AND MORE . . .  some old, some new, but all are relevant to TSRA's conservation efforts and our goals of preservation, protection and restoration of the scenic, free-flowing rivers of Tennessee.

Whites Creek Cleanup
March 27, 2010

The Whites Creek Watershed Alliance will host the eighth annual Whites Creek Cleanup in Nashville on Saturday, March 27, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Come join us!

We will provide snacks, drinks, continental breakfast, tasty lunch, and trash bags. Please wear clothes and shoes that can get wet or muddy. A hat and a small backpack for trash bags, water, snacks, or gloves can help, too. We need paddlers! Experienced boaters can bring canoes or kayaks. Families are welcome. Meet at the Hartman Park picnic area. For details, call Michelle Carratu at 615-876-8865 or email Lloyd at jazz@imaginaryrecords.com. (The backup date is Saturday, April 3.)

On Saturday, April 1,  2006, members from Dickson’s BSA Troop 593 worked with the Duck River Opportunities Project (DROP), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Volunteer River Restoration Corps (VRRC) (a joint project of the Harpeth River Watershed Association (HRWA) and the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA)) to install over 1300 plants in an area of the Piney River’s bank that had been eroding.

Wynne Mitchell with the Dickson County NRCS contacted the Volunteer River Restoration Corps (VRRC) to see if they would be interested in helping the landowner complete the stream restoration project. The landowner had previously installed several rock jetties. The jetties are rock structures that point upstream and deflect high flows away from eroding stream banks. These particular jetties were designed by NRCS bioengineers to protect the landowner’s fields along the eroding pasture. Once the jetties are installed, the area is planted in grass, tree seedlings and “live stakes.” Live stakes are cuttings of black willow and sycamore treated with a rootone (makes roots sprout). The live stakes are installed from the waters edge up about 10 feet to the top of the stream bank. The seedlings are planted from the top of the stream bank out to about 25 feet. The 15 scouts installed just over 500 plants per hour, possibly a new VRRC record!

Troop 593 was led by Scoutmaster Ron Campbell of Dickson, and was assisted by Timothy Black. Scouts helping out included John Campbell, Mike Coones, T.J. Black Jr., Mathew Welson, John Gilliam, Spencer Trent, Mathew Mclendon, Andrew Nelson, Sam Hall, and Derek Hall and others. Scouts were assisted by HRWA/DROP staff members Mike Cain (Restoration Specialist) and John McFadden (Director of Science and Restoration).

The Piney River is one of the Duck River’s healthiest tributaries – and the Duck River is one of the world’s most biologically diverse freshwater systems with 54 types of mussels (freshwater clams) and 151 types of fishes. In addition the Duck River and its tributaries such as the Piney serve as drinking water supply for many communities and as a recreational resource for the middle Tennessee area. This brings a great economic gain to the local communities.

The VRRC has worked with scouts and other volunteers throughout the Harpeth River and Duck River watersheds in an effort to improve the quality of the river system though a combination of cooperative restoration and education. For More Information visit HRWA’s website at www.Harpethriver.org.

FMI:John McFadden
Director of Science and Restoration
Duck River Opportunities Project
HRWA/TSRA
615.374.3744
615.330.5364
jmcfadden62@bellsouth.net

Like this group, which is conducting an invertebrate survey in Rugby, TSRA river adopters monitor streams and their watersheds across Tennessee.  Stream surveys, debris cleanups, and streambank restoration are typical activities conducted by adopters.

Click here to learn about the latest in the AAR program.

TSRA’s Duck River Opportunities Project is sponsored by Saturn Corporation and works with local communities, agencies, volunteers and experts to improve water quality and provide education within the Duck River watershed.


Click here to read more about the extensive TSRA Duck River Project

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation held a public meeting November 3, 2005, designed to involve the public in a meaningful discussion of the Watershed Water Quality Management Plan for the Lower Duck and Buffalo River Watershed. Tennessee’s Watershed Approach began in 1996 and is an inventory of existing information about point and nonpoint contributions to the watershed, a collection of maps illustrating locations of permitted discharges in the watershed, a summary of activities by state and federal agencies and local organizations to reduce these contributions, links to other agencies and water quality programs, and a guide for the next five-year management cycle.

The public was encouraged to comment on the Watershed Water Quality Management Plan, discuss their water quality concerns, hear what their neighbors thought, and learn how to work together to promote and protect clean water in Tennessee. Local groups interested in water quality were also available to give presentations about their respective programs and included the Duck River Opportunities Program, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Wildlife Agency, and Duck River Agency.

The Watershed Water Quality Management Plan is available at: http://www.state.tn.us/environment/wpc/watershed/wsmplans. The plan can be viewed and downloaded from your home computer or from one in a nearby public library or school.

Watershed Water Quality Management Plans include a general watershed description, water quality assessment summary results, inventory of point and nonpoint sources, water quality concerns voiced by citizens at public meetings, federal, state, and local initiatives, and management strategies. Public meetings are held to discuss the draft plans with local citizens, elected officials, and the regulated community. Click here to learn more!

What is a landform anyway? Landforms are arches, waterfalls, rocks, peaks, balds, and lakes. The University of Tennessee has a very detailed listing that includes 549 waterfalls in our state, and thats just the beginning. Click here to find out more.

by Vesta Griswold

A plant does not live unto itself, but is part of an organized community. The decimation of the natural communities that had become established here before the first settlers arrived, and which had been only slightly interrupted by the Native Americans, was an inevitable result as cities, industries, and farms expanded. Now that our thoroughly mechanized and economically oriented society is in the midst of a population explosion, the decimation of natural areas for immediate use and profit has accelerated phenomenally. We can no longer take it for granted that there will forever be forests of mighty trees with all the lesser dignitaries and the diminutive beauties beneath.

Fortunately, mindful people have taken necessary steps to set aside natural areas in our beautiful countryside. It is now our good fortune to enjoy them as well as to protect them. When human kind descends on an area for recreation, delicate wild flowers are trampled, beaten down, broken off, and wiped out by the masses. Our state parks are well used and enjoyed. We are fortunate, indeed, for we in Nashville are rejuvenated by a walk through Radnor Lake Natural Area, and Warner Park as well as all our lovely parks. We need to use them with care, however. One person traveling straight down a hill can so dislodge loose humus-soil and little roots that the next rain will initiate a gully which more rain will enlarge. The steeper the slope is, the greater the damage. Zigzag paths can prevent that to some extent.

Our Tennessee countryside presents us with an amazing panorama of beautiful landscapes and plant species. We are fortunate, indeed, to have the opportunity to help preserve them for future generations. Our many parks are there for us to enjoy and our State Natural Areas are rare gems. We will never know our beautiful land as the early explorers saw it for it is now forever changed. We have the obligation to help preserve all that we can. We have nurseries that grow our native plants, and we can grow and enjoy them in our yards. We should never take them from the wild unless that area is about to be developed. We can walk with care as we go to and from our beautiful rivers. We can tread with care in our forests. Our creed should be “TAKE ONLY PICTURES FROM OUR BEAUTIFUL WILD PLACES AND LEAVE ONLY FOOT PRINTS” made with care.