Watershed: The Blog

This blog is a great big experiment. My job (if you've checked my profile) is Information and Education Project Administrator. Which sounds as if I were responsible for administrating the sum total of human information and education until you understand that Blogger wouldn't let me list my job as Watershed Information and Education due to space considerations.

I am tasked with the responsibility of generally raising awareness about watersheds in South Dakota and specifically getting people to understand non-point source pollution. (More about what a watershed and non-point source pollution are later.) How I do this is through "outreach" which is one of those umbrella terms whose meaning changes depending on who is using it.


I use outreach to mean publications like brochures and newsletters, mailings, displays at farm/home/boat shows, workshops, watershed tours, incentives i.e. fridge magnets or coffee mugs with our message, Water Festivals, power point presentations, volunteer monitoring, field trips, web sites, public service announcements, press releases, letters to the editor and so on.

You can see why I use outreach as an umbrella term.

All these methods are good, effective and necessary. Most if not all of them turn up in a "Best Practices" manual for community organizing (which is another of those umbrella terms). Lately, these methods seem staid and scripted. I guess I'm looking to add something a little more kicky to that list. Blogs, by their very nature, are more immediate and informal than the methods listed above. That's kicky.

The great big experiment is whether or not immediate and informal works for talking about watersheds. I am a little worried that talking about watersheds in a blog will seem... I don't know, maybe silly and as if I were trying too hard.

I will admit to a personal reason for wanting to try an enviro-blog. I wanted to do some writing in a voice other than my public educator voice or my grant writer voice. I've tried personal blogs before for this reason and I quickly run out of things to say because, quite honestly, my life is not that interesting.

Now, about the title.

It's About The Watershed fails as a title for more than one reason. However, Blogger was insistent that I have one. The only other title I could come up with was Water Matters. Using the word matters which functions as a noun and a verb in the title (count is another word like that) is like using Comic Sans Serif font. Sure, I could do it, but why?

Since I have limited tolerance for meta-blogging or blogging about blogging, this is as far down this path I will go.

EXCEPT, to shamelessly beg for links and comments.

[Editor's Note: In her E-mail to me about this Blog, Anne Lewis indicated she has made the blog part of her job of getting out information an Watersheds..and I assume soil erosion. She honestly notes this might make her a "paid Shill". She is a SD resident. I think for blogs like this where the intent of the blog is clearly noted and the purpose appears to legitimately be in the public interest, I will let this one be added to the list. And what the heck, years ago, I had the PI&E title after my name spreading the good word about controlling drunken driving for the State of SD.
A quick glance at the blog indicates it is interesting and well-written. The wretched weather here is greatly limiting my time today for keeping SD Blog List up-to-date or serious nit-picking.--DW]

Northern Valley Beacon

The Northern Valley Beacon was originally the name of the newsletter for the
Brown County Democrats. As web log space became available for nothing or
next to it, we mounted the Beacon as a web log for news and commentary.
Initially, we had help with the postings, often taking e-mailed materials
and suggestions from our constituents and using them as the basis for posts.
Very quickly, we found ourselves being trolled, and some instances where our
listed contributors received abusive and menacing telephone calls at their
homes. We then took their names off the web log and posted everything over
my name, because I am an old and experienced flak-catcher whose ass is so
raggedy that another tear or two doesn't matter.

In May when the trolls took to stalking every post we made, and our main
contributors quit after they decided that blogs were not very constructive
means of discussion, we took the Beacon down with the intention of putting
up a modest web log in conjunction with a Brown County Democrats web site.
We even changed the name. However, we receive so many complaints at
withdrawing the blog and so many prods to resume it that we started it going
again and eventually resumed with its original name. Oddly, about half of
our viewers come from out-of-state.



Although everybody, I think, knows I am an officer in the Brown County
Democrats and draw very heavily on the correspondence and conversations I
have with them, and the Beacon is a strong reflection of their concerns, I
exercise editorial license in a way that sometimes does not speak for the
official party line. My view points and ways of expressing matters and
disagreements on some party matters make some good Democrats uncomfortable.
While the Beacon is identified with the Brown County Democrats, I exercise
overbearing editorial control over it.

The policies: we do not engage in exchanges with other blogs, although we
acknowledge significant posts we think merit attention. We do not allow
anonymous comments, but do post comments from people who sign their names.
However, if we find anything untrue, libelous, or unduly abusive in the
posts, we dump them. We do not have links to other blogs. Our blog is very
simple black print on a white background with no bells or whistles. We try
to keep it as simple as possible because we don't have time to diddle with
the fancier features. And we have certain logocentric biases about the
conditions under which words work best.

Most of our posts are news-oriented. They pass on or comment on issues in
the news which are of special interest to people of the progressive bent.
When people do submit things for posting, we edit and rewrite the holy hell
out of it, because I am an old newspaper editor and professor of English and
my editorial pencil is constantly aquiver.
[Note: Screen captured Nov 18, 2005]

Anybody who wants to contact me can use the re-mail address noted under the
masthead of the Northern Valley Beacon with NVB or Beacon in the subject
box.

[Note from Doug: These professors do go on....and...; but DN can be terse and to the point on his blog. All seriousness aside, other SD bloggers can make their descriptions this long or make them shorter. It is your decision on what you think best honestly describes your blog.]

Progressive on the Prairie

"A Progressive on the Prairie was originally intended to provide a South Dakota rarity, a liberal/progressive prospective on politics. Since then, the blog has evolved to spend more time on the things that bring pleasure, meaning and nuance to life: books, music and film. Thoughts about life and, occasionally, politics also appear but the goal is to elevate the cultural over the political."



Tim notes also that as he has changed basic content of The Progressive on the Prairie, he has become part of Blog Critics and his Archive of Posts at Blogcritic is here.

South Dakota War College

The South Dakota War College is a weblog devoted to South Dakota politics, campaigns, issues, politicians, personalities, elections, and a little history and campaign advertising thrown in the mix as well.


My focus is on the nuts and bolts of how it all works, and how it all comes together to function (or disfunction) as a campaign. The written blog is the mainstay, but I also include multimedia such as audio and video blogs from time to time.

The author ("PP") comes from a background of working on South Dakota political campaigns since 1988 at everyting from local school board races to the statewide level.

Thanks Doug!

Lowdon's Ideal (SoDak) News & Views Blog

News and Views from a few miles north of Ideal, South Dakota. History, agriculture, politics, hunting, bison, Scot heritage, WW11 B-24 Service, prairie life, Homesteading, and some photos.

Lowdon has a mixture of news and views from the perspective of a guy who has been around the area for awhile. His parent homesteaded in Tripp County.

Todd Epp's Reformulated Epp Law Report/SD Watch

I am changing part of the focus of this blog to emphasize legal news and issues.
Frankly, I am hoping to use this blog to better market my law practice. It is my hope that the discussion of legal issues will not only appeal to lawyers but also to regular people and the problems and concerns they have in their lives.


As such, I will have my longer "legal" posts listed in full on this page. I will continue to post on South Dakota politics, culture, and life, which will be found in full in the "South Dakota Life" section. Short excerpts and/or teases of these postings will placed here on the "main" page.

The same thing goes for "This Big Day in S.D. History," "Not the Deadwood Pioneer," and "The Sioux Falls Daily Parodist." Other sections will remain on an ad hoc basis, such as "HHS Girls Soccer" and so forth.

The blogosphere continues to evolve as do those of us who use it and write in it. The blog will remain fun, even a little zany, but the "front" page will be a little more serious.

I hope you like the changes.

Best regards,

Doug Wiken's Dakota Today Blog

Dakota Today is a mixture of news, views, photos, RSS feeds to South Dakota news and blogs.

Dakota Today,edited by Doug Wiken. My perspective is primarily liberal Democratic, but now and then strays to just plain common sense whether that is liberal, conservative, libertarian, contrary, mainstream, vanilla, humorous, sarcastic, plaintive, or whatever.The text on the masthead of his blog gives an pretty good idea of the actual content.



I tolerate most comments made by posters willing to provide their real names and primary e-mail address (I don't reveal those real names without permission however)..to even if some such ocmments are contrary to my perspective. Insults of individuals not politicians or public figures are generally not tolerated; and frankly, since I pay for the blog, I don't usually publish insults to me either..disagreements are usually OK however.

Below is a screen capture:

Trampling Rose

I don't know how interesting my blog is, but I'd like for TramplingRose to be added to your list. It's a personal blog about my life in Brookings--I moved to South Dakota from Ohio a little over a year ago.

I also post the occasional photos, the occasional political rant, but generally, it's just my ramblings about my life.

Thanks,
Rachel G.

Synthaetic Synapse

Thanks for the opportunity to tell you about my blog.

Synthaetic Synapse is primarily a venue to introduce some of my nature photography and digography to friends and colleagues. I have an eclectic readership of past co-workers, clients, family members, and friends scattered across the country, the UK, and Australia who visit to enjoy some South Dakota, California, and anywhere-I-happen-to-have-been-when-I-shot-it scenery, as well as to learn a bit about how I do what I do with my treated works. In the near future, the site will include some reviews, comparisons, and analyses of professional-level PhotoShop plugins, which were originally undertaken and drafted for the now-defunct PC Graphics Report, to which I often contributed over the past three years.



Occasionally, my postings do reflect my political bent, but that is more of a side effect than an intention.

Synthaetic Synapse is in its second incarnation (it was originally started in November 2004 and taken down shortly thereafter due to bandwidth issues with my former host), and is now located at http://www.synthaetica.net -- [Note--clicking on the title above this post or on top list at right will get you to the site.]

Thank you for your time.

Black Marks on Wood Pulp

Black Marks on Wood Pulp is a personal blog with little to no political influence, BMOWP is Corey Vilhauer's views on his life, from the minutiae to the hugely important.


Monthly book reviews, thoughts on sports, and the occasional political
mini-rant show up from time to time. Most of it, however, is just Corey
being Corey -- talking incessantly about, well, nothing.

Holabird Advocate

Mr. Wiken,
Well, I'll sign up for anything that doesn't cost me any money! I hope this all works out for you.
Holabird Advocate started on January 1, 2002 as a Newsblog to let my all of my friends and family know what's going on in the Holabird, South Dakota area. I try to keep it fact-based, but I'm told that my editorials are the best part of my Newsblog. I studied Communications and Public Relations in college, which helps with my writing.

The two main events I cover every year are Emorymas, my grandfathers birthday (July 22, 1902) and on December 1 of every year I choose a person to be named "Person of the Year". This year, I have added several articles about an L.A. based musical group called The Ditty Bops.
I am an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church. Sometimes I put church related material on the Newsblog. The year of 2005 has been one of overflowing blessing for me, and you, Mr. Wiken, are part of that now.

Blogging--The MinusCar Project

The MinusCar Project: Riding a bicycle, raising a family and thinking
about Global Warming.



Thanks for the invitation to be listed in your blog.

Proud Liberal Blog

Yes, I am in South Dakota (Sioux Falls) and this is a great idea.



Proud Liberal, as the name indicates, is a blog from a Liberal point of view. The blog's focus is on politics. Sometimes I get pretty worked up and sometimes I take a lighter view. I always have an opinion and welcome your comments from either Left or Right.

Coverage of both national and South Dakota politics.

Purpose of this Blog

As indicated in the masthead of this blog, this is a listing or Atlas of Realistic South Dakota Blogs written by real South Dakotans and includes some descriptions of the blogs which we hope truly reflect the real character of the blogs.

These blogs may be personal notes, primarily political, news collections, navel-gazing, photography, history and just about anything Dakota except a blog aimed primarily and only at selling you a product you must pay for.

We hope this will help you find a number of interesting perspectives on South Dakota and South Dakotans from a bunch of South Dakotans connected mainly by this blog and the related 2x2 ads in South Dakota newspapers.

On edit, Today I checked with local paper and cost of the SD 2x2 ads for all of South Dakota is around $750. That is a tad rich unless about 30 or 40 blogs are interested in splitting costs.

If you have a blog and are interested in having your blog and description here..no charge..check my Dakota Today blog and use the e-mail address in the masthead to send me e-mail.

What I am aiming for here is a well-indexed list of blogs with honest descriptions of the blogs. Readers who click on a blog after reading he description here should not be surprised at what they find when they get to the actual blog.

I do not now intend this to be a tight blog alliance with standards of conduct, etc. but I have already been contacted by a blogger interested in that idea.

Another blogger wanted to make sure this directory or listing stays "clean" in the sense that the page does not become cluttered with all kinds of stuff not essential to the idea of a blog directory list that is easy to read and use working as expected.

At this stage, comments and suggestions welcome.

Introduction to Building Better South Dakota Blogs

Intended to stay as last post for finding Footnotes below

Writing a personal log on the web has become relatively easy with the development of Bloging systems such as Blogger, TypePad, WordPress, Powerblogs,RadioLand, Manilla, and many more "mini" content management systems (CMS). [Scroll past this post to the "Nuts and Bolts" section of the blog footnote for links to the blogging systems.]

Web publishing of logs is now known simply as "blogging". Many blogs have "grown like Topsy". Some of us had little idea of what we would actually produce when we started blogging. Blogs can be about nearly anything and also written by nearly anyone able to type semi-coherently.

Blogs have become a cultural event or fact and with that "fame" or "notoriety" have come suggestions that bloggers adhere to some blog standards, codes of ethics, etc...or conversely ignore all rules whatsover.

I suggest we here in South Dakota put something together more in the nature of "Building Better South Dakota Blogs" This may be of benefit both to bloggers and blog readers. I suspect there may be some consensus on what makes a good blog; but, many readers and bloggers may also think there should t be no hard and fast requirments of any kind.

Blog ethics have been discussed at university journalism departments and special events. Todd Epp has suggested that some such conference should also happen here in South Dakota..perhaps annually. Think about it if you blog in South Dakota.

Below in the "footnote" area of this blog, are some indications of ways to build better South Dakota blogs. If you have suggestions for changes or additions, let me know at the e-mail address in the masthead of Dakota Today The email address there is not "hot". You will have to copy it.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE FOOTNOTE WITH LINKS AND SUGGESTIONS