July 2007 - Volume 68, Issue 7
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In this issue
NextGEN Departments
NextGEN Departments
Clean Water
Stream Team
Lisa Held & Randy Terhune
- Stream Team #: 1092
- Date formed: March 23, 1998
- Location: Petite Saline Creek, Cooper County
- For more info about Stream Teams: www.mostreamteam.org
In its nine years, Stream Team #1092 has conducted water-quality monitoring, made media contacts, written articles and letters about Stream Team issues, adopted a stream access, recruited members, picked up nearly 4 tons of trash and held or attended dozens of workshops and other educational projects. One of Lisa Held and Randy Terhune’s most notable achievements, however, is “paying it forward” by involving youngsters in their efforts.
One of Randy’s co-workers, a Girl Scout leader, mentioned that her Junior Scouts were working on a merit badge related to the environment. Before long, they were learning to count and identify aquatic insects as an indirect measure of water quality. They also found themselves out on the Missouri River with Stream Team 1092 taking part in a river clean-up.
“They really thought it was interesting,” said Lisa, “even the ones who kind of said ‘Eeeouuuu!’ about the creepycrawly things.”
Lewis & Clark Water Trail
Your voyage of discovery begins online
Last September, Gov. Matt Blunt announced plans for the Lewis & Clark Water trail on the Missouri River. You can access information about this new and exciting paddling destination online at www.missouririverwatertrail.org. The trail stretches more than 550 miles, from the Iowa border to the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis. The Web site has resources for planning day trips to month-long voyages of rediscovery in Lewis & Clark’s footsteps. Included are sections on river history, navigation, safety and paddling tips. Interactive maps show river accesses, conservation areas, state parks and other facilities.
Protect Missouri Waters
Boaters are critical to zebra mussel control efforts.
The discovery of invasive zebra mussels at Lake of the Ozarks last year has made boat care more important than ever. Zebra mussels cause economic damage and can upset the ecological balance that makes Missouri fishing great. To ensure you don’t spread zebra mussels, take these precautions.
- Remove weeds hanging from the boat or trailer and drain water from the motor, live well, bilge and transom wells before leaving a body of water.
- Inspect your boat and trailer, using a flashlight to check recessed areas as well as exterior surfaces.
- Scrape off suspected mussels, however small, and put them in a trash bin away from the water.
- At home, wash the hull, drive unit, live wells, live well pumping system, bilge, trailer, bait buckets, engine cooling system and other boat parts exposed to water.
- If your boat was in infested waters, go to a carwash and use hot, high-pressure spray to "de-mussel.”
Missouri Stream Teams monitor lakes and streams for zebra mussels. To help, call 800-781-1989
or visit www.mostreamteam.org.