Clean Water

Stream Team #: 1617 Howardville Jumpstart

Date formed: Sept. 6, 2000

Location: Little River

For more info about Stream Teams: explore the links listed below.

Stream Team No. 1617 began in New Madrid County, but its influence is rapidly spreading throughout Missouri’s Bootheel region. Members have devoted more than 3,000 worker hours to conducting stream clean-ups, training, educational events, tree planting and water-quality monitoring. Their newest undertaking is planting 4,500 trees in the River Bends Conservation Opportunity Area. The project is part of efforts to bring native trees back to a region once covered by bottomland hardwood forest. Many of the tree planters will be youngsters. “We don’t have many trees around here,” said team leader Vannessa Frazier. “We always have hot dogs and chips and things for the kids, and we always give them a T-shirt. We talk to them about taking pride in what they are doing and how much it means to the environment. If you can get it in them while they are small, it will never leave them.”

Keep Bottles Out of Canoes!

And take a container for your trash on float trips.

Planning a float trip? Don’t take any glass containers. State law prohibits taking glass-bottled beverages in canoes, kayaks, float tubes or other easily tipped vessels on Missouri streams. It also requires floaters to keep coolers and similar containers sealed to prevent contents from spilling. You also must bring a mesh bag or other trash container to haul refuse to a proper disposal receptacle when you leave the stream. Failure to do so is a class C misdemeanor. Most canoe outfitters provide free Stash Your Trash bags for their customers.

Mississippi Sister Streams

Find extreme stream-fishing fun by foot or by boat.

Two small Mississippi River tributaries in Jefferson County offer diverse fishing experiences. Joachim Creek joins the Mississippi in Herculaneum. Three miles south is the mouth of Plattin Creek. The lower stretches of both streams have largemouth bass and crappie, plus big-river fish such as carp and catfish. The upper reaches have wade-fishing for smallmouth bass and rock bass. Boaters can reach the lower portions of these streams from the Mississippi River. Walther Park, on Joachim Creek in DeSoto, is the only public access on the upper portion of either stream. You need permission from stream-side landowners to fish other stretches. Good wade-fishing lures include tiny crayfish imitations, curly-tailed jigs, spinners and trout fishing-sized worms. Joachim Creek from the Highway V bridge to the Highway A bridge in Jefferson County is a smallmouth bass management area. For more information, see the 2008 A Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations, available at permit vendors.