Progress 21

PROGRESS REPORT NO. 21
January 22, 2001

CCWF volunteers completed the following tasks since the time of our last progress report:

	One of the goals of our Master Plan for Coal Creek was to form an engineering Venture Crew through the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to teach high school students (young men and young women) about engineering as a potential career. On Saturday, October 21, 2000, we had our organizational meeting with area high school students. Since then, we've had monthly meetings, hosted by area engineering organizations. Details of the Venture Crew and our meetings since forming are described at www.geoe.com/PEventurewelcome.htm . Our next meeting, scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2001, will be at the UT Engineering School. The Engineering Venture Crew members will be participating in community service projects we have planned for Coal Creek this year. Also, BSA has established a Cub Scout Pack at Briceville Elementary School that meets once a month with 48 new scouts from the school.
	Coal Creek Paint, Scrape, and Clean Day was held on Saturday, October 28, 2000 to "spruce up" stops along the Coal Creek Motor Discovery Trail. Highlights from the day are shown at www.coalcreekaml.com/SCRAPEDAYRESULTS.htm .
	On Friday, November 3, CCWF volunteer Carol Moore made a presentation at the annual Tennessee Section meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers on our community service work in Coal Creek.
	On Thursday, November 16, 2000, Carol Moore made a presentation to the Anderson County Tourism Council describing our efforts to bring tourist dollars to Coal Creek by developing the Motor Discovery Trail.
	On Tuesday, November 28, 2000, CCWF volunteers Rev. Roy Daugherty, Wally Pressley, and Barry Thacker toured Coal Creek with FEMA Project Impact representatives (Hollywood Whaley, Mark Vieira, Janice Mitchell, and Joe Rachel). During the tour, we met with landowners and identified areas of Coal Creek where erosion from the creek banks is resulting in sediment being deposited in the stream. At a community meeting in Briceville that night, we delineated three areas where bank stabilization projects will be initiated. If we reduce bank erosion, it will reduce deposition in the creek and thereby reduce the potential for flooding.
	Rev. Roy Daugherty continues to publish the "Coal Creek Watershed News" and to distribute it to residents. His latest newsletter, which describes some of the things we accomplished last year, can be found at www.coalcreekaml.com/RevRoyNews101.htm .
	Last year, Barry Thacker represented Coal Creek at the Eastern Coal Region Restoration Roundtable hosted by OSM and EPA. Based on this involvement in promoting watershed groups in the region, he was asked to represent the region as a steering committee member in the planning of the National Watershed Forum being convened this summer by EPA and other federal agencies. The National Watershed Forum is a key component of EPA's Clean Water Action Plan to make "our waters fishable and swimmable for all Americans". More information about the Eastern Coal Region Restoration Roundtable can be found at www.coalcreekaml.com/NWFP.htm . More information on the National Watershed Forum can be found at www.merid.org/watershed/ .
	On Tuesday, January 16, 2001, Barry Thacker and Carol Moore met with Danny Ellis and Marykatherine Gonzalez from OSM regarding an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer to work in Coal Creek. We had hoped that a VISTA volunteer could start work in Coal Creek by now, but the process has been delayed. The new schedule is to have a VISTA volunteer working in Coal Creek by summer.
	On Thursday, January 18, 2001, survey crews developed cross-sections along Coal Creek for the first three bank stabilization projects we have planned for this year. TVA has volunteered to help in the development of plans and permit applications for the projects. Our goal is to get the required permits from TVA, Corps of Engineers, and TDEC so we can apply for financial assistance from FEMA and TVA to pay for bank stabilization materials. The actual work will be performed by volunteers, similar to our efforts last summer on Deadwood Removal Day.