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Be a Steward...
Middle River Cleanup Week
August 10-18 will be Middle River Clean Up "Week" this year. You can volunteer as an individual and be assigned to a team that fits your schedule, or you can assemble a team of your own choosing and we will work with you on river assignments, equipment and support. River cleanups are very satisfying and are a fun way to steward the river. Yep, you'll get wet and you'll get dirty!
What is involved? Teams mostly walk/float the river, pulling canoes as trash-hauling barges. We go in August when the water is lowest so we can retrieve more tires, lawn chairs, and all the mystery trash that gets washed into our river.
Sign up now! Email Coordinator Dave at fomr.mangun@gmail.com.
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Stream Sweepers Assessment Training
FOMR will be partnering with Stream Sweepers to perform a stream
assessment of the lower part of the Middle River in August. The assessment will
be used to geo-locate items that will be cleaned up by Stream Sweepers team in the future
in areas where we have not done our own cleanup work in the past. Stream Sweepers is a non-profit organization that has cleaned
up other rivers in Virginia and is looking to help us with Middle River.
Two person
teams will paddle the river with one canoeist documenting the locations of the
trash to be removed and the other canoeist paddling the boat. Trash removal is
not part of these assessment trips.
The training session for volunteers to assist with the assessment will be held July 30th, 8am-5pm at the Augusta County Government
Center South Board room. Read more about it HERE. |
| E. coli Monitoring Report
E.coli bacteria is one of the main pollutants we are working to reduce in Middle River. The main source of E.coli in the river is from cows who have access to the river.
In June, FOMR volunteers completed their fourth year of collecting
E. coli data in the Upper Middle River area. The data tells a story of
high levels of bacteria in Middle River, Back Creek, Eidson Creek, and
Bells Creek. It also tells us that E. coli laden water that enters a
portion of the river with a good riparian buffer typically will see a substantial reduction in E. coli
when it leaves the buffer further downstream. Buffers work!
This month, FOMR volunteers will turn their attention to a new E. coli project
on Christians Creek. However, two important buffers in the Upper
Middle River area will continue to be monitored.
Click HERE to see the four years of data collected at fourteen different sites in the Upper Middle River area.
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| Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine
There is a new Urban Paddling article about river access to local waters...both South and Middle Rivers. Read interviews with FOMR's Angel Verde and Kate Guenther as well as others HERE!
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| The News Virginian Newspaper
FOMR member Nancy Sorrells wrote-- and the News Virginian ran-- an article about Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week and features interviews with FOMR's Jeanne Hoffman, Bobby Whitescarver and Dave Mangun, as well as others. Read it HERE!
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| Hang Out with FOMR
at Two Summer Music Events
Are you attending the Red Wing Roots Music Festival? Be sure to head over to"nonprofit row" and visit the tent hosted by FOMR. We'll be sharing a table with our partner, Valley Conservation Council. Just look for the kayak! - July 12, 13, 14 (Fri-Sat-Sun)
- Natural Chimneys Regional Park, 94
Natural Chimneys Lane, Mt. Solon
And the following weekend we'll be at Blues & Brews. Sure, you can stop by to relax and chat with us, and if you'd like to lend us a hand, we could use some volunteers to help us sell raffle tickets and T-shirts. Contact Jeanine at
jbotkin1@verizon.net to help!
- Saturday, July 20, 2-9pm
- The Club at Ironwood, 62
Country Club Circle, Staunton
We'd love to chat with you about anything related to conservation in the Shenandoah Valley.
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| Breaking News:
Another FOMR member publishes....
FOMR member Paul Bugas, Fisheries Manager with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and others have published a new Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. The book can be pre-ordered now for September. "Foremost experts on Commonwealth fishes bring their decades of field
experience to readers, offering a complete reference to the fishes of
the entire state of Virginia." Read more and ordering options HERE.
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| Coming Up
July 94 Natural Chimneys
Lane, Mt. Solon 20 Blues & Brews, FOMR at
Ironwood, 62
Country Club Circle, Staunton, 2-9pm 22 E. coli monitoring 30 Stream Sweepers Assessment Training, South
Board Room at the Augusta
County Government
Center, Verona, 8am-5pm August 10-18
Middle River Cleanup Week 19 E.
coli monitoring 25 Conservation Partners Farm Day Festival, Project Grows, 608 Berry Farm
Rd., Verona,1-5pm
September 16 E. coli monitoring 8:30am-12pm
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FOMR is a Paddle America Club member
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| Read more about Friends of the Middle River at our website HERE.
And follow us on Facebook!
P.O. Box 131, Verona VA 24482 540-609-8267
FOMR is a 501(c)(3) organization.
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