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SACRAMENTO - The Boating Clean & Green Program will train volunteers Saturday, April 3 to become "Dockwalkers", individuals who promote environmentally-sound boating throughout California's marina communities. The training will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Verizon Corporate Security Building, 1560 N 1st, 2nd Floor, in San Jose.

Dockwalkers will be trained to engage members of the public and the boating community in adopting clean boating practices. Once training is complete, these volunteers don their official "Dockwalker" hats and conduct face-to-face boater education while visiting marinas, boat launch ramps, boat shows and special events.

Training is free and dockwalking is a fantastic way to interact with boaters to help keep California's marinas, waterways, and ocean clean and healthy. The training provides an overview of environmentally-sound boating practices, information on how to conduct Dockwalking, educational materials that Dockwalkers will distribute including boater kits, a video about clean boating in California and baseball caps. In the last five years, more than 600 Dockwalkers have distributed over 90,000 boater kits statewide. Hours spent training or educating the public qualify as community service.

The Boating Clean and Green Program is an education and outreach program conducted through the California Department of Boating and Waterways and California Coastal Commission. The program promotes environmentally-sound boating practices to marine businesses and boaters. This training is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment.

For more information about the Dockwalker program, and to register for training, please visit www.dbw.ca.gov (Click on Clean and Green tab), or contact Vivian Matuk at (415) 904-6905 or vmatuk@coastal.ca.gov.

The San Jose Dockwalker training is one of a series of trainings that the Boating Clean and Green Program will be hosting in Northern California. Others include:

March 16, 2010 - Napa
7 p.m. to 8:40 p.m.
Napa Valley Yacht Club
100 Riverside Dr., Napa, CA 94559
Partners: Keep the Delta Clean Program, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Napa Valley Yacht Club and Lake Berryessa Partnership.

March 24, 2010 - Sacramento
6:00-8:40 p.m.
Sacramento Marina
2710 Ramp Way, Sacramento, CA 95818
Partners: Keep the Delta Clean Program, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Sacramento Marina.

April 1, 2010 - Benicia
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Benicia Yacht Club
400 East 2nd Street, Benicia, CA 94510
Partners: Keep the Delta Clean Program, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment and the Benicia Yacht Club.

April 10, 2010 - San Rafael
10 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.
Loch Lomond Yacht Club
95 Loch Lomond Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901
Partners: Keep the Delta Clean Program, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment and the Loch Lomond Yacht Club and Marina.

June 5, 2010 - Fresno
10 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.
Clovis Memorial Building
808 4th Street Clovis, CA 93612-1396
Partners: Keep the Delta Clean Program and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

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