We've been busy! Please read to learn what's new with the Task Force...
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Lynmarie Knight
Mar 28, 2011, 5:11:34 PM3/28/11
to Pocahontas County Water Resources Task Force
Hi Everyone,
It’s been a long time since we’ve posted an update to this page.
Please know, our silence in no way indicates inaction. In fact, it’s
quite the opposite! The Task Force has had a very busy year behind the
scenes. We’ve made a lot of progress and are ready to share with you
what we’ve been up to since you’ve heard from us last.
First of all, last June we announced the formation of our steering
committee. We’re pleased to report this dedicated and diverse group
continues to do a great job directing the Task Force and our
AmeriCorps VISTA member. The steering committee meets on a monthly
basis, although we took a short winter hiatus (Jan. & Feb.) to avoid
traveling in inclement weather. As you’ll likely recall, the steering
committee members were appointed by the Pocahontas County Commission
to one year service terms. It is our great hope the members will chose
to renew their terms as they have proven to be dependable, engaged and
able to work well together. We do regret not being able to find anyone
to represent the central magisterial district on the steering
committee this past year. We will once again attempt to recruit
steering committee members from the central district this June when a
new service term begins. If you or anyone you know may be interested
in serving on our steering committee, we’d welcome the chance to talk
to you about it.
Secondly, the Task Force is pleased to announce our receipt of an
Environmental Justice grant from the US EPA. This grant funding is
being used to create informative print materials, purchase all
necessary equipment for a volunteer stream monitoring group and to
fund various education and public outreach initiatives related to
water resources. Perhaps most importantly, however, we are extremely
excited to let you know the EPA grant has fully funded the first phase
of the county’s Water Resource Management Plan! Our County Commission,
which has been and continues to be incredibly supportive of our
efforts, voted unanimously to enter into contract with Downstream
Strategies, an environmental consulting firm which is already hard at
work on Phase 1 of our county wide WRMP.
Also, we are excited to build on our watershed education efforts which
began at last year’s math and science camp at Greenbank Elementary and
Middle School. The WRTF has forged a new partnership with the High
Rocks Educational Corporation’s Use Your Noodle Program (UYN) to team
up on after school watershed education programming. We also plan on
reaching out to middle school and high school science teachers in the
county to get as many students as possible involved in stream
monitoring. We hope to eventually be able to expand our stream
monitoring efforts to include other interested groups such as 4-H
clubs, Boy Scouts, etc.
Finally, we are most grateful to have been approved for a second year
with the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Clay Condon is our new VISTA on
this project. Please take a minute to read a letter from Clay which is
posted below. As Clay mentions in his letter, we have several
volunteer opportunities coming up in the near future. If you are
interested in any of the volunteer opportunities Clay references and/
or if you’re interested in volunteering to be an adult chaperone for
our after school programs with UYN, please get in touch with us. We
have a new email address pcw...@gmail.com.
Thanks for your continued interest and support in the Water Resources
Task Force. It was an honor to serve as your VISTA this past year and
I look forward to continuing this work as a volunteer.
Lynmarie
Here's a letter from Clay:
Hello All!
My name is Clay Condon and I am the new (2011-2012) VISTA serving
with the Pocahontas County Water Resource Task Force. I was born and
raised in Pocahontas County and after graduating high school went to
WVU to study geography. After graduating university I spent a year
teaching English in South Korea where I studied abroad my junior year.
I came home last spring to find Pocahontas County alive and buzzing
with new people and positive energy!
It seems so many great programs and projects have started since I
was last here! The Water Resources Management Plan is one that I was
particularly drawn to, in part due to the inspiring optimism and
passion Lynmarie Knight, but mainly due to the great opportunity we
have to protect and preserve one of the most unique and valuable
cultural and economic resources our county has to offer.
So, my first day of service was February 14th and I have been
working closely with Lynmarie since then getting up to speed on the
history of the WRTF and researching WRMPs that other counties and or
municipalities have created to get a better idea what it is we have
set out to accomplish. Lynmarie and I met with Downstream Strategies,
the environmental consulting firm contracted to do the work for first
phase of the water resource management plan, and we are both very
pleased with their attitudes and enthusiasm towards this project.
Over the past few weeks I have compiled a list of stakeholders
(any business, agency, and/or individual who has a vested interest in
the county’s water) and have begun contacting them about our recently
acquired funding, asking if they would be interested in continuing to
work with us in the creation of a county wide WRMP. I should let you
all know that almost everyone I talk to is really supportive and
interested in what we are doing! I also scanned all of the Well
Completion Reports on file in the county health office and have
delivered them to Downstream Strategies to be incorporated in the
groundwater portion of the WRMP.
Also, I’d like to inform you of a few upcoming volunteer
opportunities and ways you can directly contribute to the creation of
the WRMP. First, the Greenbrier River Race is coming up and volunteers
are needed to help pull canoes and kayaks on shore the day of the race
among other things. The Race will be held on April 30th, so if you’re
free that weekend, please consider volunteering for this great
community event. If you’re interested, contact Brenda Cochran at
luvbna...@yahoo.com for more information.
Secondly, the WRTF has purchased stream monitoring equipment and
we’re looking forward to stream sampling with local students this
month through the UYN program. We’re also planning to coordinate some
community stream sampling outings in the coming months. Please contact
us if you’re interested in participating in volunteer stream
monitoring. These stream monitoring outings will be family friendly
so, if you are interested and have children, you can by all means
bring them along! It is our hope the stream monitoring efforts will
help us accomplish our goals of community outreach and education by
directly engaging community volunteers in the health of our water
resources. Plus, it will be a lot of fun!
Lastly, I am helping collect existing data on groundwater for
Jeff Bray, a geologist working with Downstream Strategies on Phase 1
of our county’s WRMP. If anyone has any data from your private well or
spring pertaining to quantity or quality we could use it in the WRMP.
This could be a Well Log or maybe a quality test done on your spring.
If you have any data on your well or spring and would like to share it
with me please be in touch. You may contact me regarding this or any
of the aforementioned volunteer opportunities at pcw...@gmail.com.
I am really excited about this year and the various challenges
and learning experiences that will come with it. I hope I will have
the opportunity to meet all of you and, if you have any questions
about anything, feel free to contact me.
Clay Condon
Water Resource Task Force VISTA
It’s been a long time since we’ve posted an update to this page.
Please know, our silence in no way indicates inaction. In fact, it’s
quite the opposite! The Task Force has had a very busy year behind the
scenes. We’ve made a lot of progress and are ready to share with you
what we’ve been up to since you’ve heard from us last.
First of all, last June we announced the formation of our steering
committee. We’re pleased to report this dedicated and diverse group
continues to do a great job directing the Task Force and our
AmeriCorps VISTA member. The steering committee meets on a monthly
basis, although we took a short winter hiatus (Jan. & Feb.) to avoid
traveling in inclement weather. As you’ll likely recall, the steering
committee members were appointed by the Pocahontas County Commission
to one year service terms. It is our great hope the members will chose
to renew their terms as they have proven to be dependable, engaged and
able to work well together. We do regret not being able to find anyone
to represent the central magisterial district on the steering
committee this past year. We will once again attempt to recruit
steering committee members from the central district this June when a
new service term begins. If you or anyone you know may be interested
in serving on our steering committee, we’d welcome the chance to talk
to you about it.
Secondly, the Task Force is pleased to announce our receipt of an
Environmental Justice grant from the US EPA. This grant funding is
being used to create informative print materials, purchase all
necessary equipment for a volunteer stream monitoring group and to
fund various education and public outreach initiatives related to
water resources. Perhaps most importantly, however, we are extremely
excited to let you know the EPA grant has fully funded the first phase
of the county’s Water Resource Management Plan! Our County Commission,
which has been and continues to be incredibly supportive of our
efforts, voted unanimously to enter into contract with Downstream
Strategies, an environmental consulting firm which is already hard at
work on Phase 1 of our county wide WRMP.
Also, we are excited to build on our watershed education efforts which
began at last year’s math and science camp at Greenbank Elementary and
Middle School. The WRTF has forged a new partnership with the High
Rocks Educational Corporation’s Use Your Noodle Program (UYN) to team
up on after school watershed education programming. We also plan on
reaching out to middle school and high school science teachers in the
county to get as many students as possible involved in stream
monitoring. We hope to eventually be able to expand our stream
monitoring efforts to include other interested groups such as 4-H
clubs, Boy Scouts, etc.
Finally, we are most grateful to have been approved for a second year
with the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Clay Condon is our new VISTA on
this project. Please take a minute to read a letter from Clay which is
posted below. As Clay mentions in his letter, we have several
volunteer opportunities coming up in the near future. If you are
interested in any of the volunteer opportunities Clay references and/
or if you’re interested in volunteering to be an adult chaperone for
our after school programs with UYN, please get in touch with us. We
have a new email address pcw...@gmail.com.
Thanks for your continued interest and support in the Water Resources
Task Force. It was an honor to serve as your VISTA this past year and
I look forward to continuing this work as a volunteer.
Lynmarie
Here's a letter from Clay:
Hello All!
My name is Clay Condon and I am the new (2011-2012) VISTA serving
with the Pocahontas County Water Resource Task Force. I was born and
raised in Pocahontas County and after graduating high school went to
WVU to study geography. After graduating university I spent a year
teaching English in South Korea where I studied abroad my junior year.
I came home last spring to find Pocahontas County alive and buzzing
with new people and positive energy!
It seems so many great programs and projects have started since I
was last here! The Water Resources Management Plan is one that I was
particularly drawn to, in part due to the inspiring optimism and
passion Lynmarie Knight, but mainly due to the great opportunity we
have to protect and preserve one of the most unique and valuable
cultural and economic resources our county has to offer.
So, my first day of service was February 14th and I have been
working closely with Lynmarie since then getting up to speed on the
history of the WRTF and researching WRMPs that other counties and or
municipalities have created to get a better idea what it is we have
set out to accomplish. Lynmarie and I met with Downstream Strategies,
the environmental consulting firm contracted to do the work for first
phase of the water resource management plan, and we are both very
pleased with their attitudes and enthusiasm towards this project.
Over the past few weeks I have compiled a list of stakeholders
(any business, agency, and/or individual who has a vested interest in
the county’s water) and have begun contacting them about our recently
acquired funding, asking if they would be interested in continuing to
work with us in the creation of a county wide WRMP. I should let you
all know that almost everyone I talk to is really supportive and
interested in what we are doing! I also scanned all of the Well
Completion Reports on file in the county health office and have
delivered them to Downstream Strategies to be incorporated in the
groundwater portion of the WRMP.
Also, I’d like to inform you of a few upcoming volunteer
opportunities and ways you can directly contribute to the creation of
the WRMP. First, the Greenbrier River Race is coming up and volunteers
are needed to help pull canoes and kayaks on shore the day of the race
among other things. The Race will be held on April 30th, so if you’re
free that weekend, please consider volunteering for this great
community event. If you’re interested, contact Brenda Cochran at
luvbna...@yahoo.com for more information.
Secondly, the WRTF has purchased stream monitoring equipment and
we’re looking forward to stream sampling with local students this
month through the UYN program. We’re also planning to coordinate some
community stream sampling outings in the coming months. Please contact
us if you’re interested in participating in volunteer stream
monitoring. These stream monitoring outings will be family friendly
so, if you are interested and have children, you can by all means
bring them along! It is our hope the stream monitoring efforts will
help us accomplish our goals of community outreach and education by
directly engaging community volunteers in the health of our water
resources. Plus, it will be a lot of fun!
Lastly, I am helping collect existing data on groundwater for
Jeff Bray, a geologist working with Downstream Strategies on Phase 1
of our county’s WRMP. If anyone has any data from your private well or
spring pertaining to quantity or quality we could use it in the WRMP.
This could be a Well Log or maybe a quality test done on your spring.
If you have any data on your well or spring and would like to share it
with me please be in touch. You may contact me regarding this or any
of the aforementioned volunteer opportunities at pcw...@gmail.com.
I am really excited about this year and the various challenges
and learning experiences that will come with it. I hope I will have
the opportunity to meet all of you and, if you have any questions
about anything, feel free to contact me.
Clay Condon
Water Resource Task Force VISTA
William Dunk
Mar 28, 2011, 5:27:45 PM3/28/11
to pocahont...@googlegroups.com
Please remove my email address from you rmailing list. I have moved to AR in a new position.
Please contact Jack Tribble. He is the person who is in my position now.
jtri...@fs.fed.us
William Dunk
Boston Mountain-Mt. Magazine District Ranger
479-667-2191
| Lynmarie Knight <lyn...@gmail.com>
Sent by: pocahont...@googlegroups.com 03/28/2011 04:11 PM
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