Fr i e n d s o f t h e N o r t h Fo r k o f t h e S h e n a n d o a h R i v e r

Our mission is to protect and enhance the purity, beauty and natural flow of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River

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Volume 22, Number 1 Winter 2011

E. Coli & Benthic Invertebrates Project: Three Year Study is Complete -

Thanks to all of our Volunteer Monitors!The  Project  and  Results

The   collabora+ve   project   with   Friends   of   the  Shenandoah  River   and   Shenandoah  University   has  been   a   tremendous   success,   from   volunteer   in-­‐volvement   and  organiza+onal  partnerships  to  com-­‐bining  mul+ple  sources  of  funding  from  local  private  donors  to  na+onwide  founda+ons.    This  project  fo-­‐cused  on  bacteria  levels  and  the  health  of  creek  bot-­‐tom  criCers  in  the  Smith  Creek  and  Cedar  Creek  ar-­‐eas  and  at   a  number   of   loca+ons  along   the  North  Fork.    Sampling  was  also  conducted  on  tributaries  to  the   South   Fork   of   the   Shenandoah   River   by   our  partners  at  Friends  of  the  Shenandoah  River  (FOSR).    We  have  collected,  analyzed  and  reported  on  the  E.  coli   levels  at   25   sites  throughout   the   Shenandoah  River  watershed.    We  have  monthly   results  for  most  of   the   sites   from   May/June   of   2009   through   De-­‐cember  of  2010.    Those  data  have  been  presented  to  the  Department  of  Environmental  Quality   (DEQ)  and  will  be  used   in   the  reassessment   of   impaired  streams  star+ng  in  2011.     In  addi+on,  the  data  are  being  used  to  benchmark  the  installa+on  of  agricul-­‐tural   best   management   prac+ces   in   Smith   Creek,  they  have  been  used  to  assess  the  impact  of  the  up-­‐grade  of  a  trailer   park  sep+c   system  and  they  have  been  used  to  address  minor  levels  of  E.  coli  in  spring  water  that  has  been  used  for  public  consump+on.

The   benthic   inverte-­‐brate   program   has  been   an   equally   suc-­‐cessful   project.     In  concert  with  this  pro-­‐ject,  Professor  Woody  Bousquet,   at   Shenan-­‐doah   University   (SU)  has   become   a   cer+-­‐fied   instructor   in   the  

Virginia  Save  Our   Streams  (VA  SOS)  benthic  macro-­‐invertebrates  monitoring  protocol.    We  have  trained  and  cer+fied  over  10  volunteers  and  we  have  gath-­‐ered  data  for  3  quarters  at  10  sites.  

Volunteer  InvolvementVolunteers  are  the  backbone  of  Friends  of  the  North  Fork’s  water  health  protec+on  efforts  and  this  three  year   long   project   is   just   another   example   of   how  volunteers  can  get   involved  to  help  protect  and  de-­‐fend  water  health  in  the   North   Fork   wa-­‐te rshed .     N ine  Friends’   volunteers  were   trained   and  cer+fied   in  either   E.  c o l i   c o l l e c + o n ,  b e n t h i c -­‐ m a c r o -­‐invertebrate   analy-­‐sis,  OR  BOTH.    These  training   and  cer+fica+on   sessions  and   subsequent  monitoring   require   a   significant   +me  commitment  from   volunteers  and  we  would   like   to   thank  each  and  every   one  of  them   for   this  and  con+nuing  ef-­‐forts.    

PartnershipsPartnerships  were  another  key  to  the  success  of  this  project.    Working  with  FOSR,  Prof.   Bousquet  at  SU,  volunteers  throughout   the  watershed   and   various  other  agencies  including  the  VA  DEQ,  we  were  able  to  develop  and  implement  a  worthwhile  water  qual-­‐ity  monitoring  effort.  

Financial  SupportFinancial  support  was  the  linchpin  that  allowed  this  project  to  come  to  frui+on.    Local  and  na+onal  fund-­‐ing   was  secured   from   The   Virginia  Environmental  Endowment,   the   Shenandoah   Valley   Community  Founda+on,   the  NORCROSS   Founda+on   as  well  as  significant  contribu+ons  from  private  donors.    Fund-­‐ing  enabled  partners  to  buy  new,  necessary  and  ex-­‐pensive   analysis  equipment   as  well  as  supplies  to  support  the  3  year  effort.  

THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS,PARTNERS AND FUNDERS!!

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Education Corner - Education Coordinator, Cindy Frenzel cindy.frenzel@fnfsr.org, 540-459-8550

2nd North Fork Exploration Scheduled - June 15-17, 2011 Friends of the North Fork is hosting a professional development opportunity for K-12 public and private school teachers to explore and learn about the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. Teach-ers can join us for an exciting canoe trip; fun and interesting field trips with natural resource professionals; and a day of learning and exploration of educational materials for use in the classroom. Participants in our 2010 experience (right) plan their water ori-ented projects for the 2010-2011 school year. To apply, please contact the Friends office at 540-459-8550 or email Cindy at friends@shentel.net.

After attending the 2010 North Fork Exploration, teachers Rachel Davis, Jennifer Burke, Rachel Shumaker, and Herb Wilburn banded together to create a river experience for students as a part of their Science and Social Studies curriculum. The students and teachers plan to visit the river three times over the course of the year to observe and record seasonal changes. The students are also learning about the interconnected habitats that make up the North Fork watershed. In this picture (left), Jennifer Strickler and her first graders from Sandy Hook Elementary School look for signs of animal and plant life along the riverbank on the River Trail in Strasburg.

North Fork Exploration 2011 - Professional Development for Teachers AND Week Long Experience for Students!

Sandy Hook Students Explore River Trail in Strasburg

No experience necessary at this workshop where you will build your own rotating com-post bin using a large recy-cled barrel and a wooden stand. All hardware, tools, materials and instruction will

be supplied to help you build a backyard com-post bin that you can take home and use the same day. Composting helps you save money by making your own organic garden fertilizer and it is part of the three R’s of recycling: reducing, reusing and recycling kitchen and yard waste; and best of all keeping that waste out of our landfills. Cost: $35.00 FNFSR members or $45.00 non-members. Anyone 12 years old

and older may attend. Those under 18 should have a parent or guardian present. More than one person or a family can attend at one cost if they are working on the same Compost Bin. Register with Shenandoah County Parks and Recreation at http://www.scpr.info.

NEW Spring Workshop!Make and Take: Rotating Compost Bin

Thursday, April 28, 2011, 6:00-8:30pm at Natural Art Garden Center in Toms Brook

New Visitor’s Guide to the North Fork of the Shenandoah River

To help you enjoy your time on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, April Moore and Cindy Blugerman have created a new laminated river guide as a part of their Master Naturalist Train-ing. The brief guide will be for sale for a nominal fee, and will help you learn about the diverse life in and around the North Fork. Learning some of the trees, birds, mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and fish you’re likely to encounter along the way will make your visit to the river even more fun! To order one or more copies, call the office at 459-8550.

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the adoption of a revised sludge spreading ordi-nance that would require a county sludge moni-tor to be present at every occurrence of sludge spreading. This person could be a volunteer (re-quiring no expense from the County) as long as there is adequate training. Updating the County’s current ordinance quickly and effec-tively is of the utmost importance as is exempli-fied by a recent accident near the town of Con-cord, VA, where NutriBlend allegedly spread sludge on the wrong 22 acre field. Vigilance is a necessity when dealing with this material. Hydrofracking update: The special use per-mit for an exploratory Marcellus Shale gas well in the headwaters of the North Fork remains on hold, but water quality threats from the drilling and mining as well as the associated infrastruc-ture impact continue to plague, WV, PA and NY. Most recently, Marcellus Shale exploration has been hailed as a perfect way for families to pre-serve their farms as farming becomes less and less economical. By selling their mineral rights, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (a group of compa-nies drilling and mining gas in PA), claims that gas mining will have long term benefits like lower fertilizer costs and stable fuel prices. The Shale Coalition recently appeared at the PA Farm Show, contributing $5,000 to their scholarship fund and 4-H and FFA exhibitors. While the North Fork watershed has thus far avoided Mar-cellus Shale drilling, exploration remains a viable possibility. Friends is working closely with our partners to ensure water quality and quantity protection if indeed shale exploration occurs in the future.

Chesapeake Bay TMDL:The Chesapeake Bay and the life that it supports are suffering. The water that's in the Bay is con-tributed from hundreds of tributaries, and this includes the North Fork of the Shenandoah. Ulti-mately that means that these tributaries and the North Fork are suffering too. Twenty-five years have passed since the initial effort to clean up the Bay and finally the EPA has said enough is enough. The result is the recently released Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). This is a "pollution diet" for the Bay and it places limits on the nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment loads that are contributed from rivers flowing through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Delaware and the Dis-trict of Columbia, into the Bay. Sources of pollu-tion, including sewage treatment plants, indus-trial facilities, urban areas, agriculture, forestry and residential septic systems, are being required to do their part to improve the health of these waterways and the Bay. Implementation of this plan means cleaner water for the North Fork and cleaner water for the Bay. Each state and DC has submitted detailed plans to reduce pollution. Virginia’s Watershed Implemen-tation Plan (WIP) identifies a detailed action plan to reduce water pollution. This WIP has been ap-proved by the EPA and received support from Governor McDonnell who announced that “the approved plan balances the important environ-mental protection concerns with the need to pro-tect jobs in agriculture and farming”. Eleven federal agencies have committed to a compre-hensive suite of actions to aid in implementing the TMDL. Unfortunately none of the funding that has been requested has been approved by the U.S. Congress. Additionally, on January 11, 2011, the American Farm Bureau Federation filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the pollution reduction plan, challenging EPA’s authority and the process used to develop it. Will Baker, presi-dent of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said “This action by the Farm Bureau is not a pro-farming action, but anti-clean water”. Hopefully Virginia will proceed with efforts to implement the provi-sions of its WIP regardless of the court challenge it is facing. Cleaning up the Bay means cleaning up the North Fork.

Sludge in Shenandoah County - Friends is working with the Shenandoah County Water Re-sources Advisory Committee (WRAC) to encourage

Thank YOU!Friends would like to thank all who contributed to our 2010 Year End fund raising campaign and to all who donated throughout the year. We ask for your financial support because it

allows us to continue to work for the protection of our water’s health in the North Fork water-shed. Each and every one of us has a deep connection to water. In fact, our lives and the lives of our friends and neighbors depend on

clean and healthy water. The negative impacts on our waterways are many and are growing every day, but we at Friends of the North Fork

are working in the North Fork community to bring awareness and action to the threats

facing our watershed. Thank you for helping us to strive toward our goal of clean water in the Shenandoah Valley.

North Fork News

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F R I E N D S @ S H E N T E L . N E T

     Board  MembersRon  Falyar  -­‐  President            Barbara  HalvorsonKim  Uhl  -­‐  Vice  President            John  HolmesApril  Moore  -­‐  Secretary                    Margaret  LorenzGary  Proctor  -­‐  Treasurer            Gayle  Shaffer

Mary  Gessner      Staff

Leslie  Mitchell-­‐Watson          Execu+ve  DirectorCindy  Frenzel            Educa+on        Coordinator

Please Join Us or Renew YourMembership

with Friends of the North Fork!!Membership Application/Renewal Form

____ Advocate........$250 ____ Ally...............$100 ____ Supporter.......$60 ____ Basic Annual Membership..$35 ____ Student..........$20 Name: _____________________________Address: ___________________________City: _____________ State: ___ Zip: ___Phone: ____________________________Email: _____________________________

____: Please contact me about Volunteering!

Make checks payable to:

FNFSR P O Box 746

Woodstock VA 22664

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FNFSR! ! ! !P. O. Box 746! ! !Woodstock VA 22664

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Calendar of EventsMarch 29 - EnvirothonApril 9 - Friends’ CleanupApril 12 - Friends’ Education Comm. Quarterly MeetingApril 14 - Big Give at Peter Muhlenberg Middle SchoolApril 28 - Make a Compost “Machine” Workshop with Friends and Natural Art Garden Center in Toms BrookMay 15 - Friends’ Annual Meeting - Join Friends Down by the River!