Author: Bobbi Rasnick

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Friends of the Russell Fork

Issue 1

Spring 2008

Inside this issue:

Friends of Russell Fork Opens Office

The Friends of the Russell Fork is pleased to announce the opening of our new office on the campus of Haysi High School.
Thanks to the consent and support of the Dickenson County School Board, we have the good fortune of being able to base our watershed group’s activities from the former home economics cottage below the high school.
The cottage’s location on the Russell Fork River is convenient for many of our water monitoring volunteers at the high school and for students that we hope will get involved in our environmental awareness programs.
Community volunteers helped us refurbish the interior and exterior of the office. Walls, windows and doors were repainted, some plumbing repairs were done and a new toilet installed, the old desks inside the building were removed and new office equipment was assembled and arranged.
The FORF plans to open a laboratory in the office to test our water samples and report the results to the VA Department of Environmental Quality. We will also hold our monthly meetings in the building. These meetings are open to the community and anyone with environmental concerns or suggestions is invited to attend.
For the next 3 years, the FORF will have the full-time services of an Americorps VISTA volunteer working under the direction of the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team in partnership with the Office of Surface Mining. This year’s volunteer is Chris Eberly, who arrived in Haysi from Atlanta in mid-February.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Dickenson County School Board for allowing us to use this facility. We plan to take advantage of our location at the high school by preparing regular environmental education activities for area students.

Friends of the Russell Fork office.

Plan Developed for Removing Straight Pipes

The Friends of the Russell Fork is working with the Virginia Department of Health to implement a plan for removing straight pipes from our watershed.
The plan was developed by FORF member Brian Stanley, environmental health manager for the Cumberland Plateau Health District.
The plan calls for identifying residences that have defective or nonexistent septic systems and assisting the owners with the process of applying for grant money from the Cumberland Plateau Housing Authority to install a legal treatment system.
Part of the plan will be to map and identify straight pipes and defective septic systems throughout the watershed. We plan to begin our inventory at the Kentucky state line and then work upstream to Haysi and beyond.
The FORF also intends to undertake a survey of sewer hookups within the town limits of Haysi and Birchleaf to make sure there are no broken lines or systems.
Residents who do not have proper septic systems are encouraged to call us. We can help you get grant money to install a treatment system at your residence.

Town Clean-up	2
Earth Science Text	2
McClure & Guest	2
Hiking/Biking Trail	3
Stream Monitoring	3
Equitable Grant	3
ACCWT	4

DID you KNOW?
The Russell Fork watershed covers nearly 140,000 acres in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties.
The primary contaminants in our watershed arise from sedimentation, straight pipe pollution, acid mine drainage and illegal dumping.
You can help your community by becoming a volunteer water monitor.
The 2008 Lonesome Pine District Envirothon was held April 4th. Congratulations to the winners: Clintwood High School: 1st place, Pound High School: 2nd place, JJ Kelly High School: 3rd place.

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Issue 1

Haysi Town Clean-Up Scheduled

A riverbank clean-up for the town of Haysi has been scheduled for the morning of Wednesday April 23. That morning from 10AM till 12 noon residents and businesses are asked to donate their time to remove the trash from the banks of the Russell Prater and Russell Fork in Haysi.
Our goal is to clean the riverbank from the funeral home to the Town Hall. Each business is asked to take responsibility for the riverbank in its immediate vicinity. Volunteers are needed to clean the areas where businesses do not have enough manpower. Please call to volunteer!
Dickenson County Litter Control will be on hand with several workers. They have agreed to provide bags and take care of garbage transport.
Following the clean-up, everyone is invited to eat lunch at 12 noon in the picnic shelter across from the Town Hall. Mayor Norman Mullins has offered to sponsor a cookout for everyone who helps with the clean-up.
Support your town and join us on the 23rd! Please call us at 865–4918 if you have questions or would like to volunteer your time.

JOIN US!
HAYSI RIVERBANK CLEAN-UP
WEDNESDAY
APRIL 23
10AM - 12 NOON
LUNCH AT 12

Local Earth Science Text Nears Completion

The final touches are being placed on an Earth Science textbook supplement for ninth-graders that focuses on local watershed issues in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties.
A copy of the book will go to every current student in Dickenson and Buchanan County high schools. Beginning next year, the supplement will be used in ninth-grade earth science classes.
The two counties have agreed to split the publication cost of the textbook, and the FORF is raising the final payment owed by Dickenson County.
The supplement will focus on watershed issues specific to the Russell Fork and Levisa watersheds. It is modeled on a successful text written for the Clinch River watershed by Frank Kilgore.

Earth science textbook supplement written for the Clinch River on which the Russell Fork text will be based.

Thank You to our Neighboring Watershed Organizations

The Friends of the Russell Fork would like to thank the members of McClure River Restoration Project (MRRP) and the Guest River Restoration Project (GRRP) for sharing their expertise and advice with our group over the last 2 months.
The MRRP, begun in 2001, installs new septic systems for residents, cleans illegal dump sites, regularly monitors the McClure and Pound Rivers and works with local schools. The MRRP has a bacteria lab that is certified by the VA Department of Environmental Quality, and allows the FORF to test water samples there while we work on getting our own lab set up in Haysi.
Departing MRRP OSM/VISTA volunteer Melissa Robinson helped train new MRRP OSM/VISTA Kristina Allen as well as new FORF OSM/VISTA Chris Eberly. After a month of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, Melissa is looking forward to her new job at Yellowstone Park!
The Guest River, whose watershed includes the towns of Wise, Norton and Coeburn, is the third largest tributary of the Clinch River. The GRRP is an informal alliance of citizens and agency organizations assisted by OSM/VISTA Danielle Dutton. Danielle coordinated the 2008 Envirothon for the Lonesome Pine Soil and Water Conservation District. The Envirothon, held April 4th, brought together local high schools for an environmental knowledge competition.
The GRRP and the Upper Powell River Project recently combined forces to create the Wise Water Test Team (WWTT), a way to meet people, have fun and monitor water in Wise County. See their MySpace page!
Thank you to both organizations. Keep up the good work!

Kristina Allen (left) of MRRP and Danielle Dutton of GRRP at the 2008 Envirothon.

Friends of the Russell Fork

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Haysi-Breaks Hiking/Biking Trail Takes a Step Forward

The Haysi-Breaks Hiking and Biking Trail lives on!
The trail, which will connect Haysi, John Flannagan Dam and Breaks Interstate Park, continues to overcome obstacles and make progress toward construction. The latest step to making it a reality was a scientific examination that was undertaken to find out if a large rhododendron-covered mound near the Flannagan Dam trailhead contained valuable archaeological remains.
On March 31, archaeology professor Dr. Cliff Boyd came to Haysi from Radford University to conduct an archaeological study of the mound, which is located about a quarter of a mile from the parking lot below the dam. This study was required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the property and is allowing the use of some of their land for the trail.
Dr. Boyd, assisted by Gene Counts, Scott Mullins, Wade Sykes and Chris Eberly, dug 30 holes in the 300ft by 60ft area of the mound and sifted and examined the soil from each hole.
Much of the soil turned out to be quite sandy, and it showed no signs of being a burial mound. Once the archaeological study is approved by USACE, work on the trail can continue. The next step in the process will be to file for an official permit from USACE. It is expected that trail construction can begin if the permit is approved.
The initial phase of the project will take the trail from the dam to the Russell Fork. Afterward, work on the other sections of the trail can begin.
The Haysi-Breaks Hiking and Biking Trail project began over 10 years ago. Original grant money in the amount of nearly $400,000 for construction is still awaiting use and is being administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation. VDOT will reimburse the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors for the full cost of the archaeological study, and later for the construction work done on the trail.

Dr. Cliff Boyd and Scott Mullins examine the layers of soil in a small hole they’ve just dug below John Flannagan Dam.

Equitable Resources Grant

Monitoring Our Streams

On February 15, the EREX Foundation, a part of Equitable Resources, presented Friends of the Russell Fork with a $10,000 grant. Maurice Royster (left) of Equitable presented the check to Gene Counts and Chris Eberly for a grant that Gene wrote last May with the assistance of Charlotte Mullins of the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority. The money will help the FORF buy laboratory and computer equipment for our new office in Haysi, and will help fund some of our watershed activities.
The FORF would like to extend sincere thanks to Equitable Resources for their generous assistance to our organization.

The Friends of the Russell Fork, in partnership with the McClure River Restoration Project (MRRP), conducts certified monitoring of our streams using two distinct techniques.
The first is traditional chemical monitoring of water samples to detect the presence of fecal coliform bacteria, like E. coli, which causes illness and disease in humans and arises from poor septic facilities. The MRRP has a certified bacteria laboratory in the Dickenson County Career Center in Clinchco.
A second monitoring technique is to capture, identify and count the benthic macroinvertebrates (i.e. bugs on the streambed) in one square foot of the river. Since some critters are more pollution-tolerant than others, the overall bug variety and relative proportions form a good indicator of stream health.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality recognizes both of these monitoring techniques.
Regular water monitoring and community involvement gives our grant requests for watershed projects a better chance of being accepted. Thank you to our volunteer monitors!

Next Meetings:
Tuesday April 22
Tuesday May 27
6PM
in the new office
Please Attend!

Friends of the Russell Fork
P.O. Box 116
Haysi VA 24256
(276) 865-4918
Volunteers Needed!

Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team

The Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) helps rural communities by building local organizational capacity and partnerships. The Team coordinates a group of 55 OSM/VISTA volunteers who live and work in Appalachian host communities to promote environmental change.
Through partnerships between the Office of Surface Mining, AmeriCorps*VISTA, and coal country watershed groups, the ACCWT targets environmental problems in eight Appalachian states (AL, KY, MD, OH, PA, TN, VA and WV).
Founded in response to requests from watershed groups throughout coal country, the work of the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team arms citizen groups with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to make them effective environmental stewards, community leaders, and accelerators of change. Together, the Team and its local partners are propelling a new Appalachian economy based on conservation and development, strong partnerships, and new hope.
Founded and directed by Dr. T. Allan Comp, the ACCWT and Allan are both recipients of numerous national awards. The ACCWT was named the Governmental Partner of the Year by the National Summit of Mining Communities in 2006 and received the U.S. Department of the Interior Environmental Achievement Award in 2004. Allan's work with his AMD&ART Project won a Green Design Award from the PA Environmental Council and the prestigious Phoenix Award from the EPA Brownfields Program, among others.

The Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team.