Core Goals of the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team

Our OSM/VISTA members each commit to wrestle with the interwoven issues that overwhelm many small community-based organizations in Appalachia: degraded environments, limited local capacity, deep cultural ties to history and place, and the challenge of doing work that is often entirely volunteer-based. By engaging in daily activities that aim to accomplish the five Core Goals of the Watershed Team, hard-working local volunteers, organizations and agencies that support water quality,  and OSM/VISTAs have a significant impact in their local communities and the region at large.

Core Goal #1: Build the capacity of participating organizations to enable long-term stability and success. OSM/VISTAs spend part of their time submitting grants, generating interest and awareness in watershed activities, training organizational staff and members in volunteer recruitment and board development, and creating opportunities for community volunteers to become actively involved.

Project Success Story: Kicking off his second year as an OSM/VISTA in 2006, Evan Smith made several great strides in building the capacity of the Head of Three Rivers Project in Whitesburg, KY. Evan worked with local volunteers to incorporate a non-profit that will serve as an institutional vehicle for his Project -- the first watershed non-profit to be formed in Eastern Kentucky. In the same quarter Evan prepared a proposal for $200,000 in EPA Brownfields Assessment funds. He also secured a $5,000 World Wildlife Fund grant to help develop a community-based approach to creating a sewer plan for the Cumberland River section of Letcher County. Evan reported that the sewer plan grant, submitted through the Mennonite Central Committee, represented a step “towards working with faith-based communities in an area that considers itself ‘the forgotten part’ of Letcher County.”

Core Goal #2: Assist sponsor organizations in conducting the watershed research and water quality monitoring critical to future funding. Water monitoring lays the critical groundwork for efforts to remediate acid mine drainage (AMD), improve sewage infrastructure, and restore streams.  By inventorying and monitoring AMD discharges, conducting bacterial monitoring and stream surveys, helping to compile and map relevant watershed data, and assisting in developing and maintaining AMD treatment projects, OSM/VISTAs enable their watershed organizations to acquire the data necessary to moving forward with remediation projects.

Project Success Story: Melissa Robinson, an OSM/VISTA with the McClure River Restoration Project in Clintwood, VA, discovered the tremendous potential of service-learning as a means of gathering critical stream data while educating and involving local young people. Melissa’s partnership with 13-student ecology class from Ervinton High School helped her gather and analyze samples, locate five new sampling sites (identified by the students), and spread the word about her organization’s work. “[We] weren’t prepared for how excited and motivated these 13 students, ranging in age from 15-18 years old, would be,” Melissa reported. “They were hungry to learn and practice science, something their 1981 chemistry and biology text books couldn’t offer.”

Core Goal #3: Assist sponsor organizations in enhancing community awareness and involvement through education and outreach. The ultimate success of any of our projects depends on the involvement of the local communities where our OSM/VISTAs serve – getting the word out through outreach and educational activities helps foster local ownership and leads individuals to take action.

Project Success Story: The work of OSM/VISTA Sarah McClurgwas a great boon to Friends of Deckers Creek in Morgantown, WV as they sought to expand their education and outreach projects. Sarah helped organize the 2006 CarpFest, a free watershed-oriented educational event that featured “four great bands, kids activities… a walk-through illustrating the steps FoDC makes to treat [acid mine drainage] sites in the watershed, food vendors, arts and crafts, stream-side macroinvertebrate education… a large raffle, and a silent auction.” About 200 community members attended the event, supported by 21 sponsors and 39 volunteers.

Core Goal #4: Assist sponsor organizations in efforts of community revitalization through economic development projects, as well as those that celebrate and increase awareness and understanding of local history and culture. OSM/VISTAs work in their communities of service to find unique ways to support and celebrate local heritage while helping to improve the living conditions and aesthetic values of the area.

Project Success Story: Working withThe Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamationin Shavertown, PA, OSM/VISTA Valerie Taylor had opportunity to witness the community-building impact of the Avondale Park project that she helped develop, whose sculptural component commemorates the region’s mining heritage. Completed after 40 volunteers worked 766 hours to landscape the area and create a metal art piece, the Avondale project soon became focus for community gatherings. Former residents of the area, drawn by family ties to the miners commemorated by the sculptural memorial, returned to visit the park when it opened. Neighborhood residents commented to Valerie that “everyone used to know each other up here, and now we do again.” Reporting on her work, Valerie observed with excitement that “an active neighborhood assures that more community events and projects will follow” in communities like Avondale Hill.

Goal 5:  Assist the OSM/VISTA member and sponsor site to better prepare him or her to become a valuable Team member, broaden his or her ability to engage with watershed and community development issues, and enhance his or her opportunities for future employment.  OSM/VISTAs attend trainings, present at professional conferences, and collaborate with their sponsors to become better prepared to work seriously on watershed issues.   Not only does this benefit OSM/VISTAs in their future careers, but it can transform them into a long-term asset for their sponsor – many of our OSM/VISTAs continue to work in the region, and sometimes in their host watershed, well after their service ends.

Project Success Stories: 

·         Kelly Jo Drey-Houck served as an OSM/VISTA with the Rural Appalachian Improvement League in Mullens, West Virginia.  During her term, Kelly was able to incorporate a new watershed group, the Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association, as a 501(c)3, and raise funds for that group to hire its first executive director.  Armed with a deep understanding of the local community and what it takes to start a nonprofit, Kelly was then selected by the Watershed Association to fill the Executive Director position.  As Executive Director Kelly ably guided the Watershed Association through the first few years of its development, hiring two more OSM/VISTA volunteers and initiating numerous volunteer and education programs.

·         After building contacts and professional skills for two years as an OSM/VISTA for the Georges Creek Watershed Association in Maryland, Kelly Martin was hired through a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to become Regional Coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay watershed areas of Maryland’s highlands.  She continues to be active with the Watershed Association to this day.