December 2011 Newsletter

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 3 Fall/Winter 2011

The Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District (LFSWCD) awarded their 2011 Shenandoah County Outstanding Farmer

Award to Harry and Sue Polk of Mt. Jackson. The Polk’s operate a 500 acre farm that includes crops, hay and pasture. They milk more than 100 cattle and also operate 2 broiler houses. These operations present major challenges for feed storage, grain and silage management and waste handling. The dairy operation alone produces about 1400 tons of manure each year. Fortunately, the Polks have par-ticipated in VA’s Agricultural Best Management cost share program for the past 15 years. They’ve in-

stalled a dairy lagoon for manure storage, a poultry litter shed to store 500 tons of waste per year and a dead bird composting facility to safely handle mortality and control disease. Further, the Polks have been fol-lowing a Nutrient Management Plan since 2000 and practice side dress nitrogen management for corn to reduce unnecessary applications of ni-trogen - saving money AND preventing nitrogen and phosphorus from being overapplied and potentially entering waterways. The Polks have also fenced livestock out of all the streams on their property for a total of 3,145 feet of stream exclusion fencing. This is land, water and animal stewardship on the ground and in action.

PleasantView Dairy Farmers, Harry and Sue Polk are Honored by the LFSWCD and Friends

FREE Drug Disposal Throughout the North Fork Watershed!

Friends is working with local pharmacies from Stras-burg to Timberville to keep drugs out of the North Fork. Friends won a grant from the Shenandoah Community Foundation to buy drug take back boxes for pharmacies in Strasburg, Woodstock, Edinburg, Mt. Jackson, New Market and Timberville. In early 2012 you will be able to properly dispose of your un-used or out of date pharmaceuticals. Historically, the public was told to flush their old drugs down the toi-let. This is a BIG NO NO as these chemicals make their way through the sewage treatment process as well as the drinking water treatment process, affect-ing fish and wildlife as well as the human population. Stay tuned for more info. on pharmacy locations and also notices of National Drug Take Back days spon-sored by the DEA, local Sheriff’s offices and Friends of the North Fork. Thanks to the Shenandoah Community Foundation for supporting this effort!

R-L: Shenandoah Cty Sup. Conrad Helsley, Friends and LFSWCD Director Mary Gessner and Harry and Sue Polk

contd..  by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)  and the state to determine if waters are suitable for rec-reational use, swimming in particular. Here is a summary of the results of our monitoring: Levels reported here are “colonies per 100 milliliters of water”

The EPA and state standard for waters in recreational use is 126. The basis for that standard and what it means are reviewed below in an excerpt from a United States Geo-logical Survey webpage: Current guidelines established by the USEPA result from studies conducted at marine and freshwater beaches in the late 1970's and early 1980's. In 1986, the USEPA recommended that E. coli be used as an indicator of fecal contamination in recreational waters. The standard was set at a geometric mean concentration of 126 colonies per 100 milliliters (mL) of water, which was estimated to be correlated with a gastrointestinal illness rate of about 8 individuals per 1,000 swimmers. How was this determined? ....... E. coli contd. pg. 2

Locations Average Level

Highest Level

Stoney Creek and tributaries, above the lake

184 1733

In the Lake 25 201Stoney Creek, below the lake

45 613

Lake Laura Project Update E. coli is a type of bacteria and it is one of the water qual-ity parameters that we have monitored in the vicinity of Lake Laura in 2010 and 2011 under a grant from the YSI Foundation. The levels of E. coli are of particular interest because they are the primary criterion used .....contd.

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Education Corner - Education Coordinator,[email protected],

Our stoneroller mascot has a name and it’s Stanley! Lauran Baker is the winner of our naming contest and she received a $25 gift certificate from Blue Canoe Crew (thanks!), a Friends’ totebag and River Atlas for her fintastic suggestion. Susie Wilburn created Stanley from scratch and we hope to obtain a grant that will help us build an elementary and mid-dle school student educational effort around Stanley’s Stand for the River. Funding will support student materials focused on Stanley’s stand for water quality protection and conservation. We would also like to create a song for Stanley, so please let us know if you would like to help with this effort. Email Cindy if you’re intersted!

Introducing Stanley the Stoneroller!

E. coli contd. from pg. 1 .. Swimmers and non-swimmers were interviewed at freshwater bathing beaches on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and on Keystone Lake near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Swimming was strictly de-fined as activity which resulted in all upper body open-ings being exposed to the water. The beaches had differ-ent levels of fecal indicator bacteria. After 8 to 10 days, the swimmers and non-swimmers were interviewed again with regard to symptoms of gastrointestinal or res-piratory illness. The prevalence of gastrointestinal illness was then compared to the concentrations of E. coli, ente-rococci and fecal coliforms on the day of swimming, as well as between swimmers and non-swimmers. The conclusion of this study was that E.coli and entero-cocci showed the strongest relationship with swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness, but fecal coliform den-sities showed little or no relation to gastrointestinal ill-ness in swimmers. This study serves as a reminder that it is not a simple task to arrive at recreational water quality standards. No single test is infallible or correct for every situation. Individuals use recreational waters in different ways, and are not equally susceptible to disease due to their different behaviors and their prior health conditions. Not every swimmer in these studies suffered gastrointes-tinal illness. It is also worth noting that the standard for drinking water is to have no E. coli present. When the level of E. coli in a river or a lake is consistently above the water quality standard, the state will designate the body of wa-ter as “impaired” and start a process to determine the causes of pollution and how to correct them. For data such as ours, the cut off for that designation is 235, be-cause we do not have continuous monitoring data. Also, multiple readings must exceed this threshold. The aver-age levels in the lake and below the dam are below these cutoffs. The high readings in the Lake and below the dam were related to a rain event in December. Re-testing 9 days later showed much lower levels. The E.

coli levels above the lake are higher, on average, and were more frequently over the two regulatory thresholds. Our data have been provided to the state and we expect that the waters above the lake will be designated as im-paired for E. coli in a state update report due in 2012.

** A more thorough report on all aspects of this project is in preparation and will be posted

on our website shortly.

2012 Education and Event Calendar - WOW!

January 10: Education Committee meeting - join us to learn about and help with our education efforts! March 24: Home School Education Day at New Market Battlefield Historical Park.

March 29: Make and Take Rain Barrel Workshop at Natural Art Garden Center in Toms Brook, VA

April 21: FNFSR ANNUAL MEETING and Family River Day.April 22: River Bloom! Earth Day Wildflower Walk along the South Fork Shenandoah River with Chris Anderson at the White House Foundation Farm near Luray.April 25: The Big Give Community Service Project at Peter Muhlenburg Middle School in Woodstock - Come out and volunteer!May 9: Make and Take Rotating Compost Bin Workshop - Registration will begin in February/March with the Shenandoah Parks and Recreation Dept. - Watch for an email alert to sign up!June 18-22: North Fork Exploration for Students - grades 5 and up. Want to help?

June 25-29: North Fork Exploration for Students - grades 5 and up. Want to help? Email Cindy

Registration details soon!

Stanley’s Naming Ceremony with Principle Stetter, Lauran, Cindy and Stanley (thanks to

Ashley Everhart - in the costume!)

Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River THANKS ALL who helped make our 2011 Fish Fry

Fundraiser a GRAND SUCCESS!

Thanks to our chair crafters and artists; our sponsors; auction donors; John Laughlin of Laughlin Auctions - our amazing auctioneer; Shaffers for wonderful food; great music by Ricky & Amanda Wilkins, and all Fish Fry committee members. Special thanks also to Pat Koch at PJ Designs, King Street Art Works, The Bowman-Shannon Cultural Arts Center and Fort Valley Nursery for dis-playing the beautifully decorated chairs.Chair Crafters and Artists:Chair Crafters: Ted Miller & Jerry Mitchell Artists: Rachel Canada, Ali Carithers, Penelope Carroll, Susan Chi-aramonte, Donnie Holsinger, George Long, Maureen Limon, Deborah Nees, Barbara Randel, Jane Ritchie, Dan VossPottery Artists : Troy Amastar, Donna Bean, Maureen Crisman, Lynne Crumpacker, Kay Ely Pierce, Libet Henze, Pamela Fernandez, Cindy Frenzel, Diane Gould, Gail Hahn, Kary Haun, Bill Melson & Judy McCarthy, Barbara Robertson, Aurelie Schmid, Steven Summer-ville, Susie WilburnCorporate and Business Sponsors: Corporate Silver: Shentel & Mercury Paper;Business Gold: Carlson Plumbing;Business Silver: Virginia Savings Bank, Woodstock Cafe & Shoppes, PJ Designs Individual Sponsors:Largemouth Bass: Paula & Brian Dailey; Smallmouth Bass: John Holmes, John & Pat McKenna, Margaret Nelson, George Ohrstrom, II, Beverly & Chuck Veatch; Great Blue Herons: Judy & Bill Beavers, Alice Findler, Diane & George Gould, Bud Gris-wold & Mary Gessner, Bill Grillo, Russell Shay, Sherrie & Jack Wain, Jeanne Teller & Rob Zimmerman;River Otters: Don Albright, Bill & Judy Buechner, Jack & Joan Chapman, Ann Warshauer & Frank Cihlar, Tony Dorrell & Joan Comanor, Jeffrey & Anne Dalke, Ken & Pauline Emen-heiser, David Evans, Barbara & Warren Halvorson, Paula Jackson & Bill Hamilton, Jay Eiche & Tanya Harvey, Bruce Hatton, Ed & Suzie Koller, John & Carolyn Kreitzburg, Bill & Susan Lane, Nancy Smaroff & H.B. Lantz, Margaret Loewith, Margaret Lorenz, Jerry Mitchell, Mary & John Modolo, Suzanne Montgomery, Andy Schmookler & April Moore, Craig Morris, Brenda Rawlings, Diane & Cecil Rosen, Hugh Sager, Larry Yates & Carol Stroebel, Karen & Dave Timer, Sara Garland & Kim Uhl, Joanne Rodman & Wesley Warren, Kevin & Jan WhalenAuction Donors: Jack Chapman, Frank Haun, Jeff Kelble, Valley Ballooning

Fish Fry Planning Committee and Helpers:April Moore - Fundraising Chair; Mary Gessner, Diane Gould, Carolyn Kreitzburg, Mary Modolo, Suzanne Montgomery, Brenda Rawlings, Annita Seckinger, Susie Wilburn, Wendy Yarnold

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ds

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

Please Remember Friends by Renewing Your Membership or Joining us to Sup-

port River Protection Work in 2012:• Water Quality data use: We plan to use our

water quality data to create a State of the North Fork Report that we can use to discuss water health impacts and potential solutions in our wa-tershed and with our local government officials.

• Student North Fork Explorations: Friends and our partners will host watershed-oriented summer camps for students from throughout the North Fork watershed.

• Stoneroller Education and Outreach Materi-als: Thanks to Susie Wilburn, Friends has an amazing stoneroller mascot around which we are building an educational campaign for elementary and middle school students.

• Workshops: Rain barrels, compost barrels, rain gardens, river walks - all workshops that we will be presenting in 2012.

• Advocacy: Carrizo has abandoned the attempt to gain a gas drilling permit in the headwaters of the North Fork (Yeah!), but Friends and our part-ners will remain vigilant and continue to pursue surface and ground water protection related to the hydrofracturing process.

We do this work because the river is the lifeblood of the Shenandoah Valley. For all of us involved, the River holds a special place in our hearts. But Friends cannot do this work and expand our efforts to meet the new challenges that constantly arise without your financial support.

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

Return Service Requested

2012 Member Renewal or New Member Form

____ $35 ____ $50 ____ $75 ____ $120 ____ $240 ____ Other

Name: _______________________________ Address: _____________________________ City: ______________ State: ___ Zip: ____ Phone: _______________________________ Email: __________________________________

FNFSR P O Box 746

Woodstock VA 22664THANK YOU for your Support!