February, 2006   No more cold, wet feet

Blue Ridge Mountain TU group donates waders to Adopt-A-Stream students

            When Fannin County Middle School students participating in the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program did their monitoring in January, this time they waded into the cold creek in the comfort of dry waders. The students' new boots were donated by our chapter of Trout Unlimited.

            Fannin middle school students in two science classes conduct the Adopt-A-Stream monitoring at the creek on their campus under the direction of their teachers Jeff Weaver and Tony Tickler. Working with Adopt-A-Stream, the students are not only keeping tabs on the health of their chosen waterway and providing information that becomes part of a statewide data base on water quality, they're also learning hands-on applications for some of the science lessons taught in the classroom. Adopt-A-Stream monitoring involves various chemical analyses of water samples such as measuring dissolved oxygen and pH. Also, they delve into invertebrate biology as they determine water quality by seeing what creatures live in the stream, and they develop a better understanding of environmental science by observing the many factors which interact in an eco-system.

            Georgia Adopt-A-Stream is a statewide volunteer water quality monitoring program that, through the EPD, encourages individuals and groups such as the Fannin County middle school science classes to adopt sections of streams, wetlands, lakes or rivers and provides them with the tools and training to evaluate and protect their chosen waterway.

            For information about the local program, contact Larry Golsen, who is the Fannin County Adopt-A-Stream coordinator, at: larrygol@bellsouth.net. Dr. Golsen, who is one of the newest members of our TU chapter, is a certified Adopt-A-Stream instructor and can arrange training sessions here for those who are interested in becoming Adopt-A-Stream volunteers.

            The Blue Ridge Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited provided the students with the new waders through donations members made in memory of George Dailey who passed away last fall. The Mineral Bluff resident had been a long time Trout Unlimited leader in Georgia and was a retired high school science teacher who loved working with students, especially teaching them about good stewardship of their environment.

            Anyone interested in learning more about the local TU group is invited to attend a meeting or contact chapter co-presidents John Pool (jpool1@pickensprogress.com) or Metrela Brown (metrela@tds.net) for more information.