Cleaning up with the St. Lou Crew - Chapter 1

Duck Island Clean-up with River Kids and Big Muddy Adventures
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, Spanish Lake, MO
August 20-21, 2009
text by Steve Schnarr, photos by Steve Schnarr

For four years, we’ve been going to help out at Operation Clean Stream, the oldest community river clean-up in the state (this is its 42^nd year). This year we make a little more out of this trip. Several of our St. Louis friends had been asking for us to come work with them, so we decided to pile on several clean-ups at once.

River Kids and Big Muddy Adventures

The coolest river organization I know is the River Kids. It was started at New City School by teacher Ben Griffiths and a group of students that were inspired by Chad Pregracke’s Living Lands and Waters. It has become a student-run/student-organized force for river education and action. These are fourth to sixth graders by the way! They started a non-profit and do restoration and clean-up work, helping out at other organization’s cleanups, adopting their own stretches.

As Ben said, “It’s gotten to the point where you hear third graders saying, ‘I can’t wait until I can be a river kid!’ Plus the older kids are coming in and mentoring the younger ones, showing them how to do this even better.” Ben shakes his head, amazed at where the kids have taken this small idea.

The River Kids have been working with Mike Clark, the force behind Big Muddy Adventures, the only Missouri River paddling outfitter I’m aware of in the St. Louis area. Mike has been taking the River Kids once a month out on the Confluence, showing them how to paddle the big river, then cleaning up Duck Island, a beautiful sandbar-ringed island just downstream of the Confluence on the Mississippi.

This Thursday, with school just about to start, only two River Kids showed up, but they were awesome. Mary is a River Kids veteran, while this was Parker’s first time. Together with Ben, they cleaned up the upstream beach, while Tom Ball and I cleaned downstream. Meanwhile Mike Clark readied a bed of coals for some fresh organic sweet corn and a weenie roast. Our friends Karla Wilson from EcoWorks Unlimited, Christine Favilla from Piasa Palisades Sierra Club, Tom Ball – river worker extraordinaire, all set up camp and gathered firewood.

Soon, music was playing, bellies were full, kids were laughing and the stars came out.

A beautiful night on the river followed by a beautiful sunrise.

Check out the River Kids Blog - http://www.ncsriverkids.org/

& the Big Muddy Adventures website - http://www.2muddy.com/ (BMA just got back from a raft trip down to New Orleans with a German film crew – they’ve got some great stories on their blog about this amazing adventure)

Cleaning up with the St. Lou Crew - Chapter 2

Confluence Clean-up with Whole Foods Market
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
August 21, 2009

text by Steve Schnarr, photos by Melanie Cheney, Steve Schnarr and Valarie Brunjas

The St. Louis area has two Whole Foods Markets – one in Brentwood and a new one in Town and Country. In July, they invited Missouri River Relief to set up booths at each store for a day to tell customers about the Missouri River and the work we do. In return, they donated 5% of their proceeds for the day to us – it came out to an amazing $7,550!!!

That day, the idea kept bubbling up that we should do a clean-up with the Whole Foods team members. Take a bunch of energetic nature and health conscious folks on the Big Muddy to pick up trash? That’s a no-brainer! So we decided since we were already going to St. Lou for the Operation Clean Stream, we’d do this the day before. Perfect.

We were joined by several area friends. Christine Favilla of the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club has been organizing a clean-up in Alton every year (This year it's part of the Earthtones Festival in Alton on Saturday, Sept 19). She brought her expertise to the house. Karla Wilson has been an organizer and crew member with us for years and helped with set up. Tom Ball, a lifelong river educator and cleaner, was on board from the minute he heard about it. Jeff Barrow, Anthony Pettit, Melanie Cheney and me all came from Columbia.

The Whole Foods crew showed up right on time. Marcia Whelan and Jill Duncan organized the affair, and we had 14 team members show up. Which is an awesome number for a spur of the moment clean-up during the work week! Plus, it was perfect, because we could have one group for each boat – which makes for a better group bonding experience.

We split into to groups: one headed straight to Confluence Point State Park (“The Awesomes”) while the other headed upstream to finish cleaning a rack-pile we’d started in March (“The Copperheads”). Pretty soon the bags started rolling in…

After we dropped off most of the Copperheads, we kept two of them and headed downstream a little ways to clean-up the fishermen accesses. It was a treat, because they were cleaner than ever before. I think people are catching on! Then we snagged a Coast Guard buoy from an eddy where it had washed up.

We returned to the main group just as they were finishing up. We loaded up and headed down to the Confluence, so they could see the joining of the nation’s two biggest rivers – an experience everyone in the area should have. Because the Missouri was so high, its current headed straight out into the Mississippi – quite a sight. Tom Ball gave a talk about the area, and some of the industrial pollution it has suffered in recent memory. Then we headed to Confluence Point to meet up with the others. On our way in, we got a lesson in silver carp – they were jumping around us like popcorn but none got in the boat!

Everyone took a picture at the Confluence, then we boarded boats and headed back to Columbia Bottom ramp.


Lunch was served: yummy Whole Foods sandwiches, fruit and snacks. Everyone got a Missouri Stream Team shirt, and then we were on our way. The best reward, in addition to the over ½ ton of trash we picked up in short order, was a remark by Marcia Whelan. She said she was almost driven to tears several times by the experience. “It was just amazing to be out here, to be out on the river. This is real life and we got to come out and help clean the river.” Real life, indeed!

Check out our flickr file of photos from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8478409@N03/sets/72157622139374624/

Special thanks to St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District for donating the dumpster and to Crown Excell for delivering it.

And, as always, thanks to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area for giving us permission to run our event out of their awesome ramp. This area is a gem – featuring seasonal wetlands, bottomland forest and wet prairies, it is a haven for migrating waterfowl, amphibians, small mammals and deer and pollinating insects. And it’s part of a much larger (and growing) complex of public lands managed for wildlife in the Confluence Greenway area.

Here’s a little piece of news about Columbia Bottom: a local developer is considering putting in a casino and resort complex just south of this amazing wetland and floodplain resource. For more information, check out the Belleville Daily News story:
http://www.bnd.com/news/state/story/877841.html

Cleaning up with the St. Lou Crew - Chapter 3

42nd Annual Operation Clean Stream on the Meramec River

Greentree Park, Kirkwood, MO, to George Winter Park, Fenton, MO
August 22, 2009

text by Steve Schnarr, photos by Rod Power and Melanie Cheney

For four years, Missouri River Relief has been sending a crew and a boat or two to help out at Operation Clean Stream on the Meremec River.

This event is the crown jewel of river clean-ups in the state. This is the 42nd year this has been happening, and the way it works is astounding. It covers at least 5 watersheds: the Meremec, the Big River, the Bourbouse, the Courteois and the Huzzah. Local organizations and stream teams organize the individual sites (there are over 10 sites!) and the Open Space Council provides the structure to tie it all together.

At most sites, there are crews working the rivers from land, picking up trash. And there are canoes that float the streams, hitting the banks as they go to fill their boats with scrap metal, tires and plastic. Locals bring jet boats and skiffs to haul the big stuff. Food crews serve breakfast and lunch, canoe outfitters donate their services, Stream Team t-shirts and bumper stickers are handed out to all.

In all, over 2,000 volunteers give up their morning and afternoon on the third Saturday in August every year to do this. In the history of the event, countless tons of garbage carelessly discarded along the river have been removed. Much of this was dumped by residents of riverside cabins and municipalities, or was deposited when those cabins were washed away by the many floods on the Meramec.

Accounts by old-timers say that the banks of the lower Meramec used to be one massive dump site. No more! You have to look hard to find the remnants of old dumps, and that’s what we did. We just wish we had a crane or cutting torches for some of the big cars embedded in the banks! Next time!

The Gaw Street Go-Getters from Rocheport showed up early to add to our Columbia Crew: John Brady and Rod Power. And Craig Holt, Danny Miller and Tom Ball from St. Louis rounded out the mix.

We had one boat go down from Valley Park to Greentree, working up and down filling with mostly scrap metal. The other went from Greentree to George Winter Park, that recreational lake filled with jet boats and jet skis. What a joy to see all the canoes filled with junk and happy smiling faces. We love this event and hope to always play our small role.

Special thanks to Ron Coleman and Amy Butz of Open Space Council for organizing our role.

And kudos to the Missouri American Water team for stepping up to organize the George Winter Park site.

Formed by a river - the MR340 phenomena

Missouri River 340
Kaw Point Park to the Lewis and Clark Boathouse
Kansas City to St. Charles
August 4-7, 2009

text by Steve Schnarr, photos by Vicki Richmond
(for more photos, see our flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8478409@N03/sets/72157622039363992/

The Mission of Missouri River Relief is not limited to cleaning up trash on her banks. To get our citizens to work for the health of the Missouri River, we first need to get people to know her. Get people out on the river. Through action on the river, we work to create ripples that will, in the short and long run, change the way people view the river. And therefore, change the way people treat her.

No event that I’ve been witness to accomplishes this goal like the Missouri River 340. This paddler race, from Kansas City to St. Charles gets a bunch of people who have never been on the river together with others that have already fallen under her spell. They start training on the river, learning about its communities, its weird, fickle ways, and the mysteries of navigating it. They get out on it at night, when moonlight transforms the river into a wilderness of water. They discuss intricacies of the Missouri River on the race forum.

Because of this, Missouri River Relief is honored to be a part of this massive river ramble. We provide safety boats on the river during the race, available to respond to calls for help or rescue. We get to meet the racers at checkpoints and on the river, becoming part of that roving family sweating its way downstream.

I remember one of the first times I paddled on the Missouri River, over a decade ago. We put in at Rocheport, grabbing a snack at the Trailside Café before hitting the river. The owners of the store, when hearing of our plans, begged us not to get on the river, warning of whirlpools that would suck our boat down and currents impossible to navigate through.

Luckily, my friend had been paddling on the river many times, so we thanked them for their concern and hit the river. As the sun set and the moon rose, lighting up the Manitou Bluffs, we rarely set our paddles in the water, letting the current gently twist our boat around.

And we saw no one else on the river that night.

It’s usually like that here in mid-Missouri. We often see fishermen, and their numbers are growing – working trot lines and jugs, line fishing and exploring newly opened side chutes. Jet Skis and speedboats pop up on the weekends. But you can often get out on the river and see nobody.

What really popped out at me this year was the number of paddlers out on the river. Anytime of the week, paddling at night, making miles. This is part of a general growth in Big Muddy paddling, thanks to the work of people like Brett Dufur, Mike Clark and Heather Bass – taking large groups of folks paddling on the river to show how it’s done. And all the other folks who gave it a try and then told their friends how cool it was.

Let’s face it, the word is spreading: the Missouri River is huge, its channel is strong and tricky, it’s remote in some places and it changes day to day. But in most situations, a good paddler can be as safe out there as on any small stream in the Ozarks. And the feeling of floating silently on top of the flow from 1/6 of the United States is powerful.

But there is no doubt to me that the explosion of Big Muddy paddling this year was because of the Race. Racers spent their free time getting out on the river and learning its ways, practicing their strokes and pace. They exchanged tips about certain tricky bends of the river and discussed nighttime barge lighting.

During the last night of the race, I was walking down the road in New Haven, picking up passing discussions amongst ground crews, those dedicated souls that gave up a week of their lives to make sure their friend or family was safe, fed and cheered as they approached each checkpoint. I heard some people that didn’t really know this river before this race. Talking about wing dikes and chutes, Berger Bend and Asian carp.

All the checkpoint volunteers become instant ambassadors for their town, and they see “their” boat ramp or riverside park from the point of view of these flocks of visitors by road and by river. They meet each and every racer that passes through on their shift, and chat with the ground crews.

Everyone meets everyone else. It’s a web of relationships formed by a river.

We’re honored to play a part in this drama, and we learn a ton every year. Thanks to Scott, Karin, Russ and Travis for inviting us to help. These are some of the most generous and humble folks you’d want to meet.

Rivermiles, the organizers of the race, have selected MRR as their charitable partner. Proceeds from sticker sales from the race go to support our efforts. Racers organize fundraisers to donate more money. Some racers even donate their awards to our clean-ups. It all creates a kind of synergy that is impossible to describe.

We are humbled by the generosity and good will of all the racers and the race staff.

Special thanks to:
Racers:
Jeff Totten and Larry Day – these guys raised $800 in a local fundraiser for MRR, and $800 for another charity.
Bryan Hopkins – and others put on a paddling clinic and raised $360!
Alpine Shop Team – They asked customers to donate to MRR during the race.
David and Teresa Lackey – placed a sticker order for $200!
Carol Heddinghaus and Abigail Tuttle (team "We Got This, Go Home!") - won second place in Womens' Tandem and donated their award to MRR - $250 in quarters from Tiny Bubbles Laundromat!
Natalie Courson – Donated her 2nd place award to us: 62.50!
Jason Locke, David Hill – both donated $100.00!
Don Wilkison - who donated $68.00!
JoJo Newbold - she helped us at a fundraiser at Whole Foods Market in Brentwood!


Special recognition to “Team Kruger – Race to Heal” - this three-boat fleet included a team with 12 and 14 year-old friends that raised over 10,000 for breast cancer research!
Check out their blog here.



And special thanks to Thad Lefebvre, who has donated hundreds of dollars worth of welding on River Relief boats, including one last minute job the week before the race!

Observations on the MR 340, 2008

Missouri River 340 - 2008

Kaw Point Park (KC) to Lewis and Clark Boathouse (St. Charles)
July 15 - 19, 2008
text by John Brady, photos by Dylan Lehrbaum

Blogmaster's note: Missouri River Relief Quartermaster John Brady gave this to me during the winter, and I just never got around to posting it. Sorry John! But here it is, in anticipation of this week's fourth annual Missouri River 340.

I have just had the privilege of participating in my first MR 340 paddling race across Missouri. Not as a contestant, mind you, as I have no experience at that type of thing. No, I was a crew member on one of Missouri River Relief”s safety boats that escorted the racers from Kaw Point to St. Charles. I learned a lot last week, both about the race and the racers and about human spirit.

Monday:
The highlight was Scott Mansker’s safety meeting. I was warned that he is pretty good with a word and his presentation to the full house of excited contestants and support crew conveyed all that could reasonably be expected to be absorbed about the river and the race as well as allaying the anxieties of the novices and the support crews. What a varied audience he had there! It was apparent from his talk that he had pared it down to the essentials, that he knew his subject very well and that he had great concern that all participants had a grasp of what they would need to know at a minimum.

Day One:
Kaw Point was a circus. From an early rise to get our chase boat ready to go, we onlookers were presented with a real spectacle. Every kind of paddle boat from sleek six-man racing kayaks to dented outfitter-surplus aluminum canoes were on hand. The racers and their crews were as varied as the boats. From tie-dyed straw hatted hipsters dragging beat-up boats to a likely launch spot to compression-suited warriors marching their sleek craft to the ramp in lockstep, the whole spectrum was assembled.

The flailing madness of the mass start was simply astonishing. Sprinters and slow-movers frothing the water of the Kaw to a fair-thee-well was a scene unique in the universe I think. The lead team canoes and kayaks flew along and were soon out of sight, leaving a river full of boats snaking down the channel in a mass of flashing paddles against the best view ever of Kansas City’s skyline.



At Miami, we were asked to hurry downriver to find and escort a commercial barge tow up through the paddlers during the night. I was concerned that this would run us short of fuel and went about in the crowd inquiring about securing some more fuel. The mayor of Miami was there cooking hot dogs and welcoming racers and crew. He said he would be glad to get me some fuel in Marshall, MO., 15 miles away. I got my empty tank out of the boat and gave it to him. He turned to put it in his truck without a word. The guy didn’t even ask about the money for the 12 gallons of gas. At $4.00 a gallon! I gave him the required money and the next morning, as arranged, he had the fuel, the change to the penny and a receipt back at the ramp. That doesn’t happen everywhere to be sure.

The night cruise down to Glasgow was one of the best runs I’ve had in years. Full moon high, glassy water, paddlers going by seen simply as tiny lights on the water; the effect was spiritual in a high degree.



Day Two:
After a 2:00 a.m. arrival at Glasgow, we were asked to lay over until the morning. We secured the boat and my crew members turned to the sod at Stump Island Park to attempt some rest. I wandered up to the top of the ramp where I encountered Scott’s dad, obviously deeply sleep-deprived, worrying about near-overdue paddlers, the rush to his next check point and the race logs. I was impressed how important it was to the race organizers that the record of contestant’s arrival and departures be kept accurately and get to the finish before the first competitor arrived there.

Scattered pods of paddler zombies wandered by, arriving, departing, slamming fuel, taping and medicating- all in all a supercharged Dante’s Inferno of racers and supporters empathizing with the sheer weight of what the racers were enduring.


I finally crashed in the boat under a rough tarp with a PFD for a pillow. Nothing could have felt better. Toward dawn I woke up as an intense solo kayaker slipped her craft into the water. Barely revived, she ghosted into the misty river. I talked a bit to her mom, there as her support team. She related that she had awakened her daughter at the designated time with the words “Honey, it’s time. Are you ready?” To which her daughter sleepily replied, “Mom, I was born ready!” and hopped up, indeed ready to rumble again. I was told later that this was Katie Pffeferkorn, the racer that won the women’s solo class.

Our chase boat was told to stand by there until further instructions. Too excited by what I was witnessing to rest further, I ambled uptown, got a plate of crepes (yeah, in Glasgow) and trailed back to the park.

Shortly, we got instructions to high-tail it down to Cooper’s Landing in search of a towboat thought to be heading up into the rough river below Glasgow. Soon we learned that the tow in question had already transited the area (we had passed her tied up late the night before) and we headed down to Cooper’s Landing and assist with the checkpoint there.

What a great afternoon voyage we had! Winding our way down through the infamous Jameson Island country, slowing near the paddlers and then letting the boat stretch out a bit, we landed at Cooper’s at around 4 p.m. We tied up and my crew melted into the scene. They had boats to pick up and move the next day and were to man a section downriver after that. I am still amazed at the delicate dance we did to make this escort thing work out with available crew and machinery.
At Cooper’s, we attempted to get some sort of light out on a submerged dike which was making it difficult for paddlers to land. There followed a Keystone Cop sort of affair that, while ending successfully, involved placing a light on the underwater dike while avoiding approaching racers. I was able to adroitly complete the tricky task by momentarily getting the boat hung up on the dike and then successfully colliding with a pontoon boat moored above it.

Oh Yes! This happened at my home port with a large audience, many of whom know me. At least they used to admit to doing so.

I spent the night snug in my van (remember Chris Farley on SNL?-“Let me get this straight. You’re living in a van, down by the river?”) Sometime in the night I was awakened by a nearby voice, plaintive and drunken, exclaiming over and over “ All I want to do is take off my clothes and jump in the river!” When I could stand it no more, I selfishly opened the window and yelled “Go ahead! Jump!” My sentiment was echoed by at least one neighbor and put an end to the drama.

Day Three
I spent the day on R and R, maintaining a communication station for the chase boats and shepherding a succession of paddlers that I knew into my van to rest or into a nearby cabin. During mid-afternoon, my replacement crew mates arrived, bringing coolers full of unbelievably great sustenance, along with fresh vigor, to the process. I had already cleaned and serviced the boat. We were asked to follow the last racers (arrived a few hours earlier) downriver.

We left several hours before sundown, running sweep after two very tired and very game young first time racers. Along with another escort, we headed to Jefferson City, landed and quickly departed down again. Again, the night run was awesome. The river was up over the dikes, the full moon made navigation a breeze and the pace set by the last paddlers was leisurely and peaceful.
In order to not outrun our charges, it was necessary for us to motor for a bit and then shut down the machinery and just float for a while. Gliding along, under a gorgeous moon in near complete stillness was a pleasure beyond price and beyond my ability to describe.

Having never run this stretch at night before, I was alert and paid attention to the task. It was all cake until around ten p.m. when a mist began to form on the water. Sometimes it was barely there and sometimes almost a shut out. We were able to take it in stride and relax, though. The only problem was the pace.


The team we were following, running on fumes of awareness, was zig-zagging back and forth across the river to get a real close up visual on EVERY day board so they wouldn’t get lost, crossing back and forth from one side of the river to the other and going far more distance than they needed to. You had to admire their grit if not their technique.

We made landing at Chamois, not a checkpoint but where the two paddlers had support people (Mom and brothers and sis) waiting. On the approach to the ramp, we were on the phone with Scott, who was there tending the last of his flock. I was having trouble in the mist picking the landing ramp out from all of the lights at the power plant just below and asked Scott to show a light if he could. He switched on a spotlight so powerful that I swear it burned through the back of my retinas. Man, what a beam!

The racers decided to rest a bit so we walked up to the adjacent park to sleep under the pavilion to ward off the dew. We needn’t have bothered. The mosquitoes were so thick that the dew couldn’t have found us using Scott’s mega-light. I swear, it was the softest gravel I ever laid a tired body down on.

Day Four
We got up before dawn and downed coffee, cake and sardines with mustard. (It really didn’t seem that strange at the time). Wow. Fresh, hot coffee, courtesy of our accompanying houseboat. Thanks, Jack. We ambled down past Washington, a former checkpoint that was abandoned due to high water making the approach to the ramp really hard for the unaware. Stopped and got-DONUTS!!

Our weary paddlers soon slipped back into their zig-zag pattern of navigation. We joked about it a little but had to admire their never-say-die spirit. At times their strokes were in perfect union but their paddles barely dipped in the water and their strokes were but a foot long. Running on the autonomous nerves I guess.

We went by Herman and into a hot and breezy afternoon. The country down, there, from Herman through St. Albans is my second most favorite scenery on the middle reach of the Missouri River. Through the Berger Bottoms (the locals use a “soft” G) where another of our boats had a rough encounter with a box dike the night before. “Pride goeth”, as they say.

Long, long reaches which were lengthened further by the slow wayward path we followed. In late afternoon we landed at the last checkpoint, I believe called Weldon Springs. There we met up with some of our forward contingent of chase boat crew that had been manning the post and combating the “skeeters” since last night.

Impressed with our lamentatious account of the meandering progress of the day (embellished to just the right degree) they graciously directed us to speed on ahead to the finish line on some probably unnecessary task, knowing that there was refreshment and enjoyment to be had there.
As there were no other paddlers between that point and very near the finish line, we went ripping down the river at max motion, theoretically gaining back every hour in twenty or so miles that we had lost in the previous 320.

After slowing briefly just above the finish to allow the second and third to last racers to cross the line, we landed at St. Charles just after the awards ceremony. As I walked up the bank to the bonfire, Scott’s dad once again appeared. “We have several cases of donated wine that we didn’t use in the awards dinner”, he said. “We’d like to give them to your group”. “Oh”, I nonchalantly replied. “You’ve heard of us, then”.

The wildest collection of race craft ever seen in St. Charles.

Possibly the best part for me among many memorable scenes, was watching the last racers, our flock for many miles, finish the race. Down they came toward the finish line, paddling with renewed energy dredged up from God knows where. There to cheer them on, among tooting horns and screaming approval, was every, and I mean every, living soul still on the premises.

Hail Warriors!

Local KC groups host EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

Summer of Service Kickoff
Kaw Point Park, Kansas City, KS
June 22, 2009

text by Vicki Richmond, photos by David Richter

This summer, President Obama is calling on Americans – young and old, from every background, all across this country – to participate in our nation’s recovery and renewal by serving in our communities. From June 22 to September 11, "United We Serve" will begin to engage citizens from coast to coast in addressing community needs with volunteer time.

The Missouri Department of Conservation contacted us and asked if we would be willing to lend a hand. The Friends of the Kaw would be bringing kayaks, Blue River Watershed Association would be doing water quality monitoring with students and the Missouri Department of Conservation would coordinate the day with EPA officials. It was our charge to bring the boats and get folks out to pick up trash.

We River Reliefers know service and met the request by bringing boats down to Kaw Point, at the place where Kansas City’s two biggest rivers meet, to host Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator Lisa Jackson as she kicked off the initiative just blocks from the EPA Region 7 Headquarters.

Our mission involves introducing people to the Missouri River – a river we all depend on but few have a personal relationship with. Show off the Missouri River to Lisa Jackson? What an honor!


We loaded the boats early and with the help of EPA staff and volunteers began picking up the trash that lines the Kansas River after recent high water. Administrator Jackson took the podium, reiterating the need for service and encouraging the lively crowd. Students met us at the boat ramp after studying the water closely, ready to haul the accumulated trash up the boat ramp and into the waiting truck.

Administrator Jackson donned gloves and began taking bag after bag of trash from the boats to the truck headed for the dumpster. She was genuine and approachable and seemed interested and impressed with our efforts and energy.

It was exciting to see these local watershed groups gather together to show the nation what we are working on here – to involve students and federal leaders together in a model project. Similar efforts are happening all across the nation, and we hope this national focus on service will help match interested volunteers with the work that needs to be done.

Special thanks to Michael Richmond, Bill Fessler, David Richter and Susie Burton McRoberts for pulling together at the last minute to pull this together!

Susie pilots the Hildy Harliner out onto the Missouri.

Folks from Blue River Watershed Association assist students with water quality monitoring right out on Kaw Point. Check out their posting on the event on the Missouri Stream Team Assistant blog: http://mostreamteam.blogspot.com/2009/07/lisa-jackson-in-kansas-city.html