Friends of the Cheat: Martin Creek

Contact Information

OSM/VISTA: Drake Asberry
Supervisor: Keith Pitzer
Sponsoring Organization: Friends of the Cheat
Address: 119 S. Price St. Suite 206, Kingwood, WV 26537
Phone: 304.329.3621
E-Mail: dasberry@cheat.org (Drake); kpitzer@cheat.org (Keith)
Website: http://www.cheat.org/
U.S. Congressional Districts: 1st
County: Preston

Background:

Friends of the Cheat, Inc. (FOC) is a nonprofit watershed association in north central West Virginia. Our mission is to restore, preserve, and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat River Watershed. The Cheat River traverses the central portion of the state, flowing northward from the Monongahela National Forest to Cheat Lake in Monongalia County. The lower 25 miles of the watershed are primarily in Preston County. This section is impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD), which results from many of the abandoned coal mines in the area.

Friends of the Cheat, now in its eleventh year of existence, deals with several environmental, economic and social issues in the watershed and strives to foster a cooperative effort by state and federal agencies, private industry, academics, grassroots organizations, and local landowners to address the severe AMD issues in the Cheat Watershed. We specifically work with AMD remediation projects and environmental education. Recently, we have also begun to tackle recreation, tourism, and economic concerns.

Friends of the Cheat has been working with AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA since 2002. Our first project was known as the Cheat River Project. It was completed in 2004 and focused on expanding stream monitoring and education throughout the Cheat River Watershed. One current project, known as the Muddy Creek Project began in 2004 and will be completed in 2007. This project focuses on Muddy Creek because it is a major acid contributing tributary to the Cheat River. The project specifically works to expand stream restoration, education, recreation and tourism throughout the Muddy Creek Watershed.

Friends of the Cheat has just begun a new Project, The Martin Creek Project which will be the principal focus of the new OSM/VISTA. Most recently Friends of the Cheat has received a three year USEPA Targeted Watershed Initiative (TWI) grant from the USEPA to focus reclamation efforts in the Martin Creek watershed, a watershed in Preston County that contributes a significant acid load to the Cheat River. This grant is designed to monitor, design and construct passive treatment in the Martin Creek drainage to compliment active treatment recently installed by WVDEP on bond forfeited sites. Additional, monitoring and assessment of improvement will compare the cost & benefit of different treatment approaches.

The AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA member will specifically work in the Martin Creek drainage where our USEPA Targeted Watershed Initiative grant activity will be carried out. This area has a concentration of abandoned mine lands and bond forfeiture sites, creating highly acidic, metal laden water and a stream devoid of almost all aquatic life.

The OSM/VISTA will monitor Martin Creek for acid mine drainage and manage the resulting data to guide the placement of AMD treatment projects. The OSM/VISTA will also help quantify results as the three year Targeted Watershed Initiative grant progresses. The position will promote environmental education to local citizens with a focus on the Martin Creek area. Specifically, a conservation and education plan will be created for the Cheat River Festival Property. This will include conservation projects, interpretive panels, a recreational trail and an outdoor classroom. It will also include education activities at Bruceton School, Camp Roy Weller Girl Scout Camp and Preston County 4-H Camp, all of which are in close proximity to the Martin Creek Drainage. These educational activities will teach the value of healthy streams and the significance of current threats to water quality. In addition, the VISTA member will organize the Cheat Fest 5K Road Race, which begins at the mouth of Martin Creek and ends at the Cheat River. Additional duties will include organizing the Adopt-A-Highway cleanup and grant writing. The unique combination of science, education and recreation, will allow the OSM/VISTA to help address the severe AMD problem in the Martin Creek Watershed, while also engaging/enhancing the community, and increasing the capacity of our organization.

FOC's VISTA volunteer works primarily on community outreach and education, stream monitoring, recreation/tourism promotion and grant-writing/capacity building. The specific way in which the VISTA has begun achieving these goals, are listed below.

• Stream Monitoring: The New OSM/VISTA Doug Ferris has been trained in water sampling and has participated in monitoring at the Clark, Tichnell, Sovern #62, Pace, Muddy Creek and Jessop sites. In addition the OSM/VISTA is preparing a new QAQC for stream monitoring procedures.
• Grant Writing: The OSM/VISTA has prepared a grant application for the NiSource Environmental Challenge Fund to fund two years of limestone sand treatment of Sovern Run, an AMD polluted stream that ultimately contributes to pollution of the Cheat river.
• Community Outreach: The OSM/VISTA has participated in an organizational meeting preparing for our annual Cheat Fest and in a meeting of the Rails to Trails committee. In addition the OSM/VISTA has been interviewed twice for articles about Friends of the Cheat and the OSM/VISTA that appeared in the Preston County News and the Dominion Post.

• Girl Scouts of America
• Boy Scouts of America
• 4-H
• Mon and Preston Home-School Association
• Aurora School
• Bruceton School
• Preston High School
• West Virginia University
• Marshall University
• The West Virginia Conservation Association
• WVDEP
• Friends of Decker's Creek
• Cheat Lake Environmental and Recreation Organization
• Mountain Area Rescue Group
• Canaan Valley Institute
• Natural Resource Analysis Center
• Trout Unlimited
• Adventure's Edge
• Buckwheat Express
• Feathers Plaques and Awards
• Food Land Grocery Store
• iPlayOutside.com, Runner's World
• American Whitewater
• Cheat River Outfitters
• Camp Dawson