User talk:Betsy Cawn

Welcome...

Hello, Betsy Cawn, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like this place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
 * Introduction
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
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 * How to write a great article
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Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically produce your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and ask your question there. Again, welcome! Mike Cline (talk) 18:58, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

New contributor questions
December 8, 2013

Please provide new user guidance to a total novice (but retired technical editor with many years of experience in production of technical information). I received a message from Mike Cline saying that I can sign posts on my "talk page" (which I surely will do with this one!). My subject of special interest is the implementation of the federal Clean Water Act in the northern California County of Lake, with a "minor" in implementation of the Older Americans Act in my community of active senior citizens. I deeply respect the work of Wikipedians, librarians, and research/readers sharing the best possible sources of information world-wide. Thank you for allowing my modest contributions to broaden the capacity for public education and outreach on behalf of citizens of Lake County, California.

This is how ignorant I am: If this is a "Talk Page" and I "submit" this content by selecting "Save Page" (the button at the bottom), where exactly do I enter the tildes (Betsy Cawn (talk) 19:32, 8 December 2013 (UTC))?

I am open to all correspondence from responsible editors, readers, and authors of Wikipedia information: Betsy Cawn, The Essential Public Information Center, Upper Lake, CA; 707-275-9376, epi-center@sbcglobal.net.

Much appreciation for good guidance,

Betsy

19:32, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Asked and answered!
Viewing the results of my initial inquiry reveals the answers to my original questions. Wikipedia continues to amaze, by making everything so "user friendly" -- I can't imagine why I waited so long to get involved. Many thanks to all.

Betsy

Betsy Cawn (talk) 19:35, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Re Clear Lake California article
Betsy, welcome to Wikipedia. I happened to be watching the Clear Lake article because I'd made some changes relative to steelhead. I think your contributions are good. I would ask that you look at two pieces of Wikipedia guidance. First, WP:MOS our manual of style will give you some pointers that will help you format the environment section better. The second is WP:COI. Many Wikipedians go nuts over editors that have any sort of Conflict of Interest related to the articles they are editing. I am not one of those because for me your contributions should be evaluated against our WP:NPOV and WP:RS policies. However, if you have a close, vested association with Clear Lake through your employment, you should be upfront about it and take care that your contributions are neutral and well sourced. If you have any questions about contributing to Wikipedia, please ask me here or on my talk page. Sincerely --Mike Cline (talk) 21:35, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Much appreciated mentoring and further guidance request.
Dear Mike,

Thanks for the timely feedback. I am a volunteer here in the County of Lake, California, with no fiduciary benefits from the projects I work on, but I am directly responsible for the County-wide public education and outreach program that complies with the local NPDES stormwater management permit. In 2005 I established a free public information service to assist organizations, including the County and both incorporated Cities, local special districts, non-profit boards of directors, and community groups that lack information resources (The Essential Public Information Center, epi-center@sbcglobal.net). This is a very small county, population-wise, and there is no Public Information Office for members of the public to go to, and each department of all three jurisdictional entities (county and two cities) manages its information separately. I am working with the local (county-provided) public library system to create a "watershed information section" and have served as a volunteer in the California Water Plan's resource management strategy workgroup for public education and outreach to the state program to support efforts like this in statewide public libraries.

I have been a devotee of ecology and environmental protection for over 50 years, and moved to this particular spot to support watershed protection efforts in the adjacent national forest (Mendocino National Forest), nearby Bureau of Land Management recreation area (Cow Mountain), wetland restoration in former "reclaimed" ag lands (right out my back door), and preservation of extensive wildlife populations in the surrounding landscape.

One of the reasons I was drawn to the Wikipedia work is because of its use of validated citations. I do my utmost not to publish any "information" that I cannot correctly cite, and refuse to peddle opinions, feelings, beliefs, or personal preferences as "facts." Most often, I am accused of being too excessively picky about this, so Wikipedia makes me feel right at home. In the course of the following conversation, I will make assertions that I cannot "prove" by citing published material, but I can substantiate my claims with referral to information sources (like the California DWR bioaccumulation oversight group participant, for example, or our local Environmental Health Department staff -- referring to the mercury issue, for example). I am not proposing to "publish" the following statements, I am contemplating the proper manner for accomplishing the tasks described, and would appreciate your consideration of them beforehand.

There are a couple of areas in the "Clear Lake (California)" Wikipedia page that I would like to change. First, I would like to describe the mercury issue within the new section (Clear Lake Basin and Watershed / Environmental Protection Programs) in a sentence or two about the Sacramento River Basin Plan Amendments for control of mercury and nutrients in Clear Lake, and make reference to the US EPA Region 9 Superfund Site web page for the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine. [These sentences require careful construction and placement, and I haven't quite decided how to proceed.]

Secondly, I would like to move the discussion of fish consumption advisories to the "Recreation" section, which is where I would hope that recreational fisher-people would note that kind of information. It is, unfortunately, true that our local Public Health and Environmental Health Departments do not provide public notices of fish consumption advisories at the locations where recreational fishing occurs (or at boat launching locations or bait & tackle shops).

I have heard it claimed that Native Americans residing in proximity to the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine are habituated to the practice of subsidence fishing, and that the US EPA monitoring of their health has not indicated the presence of bioaccumulated methyl mercury as a health impairment in that tribe. While we know that mercury from our region is contributing to contamination levels in the San Francisco Bay Delta, via the Yolo Bypass when on rare occasions the Yolo Detention Facility overflows into the Bypass; however, that detention facility was constructed for the very purpose of capturing heavy metals from lower Cache Creek to prevent the contribution to Bay Delta impairments. Unfortunately, the detention basin is filling in, and the Army Corps of Engineers has turned over responsibility to the very individual from California DWR who is part of the bioaccumulation oversight project (mentioned in the next, bracketed paragraph). In discussions with Yolo County agencies over the past couple of years, we have heard that the City of Woodland is anxious about the detention basin's capacity levels, that could result in additional flooding of their community. A thorny, complex problem. I'm not going to attempt to address this in the Wikipedia, just thought you might be interested.

[A current bioaccumulation monitoring project including three chapters of the Audubon Society and at least one official from the State Department of Water Resources to determine levels of methyl mercury contamination of waterfowl (Grebes) in the Bay Delta, in collaboration with the San Francisco Estuary Institute and the Delta Science Council, is looking at the shells of hatched or unhatched progeny, under the direction of a scientist from the Pacific Union College, Dr. Hayes. I am eagerly awaiting the results of their findings, because Grebes are some of my favorite creatures and we used to have them in abundance.]

I would also like to develop a much stronger invasive species discussion -- and in the interest of full disclosure will state that I have been a volunteer supporting the County's invasive species prevention program since 2007. While our modest aquatic invasive species protection program is hardly adequate to the task, members of the local community involved in strengthening the program are highly sensitive to its needs and the ongoing effort may result in loss of the "free" public access points referred to in the first paragraph of the "Recreation" section. Local Hydrilla Eradication Program implementation is provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, while other aquatic invasives are addressed by the County's Department of Water Resources and an interagency "Invasive Species Council." We have thus far been extremely lucky (since fishing competitions draw participants from all over the country), I guess I should say we hope so anyway.

But I will work with staff at our County visitor information center to ensure that the message is appropriately framed -- if it were left up to me I'd have the Quagga/Zebra Mussel Prevention Program featured prominently, but that's just because I feel very strongly about the issue. That is one of those cases where I know enough to seek direction from "unbiased" and knowledgeable masters of public outreach.

It would be impossible for me to claim that I am impartial and unbiased where Clear Lake is concerned, because living here fulfills so many of my dreams -- to dwell peacefully in a beautiful and sacred place, to share the bounty of my expertise and experience as contributions to my community, to uphold the legacy of my inherited ancestry (John Bartram was my great grandfather eleven generations ago). But in adding my tiny contribution to your wonderful world-wide body of knowledge, I solemnly swear I will not misuse or take advantage or exploit its resources for personal gain. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to learn from such a master as yourself. Betsy Cawn (talk) 23:45, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Betsy, you will do fine. You mention “public outreach” several times and clearly you are interested in environmental issues in your part of the world.  As such you know a lot about these issues.  That’s good for Wikipedia.  What you know about is a strength that all Wikipedians bring to the encyclopedia.  But more importantly is realizing Wikipedia is an encyclopedia—a tertiary source—that merely reflects what other secondary and primary sources say about a subject.  Advocacy of any particular position is not part of the editor’s job.  Public outreach is not the encyclopedia's purpose.  Drawing conclusions or making assertions about a subject from different sources, even if all the individual facts are accurate is not part of an editor’s job.  We would call that WP:Synthesis, and care must be taken not to include such synthesis in any article.  The other challenge you will have (all new editors face this challenge) is balancing what you know about and are passionate about in any given article with what the article is about. See WP:Undue.  As you work on the Clear Lake (California) article, remember it is an encyclopedia article about a large lake in Northern California, not an article about environmental issues.  It is not an article about the myriad of environmental issues facing the lake, nor the many organizations that might be working on or mitigating those issues.  It is an article about a lake, a lake that has a lot (I am sure) of interesting history, etc.  In encyclopedic writing, especially in Wikipedia which prides itself on WP:NPOV, getting the right balance of content can be challenging.  As you continue to work on the Clear Lake Basin and Watershed / Environmental Protection Programs section (I would change section heading to a more concise: "Environmental issues") don’t do it with public outreach in mind or purpose.  Do it with encyclopedic writing of neutral, well balanced free knowledge as your purpose.  Continue to ask questions as you work through this. I will always try and help. --Mike Cline (talk) 00:30, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Using citation templates
I see you've been struggling a bit with formatting citations. My suggestion is to use the appropriate citation template: Citation templates. Once you learn the basic template formats, add citations becomes second nature. I changed the nomussels.com citation in Clear Lake as an example. --Mike Cline (talk) 01:06, 9 December 2013 (UTC)