Adopt-a-stream, Vol. 12, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 2005)

GEORGIA
Adopt-A-Stream
Volume 12, Number 2, March / April 2005
Harold Harbert, Kim Morris-Zarneke, and Jessica Stelzner, Editors

Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division

This year's Volunteer of the Year, Dr. William "Hap" Tietjen, leads the Georgia Southwestern State University Regional Training Center in Americus. His faculty of three certified trainers provides certification workshops to southwest Georgia volunteers and educators interested in lake and stream monitoring. Hap participates in the annual GYSTC Flint River Workshop, holds annual trainer re-certification for southwest Georgia Adopt-A-Stream trainers, and is known for incorporating AAS monitoring protocols into aquatic biology, ecology, and geology classes at Georgia Southwestern State University. Hap is most proud of last year's monitoring conducted at Whitewater Creek watershed. Hap has been an active member of the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Advisory Board for over 5 years.
This year's Extraordinary Volunteer Watershed Effort goes to Shoal Creek Watershed Alliance. Members of the alliance take their QA/QC training seriously and stay up-to-date on their certifications. The volunteers regularly monitor several sites along Shoal Creek and tributaries of Shoal Creek in Decatur. They are involved in cleanup efforts near their monitoring sites and have offered help with cleanups in
downstream areas as well. The group should also be commended on its successful partnerships with outside organizations in order to improve water quality and availability of greenspace in DeKalb County. Shoal Creek Watershed Alliance members are: Catherine Carter, Jim Devlin, Maggie Kelly, Don Lake, Sara Michelson, Claire Miller, Erin Murphy, Gardner Neely, Simon Reiter, Hudson Slay, Sarah Slay, and John Thigpen. Carrie Davis and Regina Reiter were photographed receiving their award from State Coordinators Kim and Harold.
Since his retirement ten years ago from the Fish and Wildlife Service, Dennis Chase, shown on the left in the photo, has remained an active environmental advocate in Fayette County, making him this year's obvious choice for the Red Flag Award winner. He is an Adopt-AStream coordinator with the Line Creek Association, helping to organize monitoring and cleanup efforts. He also organizes school groups to monitor water quality in Peachtree City, Fayetteville, and Fayette County. Dennis has used his background as a biologist in the FWS as well as his dedication to local water resource protection to steer environmental policy at the local government level. Dennis served as a member of the Flint River Advisory Council and the Storm Water Advisory Committees for Peachtree City and Fayetteville. Dennis coordinated Adopt-A-Stream monitoring efforts in Peachtree City with stormwater outfall monitoring required by the City's NPDES Stormwater Permit.

The Adopt-A-Stream in Action award goes to Donna McGlincy, Steve Rainey, Rhonda Toon, and Lynn Larsen. This photo, taken at Notchaway Creek, is symbolic of the bonding that took place among the participants at the Flint River watershed program called End to End Experience. Participants received Adopt-A-Stream training and learned about the Flint River watershed. By the time the training was complete, the group was knowledgeable in water monitoring techniques and was eager to return to the classroom to pass this experience on to their students. In addition to the education of countless children, one tangible result of this activity was the formation of the Thronateeska Guardians the first AAS monitoring group established in southwest Georgia.
When Cobb County initiated its Adopt-A-Stream program, Greg Linton was one of their first volunteers. He began monitoring Rottenwood Creek in July of 2002 and has been hard at work ever since. This year's Excellence in Data Collection award winner, Greg partners for data collection with another monitoring group that works upstream from his site on a Rottenwood Creek tributary. He is a regular visitor in the water quality lab, dropping off his data in person and keeping the Cobb County staff informed about his observations. Greg was featured in the Marietta Daily Journal in February 2004 for his efforts to ensure developer compliance with local stream buffer ordinances.
The Elachee Nature Science Center is this year's recipient of the Outstanding Outreach and Partnership award. When the Elachee staff isn't busy teaching the 45,000 students that walk through their doors each year, they are out working in the watershed with local schools, industries and developers to protect Redwine and Walnut Creeks in Hall County. Through Elachee's partnership with Johnson High School and Hall County, 20 students constructed a new stormwater detention pond at JHS that will capture runoff from the roof and parking lot and filter out pollutants. With South Hall Middle School's (SHMS) Environmental Science Club, Elachee staff has led watershed education of Walnut Creek, covering historical and current issues. In 2005, SHMS will be adopting a section of Walnut Creek to monitor stream health. Through a federal grant administered by EPD, Elachee will partner with Hall County to begin a restoration project to mitigate impacts of sediment and erosion on Redwine and Walnut Creeks and work with local developers to use best management practices to protect local waterways. On the right, Peter Gordon teaches students about macroinvertebrates.
Through a competitive application process, the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Advisory Board has selected Cobb County for the Adopt-A-Stream Watershed Award, a new award highlighting outstanding local government programs. Jennifer McCoy and her supervisor Bob Bourne received the award at this year's Georgia River Network Conference. With a current QA/QC certified volunteer base of 86 people and 22 active monitoring sites, Cobb County has done an extraordinary job working to improve Georgia's waterways through the Adopt-A-Stream program. Jennifer coordinates volunteers, training workshops and monitoring events, conducts outreach presentations for schools and community organizations, and promotes environmental education throughout the County. The program seeks to involve all members of the community and provides activities for all ages. They do a phenomenal job involving local and statewide organizations and organizing funds to be used for watershed cleanups, education, and monitoring events.

Adopt-A-Stream Calendar of Events
The following workshops, taught by certified AAS trainers, provide training in visual, biological and chemical monitoring of streams. Teachers may receive 1 PLU credit for participating. Please visit the AAS website under the Teacher Corner heading for more details. Please call to register for a workshop.

What
Chemical Chemical Chemical Biological Biological (coastal) Biological Chemical Biological Chem & Bio recertification Chemical Getting Started with AAS Chemical Biological Biological

Who
Upper Oconee Watershed Network Georgia Wildlife Federation AAS Coastal Georgia Adopt-A-Wetland Upper Oconee Watershed Network Coastal Georgia Adopt-A-Wetland DeKalb County AAS Cobb County AAS Georgia Wildlife Federation AAS Phinizy Swamp Nature Preserve Coastal Georgia Adopt-A-Wetland Upper Etowah River Alliance Upper Etowah River Alliance Upper Etowah River Alliance Cobb County AAS

When
March 5 March 5 March 9 March 12 March 12 March 19 March 19 April 2 April 9 April 16 April 16 April 23 May 7 May 14

Where
Athens Conyers Skidaway Isl. Athens Skidaway Isl. DeKalb Co. Cobb Co. Conyers Augusta Skidaway Isl. Cherokee Co. Cherokee Co. Cherokee Co. Cobb Co.

To Register
706-542-7880 770-787-7887 912-598-3349 706-542-7880 912-598-3349 404-371-2540 770-528-1480 770-787-7887 706-796-7707 912-598-3349 770-355-6477 770-355-6477 770-355-6477 770-528-1480

NOTE: Workshop times vary. Please call to get exact times and locations. Workshop information is updated weekly on our website at www.riversalive.org/aas.htm
QA/QC Recertification: All QA/QC volunteers must renew certification on a yearly basis. This can be accomplished by participating in the second half of our regular chemical or biological workshop. To register, please contact one of our scheduled workshops.

"Waters to the Sea" Wins Award
The Chattahoochee River CD ROM took top honors in the interactive category at Bristol, England's Wildscreen Festival the world's largest and most prestigious nature and wildlife media festival. There were four finalists competing for this year's Panda Award (the Chattahoochee CD, BBC, National Geographic, and Discovery). For further information, go to wildscreenfestival.org. To obtain a free CD-ROM and teacher's guidebook, we invite you to attend a teacher's workshop. The first of three regional workshops will be scheduled at North Georgia Community Foundation, Gainesville during the first week of May 2005 (exact date TBA). To attend a regional workshop or host a workshop, call or email Birgit Bolton at bbolton@ucriverkeeper.org or 404.352.9828 ext. 24.

Amphibian Monitoring and Identification Workshop
Two workshops are scheduled this spring, one for April 20 at the Georgia Wildlife Federation and the other on April 30 at the Newman Wetland Center. There is a 25-person limit. To participate, call 404-675-1639.

2004 TRAINERS
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream recognizes the following individuals who have maintained Trainer certification and have conducted at least one QA/QC workshop in 2004:
Diane Badger, Ian Brown, Chandra Brown, Dave Butler, Frank Carl, Duncan Cottrell, Ellie Covington, Sharon Smith, Cynthia Crotwell, Sue Eggert, Lori Forrester, Steve Golladay, Emily Goodwin, Kristi Hastie, Jennifer McCoy, Ruth Mead, Calley Pate, Robert Phillips, Jennifer Porter, Brenda Rashleigh, Joe Richardson, Terry Shuler, Andrew Sutherland, Mary Sweeney-Reeves,
William Tietjen, Tom Weiland, Dave Wenner, Brian Wiley, Kim Zimmerman

For the first time, Rivers Alive has created awards to honor the efforts of individuals and groups who are

working to improve Georgia's waterways, one trash bag at a time. On February 25th, event organizers,

sponsors, and award winners were recognized for their support and dedication. The Outstanding

Waterway Cleanup Award recognizes cleanup groups that have successfully involved their local

community to create an awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources.

There were winners in four different categories: Help the Hooch in the Ocean category, Coweta 4-H

Adopt-A-Stream in the Lake category,

Etowah Water and Sewer Authority in

the River category, and Pulaski County

and City of Hawkinsville for the River

category. Rivers Alive also handed out

two Outstanding Leadership Awards to

recognize the efforts of individuals and

sponsors for their hard work and

dedication to protecting Georgia's water

resources. The 2004 Outstanding

Leadership Award winner is Janet

Pearson of Lake Oconee Property Owners

Association, and the Outstanding Business Leadership Award goes to Georgia Power.

Organizers of the Pulaski County and City of Hawkinsville cleanup accept their plaque and watershed sign.

The Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Newsletter is published six times per year. For more information about the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program or to contribute to the newsletter, call or write to:
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Environmental Protection Division 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101 Atlanta, GA 30354 (404) 675-1639 or 1636 www.riversalive.org/aas.htm

Printed on recycled paper