GEORGIA Adopt-A-Stream Volume 5, Number 4, July / August 1998 Michele Droszcz and Harold Harbert, Editors Welcome Harold! Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division More changes at Georgia Adopt-A-Stream! As we kick off the second half of the year Georgia Adopt-A-Stream has brought on a new coordinator, Harold Harbert, to work with Michele Droszcz. Harold comes to us from the Cooperative Extension Service Atlanta Urban Gardening Program(AUGP) where he has worked for the last two and a half years. At AUGP Harold drew on his knowledge of ecology and our environment to use vegetable gardening as a tool to teach youth, adults and communities about issues pertaining to conservation of our natural resources. Over the past four years Harold has been involved in numerous water quality management projects with school and community programs. Don't be surprised if he gives you a call, he's looking forward to meeting our Adopt-AStream community leaders and volunteer groups. You can reach Harold at (404) 656-0069 or e-mail at harold_harbert@mail.dnr.state.ga.us. Welcome to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream! Wetland Workshops Underway The first Georgia Adopt-A-Wetland workshop was held on April 18 at the Georgia Wildlife Federation's Alcovy River Site. A small but interested group attended the workshop where they learned about wetland values and functions and investigated hydric soils, hydrophytes (water loving plants) and riparian wetland hydrology. The next workshop will be held on September 12, 1998. For more information on how to adopt a wetland or attend the workshop, contact Michele Droszcz at (404) 656-0099. The Adopt-A-Stream and Wetland Regional Training Center at North Georgia College and State University held a very successful wetlands conference on June 5. More than 70 participants received a wide range of wetland information from 9 Georgia wetland experts. This conference was the first of several Adopt-AWetland activities that will be offered throughout the state in the coming year. Wetland enthusiasts examine a buttressed tree trunk at the Adopt-A-Wetland workshop Replacement Equipment Are your kick seines old, frazzled, and worn? Have they snared their last caddisfly? Or maybe your D-frame aquatic net is falling apart, or maybe you broke one (like Georgia Adopt-A-Stream did during a recent workshop). There are sources for replacing broken or old equipment. Here are some examples of prices we've found. D-frame aquatic net Dissolved Oxygen pH Thermometer Kick Net Seine $39.10 47.00 45.00 17.50 125.00 Ortho-phosphate Nitrate-Nitrogen Imhoff Cone Wading shoe H-back suspenders $61.90 58.00 43.50 24.60 7.05 Rubber boots can be obtained at local discount stores or from Georgia Rubber Company. Great sources for purchasing field orders include: BioQuip Products 17803 LaSalle Ave. Gardena, CA 90248-3602 310-324-0620 Nichols Net and Twine/Izaak Walton League's SOS Kick Seine 2200 Highway 111 Granite City, IL 62040 618-797-0211 Ward's Natural Science 5100 W. Henrietta Road P.O. Box 92912 Rochester, New York 146929012 1-800-962-2660 LaMotte Company 1-800-344-3100 Hach Company 1-800-227-4224 VWR Scientific 1230 Kennestone Circle Marietta, GA 30066 404-423-1354 Action Products International 344 Cypress Rd. Ocala, FL 34472-3108 1-800-772-2846 Note: these sources are also listed in your Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Level II and III manuals. Take Advantage of your Adopt-A-Stream & Wetland Regional Training Centers There are five Regional Training Centers that provide the same training, materials and technical support as the central Adopt-A-Stream office. Get acquainted with the Regional Training Center near you. North Georgia College and State University Dr. Mac Callaham 706-864-1956 Dr. Susan Gannaway 706-864-1893 Columbus College and State University Dr. Rebecca A. Champion 706-687-4090 Savannah State University Dr. Joseph Richardson Valdosta State University David Hedgepeth 912-356-2809 912-333-5611 Georgia College in Milledgeville Dr. Harriet Whipple 912-453-4549 Marshall Gaddis 770-478-8708 Local Happenings... Gwinnett Names New Adopt-A-Stream Coordinator Welcome, Michael O'Shield, to the Gwinnett County Adopt-A-Stream Program! On June 13th Michael replaced Rebecca Rowe as the Gwinnett Adopt-A-Stream Coordinator. Michael had interned at Gwinnett for the past year and a half before being offered the position, so he is quite familiar with the program. Michael is definitely excited to be in charge of one of the oldest and largest Adopt-A-Stream programs in the state. He is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in Geography, and serves as an officer of both the National Drinking Water Week Community and PCA Public Education Community. Michael would like to remind everyone that Gwinnett AAS has scheduled river cleanups for every weekend throughout the summer and into mid October. For more information on how you can help Gwinnett Adopt-A-Stream call (770) 822 - 7157. Cobb Citizens for Water Quality A new networking and action group has formed in Cobb County for citizens that are interested in water quality issues. For more information on how to get involved, contact the Cobb Citizens for Water Quality at (770) 859 0942 between the hours of 12:00 and 7:00 p.m. ATTENTION ADOPT-A-STREAM WORKSHOP TRAINERS!!! As you all know, volunteers must attend a workshop each year in order to update their QA/QC status. Adopt-AStream Trainers must also update their Trainer status each year in order to fulfill the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Quality Assurance Plan that was approved by the EPA. This summer, two Train-The-Trainer refresher courses will be offered to those who have attended a Train-The-Trainer workshop in the past. The courses will review Adopt-A-Stream protocols and cover new information and changes in the program. The chemical refresher course will be held on Wednesday, July 29 and the biological refresher course will be held on Saturday, August 22. Both courses will be held from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at Fernbank Science Center. To register, call Harold Harbert at (404) 656-0069. Georgia River Clean Up Week The dates for the seventh annual Georgia River Clean Up Week have been set for October 10-18, 1998. This date is chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Clean Water Act of 1972. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is looking for River Clean Up Organizers to help develop this years event into one of the largest, most comprehensive River Clean Up Week's to date. River Clean Up Organizers perform an important role serving as local contacts for individuals interested in helping clean up streams, lakes, and wetlands in their communities. Starting in July River Clean Up Organizer package kits will be distributed to previous organizers. If you are interested in becoming an organizer, contact Harold Harbert at 404-656-0069. Adopt-A-Lake Update Georgia Lake Management Society will be holding an Adopt-A-Lake training session July 14, 1998, at the Oxbow Environmental Center in Columbus, Ga. This is an excellent opportunity to become more involved in learning about and monitoring the health of your lake! For more information contact Dr. Becky Champion at 706-687-4090. For information on future Adopt-ALake training sessions please call Joe Dirnberger at 770-423-6546. New Activities Information about Nationwide Monitoring Last fall and winter the USEPA began gathering information on the fifth edition of their National Directory of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Program. They discovered that most of the programs (83%) use the data for educational purposes. Over half of the organizations surveyed also reported that local and state government and community organizations use their data. This information is significant in light of the fact that Georgia Adopt-AStream promotes programs to work at the local level. If you are interested in accessing this and other information from the volunteer monitoring database, check out the EPA's volunteer monitoring website this August at www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/vol.html. For information on the EPA's Adopt Your Watershed website, search www.epa.gov/surf/adopt. Adopt-A-Stream Calendar of Events The following are trainings and workshops which educate citizens about wetland and stream monitoring. Note that we are offering special "refresher" classes for trainers that need to be recertified! We've scheduled classes on the weekend and weekdays. Please call to register. Space is limited! What Level I / Chemical Workshop Level I / Chemical Workshop Biological Workshop Chem. Train-the-Trainer Refresher Level I / Chemical Workshop Biological Workshop Biological Workshop Level I / Chemical Workshop Bio. Train-the-Trainer Refresher Adopt-A-Wetland Workshop When July 11 July 18 July 25 July 29 Aug. 1 Aug. 8 Aug. 15 Aug. 22 Aug. 22 Sept. 12 Where Newman Wetland Ctr. 40 Oaks, (Clarkston) Fernbank Science Ctr. Fernbank Science Ctr. Dunwoody Nature Ctr. Davidson Arabia Fernbank Science Ctr. 40 Oaks, (Clarkston) Fernbank Science Ctr. GWF Alcovy Site To Register 404-656-0069 404-508-7602 404-656-0069 404-656-0069 770-394-3322 404-508-7602 404-656-0069 404-508-7602 404-656-0069 404-656-0099 Don't forget you must get QA/QC recertified every year! Sign up for a workshop now! 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 7 ML King Dr. SW, Suite 643 Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-0069 printed on recycled paper