The Guardians Board will meet at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 20 Mar 2024 at the Clarksburg Water Board and online, followed by a membership meeting at 7:00 p.m.
This will be our Annual Meeting, including the election of officers and Board members. Members who have paid dues in the last year are eligible to vote. If you pay your dues between now and the meeting your membership will be good through April 2025.
If you are interested in attending online and not on the email list, please email admin@guardiansofthewestfork.org for the meeting logon information.
Join the Guardians of the West Fork and Lincoln High School students for a stream bank and rail trail trash clean up on Sunday, April 21, 2-4 p.m.
Please wear boots and clothing you don’t mind getting muddy!
Any questions, please contact Mrs. Julie Yearego at Lincoln High School: jyearego@k12.wv.us or at 304-326-7400 ext. 6730. Gloves, grabbers and bags provided to volunteers who sign up. Meet by the Shinnston Bridge along rail trail to Enterprise. We can carpool back at the end.
The Guardians Board will meet at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 20 Mar 2024 at the Clarksburg Water Board and online, followed by a membership meeting at 7:00 p.m.
We will be reviewing progress on Lambert Run restoration and the upcoming grant application to support it, our Stream Partners grant, which signs for Water Trail access points, expanded pop-up paddles and weekend paddles, and stream cleanups.
If you are interested in attending online and not on the email list, please email admin@guardiansofthewestfork.org for the meeting logon information.
80% of West Virginia’s streams and rivers make their way to the Ohio River. Though there have been significant improvements to water quality in the past few decades, people see that there are still serious threats to our waters and the health of the people and ecosystems that depend on them.
Our local and state governments are under-resourced to handle the magnitude of solutions needed now to address problems in our communities, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, and increased flooding.
Led by the Ohio River Basin Alliance, a design process is underway that will lead to a regional plan to address threats to the waters we all depend on. Ensuring this plan is community–driven requires that those who are most impacted by a problem have a voice in determining the solution.
WV Rivers Coalition worked in collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation, Ohio River Basin Alliance, and advocacy groups along the river to host community listening sessions. We asked: What concerns do you have about our waters in the Ohio River Basin? And what solutions do you think will help address them?
A new report has been released that details the findings of the 31 listening sessions across the 14 state region. Click here to read the report and join us for an upcoming webinar to hear more about the findings.
The findings of this report are informing the regional Ohio River Basin restoration and protection plan. Once that plan is complete, it will be released for public comment. People will have another opportunity to say what they would include in the plan and offer comments and suggestions. The restoration plan will then be finalized and delivered to the U.S. Congress.
Stay tuned for actions you can take to uplift community priorities in the Ohio River Basin and help secure the investments we need for commonsense solutions, pursued with urgency, to protect our drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life.
More soon,
Heather Sprouse Ohio River Coordinator, WV Rivers Coalition
Yuck! Much of our watershed is impaired for recreation and for fish and other aquatic life, and fecal coliform is a major source. Here’s an opportunity to learn about causes, cures, and how we can help.
Our streams impaired by fecal coliform are in red.
A new book by USGS fisheries biologist, WVU professor, and West Virginia native Stuart Welsh with central Appalachian fish stories, Hornyheads, Madtoms, and Darters.
“Most people are not scientists, but many have an interest in nature and are, in their own way, naturalists. This book is for those people willing to peer beneath the water’s surface.”
If you are from Lewis County or the upper end of the watershed, which includes parts of Upshur County, you are particularly invited to come and share your concerns and hopes for the watershed. We will have a brief presentation on our watershed’s health and the history and work of the Guardians, followed by a listening session for watershed residents to share their interests, concerns, and the watershed health and recreation work they are doing. The City of Weston has graciously agreed to host.
We hope this will be an opportunity for you to not only meet the Guardians, but also meet others from the area with common interests.
The program begins at 7 p.m., and the Guardians Board will meet before that, at 6:00 p.m. at the Weston Municipal Building and online.
If you are interested in attending online and not on the email list, please email admin@guardiansofthewestfork.org for the online meeting logon information.
The Guardians Board will meet at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 17 Jan 2024 at the Clarksburg Water Board and online, followed by a membership meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Our outreach meeting in Weston will be rescheduled.
We will be reviewing our new presentation on the history and work of the Guardians and the new “Get Involved” pages on our website, and discussing our Stream Partners grant, which includes monitoring Lambert Run construction, signage for Water Trail access points, expanded pop-up paddles and weekend paddles, and a new Watershed Champions program.
If you are interested and not on the email list, email admin@guardiansofthewestfork.org for the online meeting logon information.
The Guardians are pleased to have been awarded a Stream Partners Grant, sponsored by the West Virginia Conservation Agency, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Natural Resources and Division of Forestry.
There will be many opportunities to get involved. More details on the projects, and volunteer job descriptions, coming in January.
The grant will help us carry out and expand a number of projects:
Monitoring for our long term Acid Mine Drainage restoration project at Lambert Run
Monthly maintenance – mowing, brushing, and trash cleanup at river access sites
Signage at Water Trail access points, with site identification, distance to next put-in, interpretive information at dam removal sites, QR codes with a link to further information, including the Guardians web site map of the Trail and watershed education information
Expanding our pop-up the paddles to more sites on the river, and organizing weekend paddles
Tabling at environmental-oriented events to educate the public about our mission and to emphasize the benefits and challenges of creating, maintaining, and protecting a healthy watershed.
Watershed Champions: Learn about watershed health and conservation, and commit and take action in your own yard or property, and be recognized.
As is our custom, there will be no meeting in December. We will be starting our meetings up and down the watershed on January 17, in Weston.
Enjoy the holidays!
If you are interested in email meeting announcements and information and not on the email list, email admin@guardiansofthewestfork.org for the logon information.
Guardians of the West Fork Watershed 