“I’m leaving Petitcodiac Riverkeeper confident that the river will soon be restored and satisfied that I have accomplished the job that I had set out to do,” said LeBlanc. “It’s now time to hand over the responsibility of managing this great organization to someone else.”

“He will be greatly missed”, acknowledged Michel Desjardins, Chairman of the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper Board of Directors. “We owe a lot to Daniel for his extraordinary contribution to the river and to this community”.

The search for a new Executive Director and Riverkeeper for the organization begins this week. LeBlanc will remain with Petitcodiac Riverkeeper until the transition is completed.

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INFORMATION :

Michel Desjardins, Chairman
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper Board of Directors
Tel. 506-389-8221