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Carthage
Stream
Team
Shortly
after
Kellogg
Lake
Nature
Center
and
Preserve
was
incorporated,
Wayne
Christian,
one of
our
board
members
and a
high
school
science
teacher,
undertook
the
task of
organizing
a
stream
team
under
the
guidelines
of the
Missouri
Stream
Team.
Bringing
their
gloves,
waders
and
bags,
and
comprised
mainly
of high
school
students,
this
team
began a
clean-up,
testing
and
data
collection
program
that
has
gained
regional
and
state
attention.
Through
print
and
television
media,
they
have
emphasized
how
important
it is
to
monitor
the
river's
water
quality
and to
make
that
information
available
to the
public.
Taking
samples
at
several
points
along
the
river,
they
recognized
that
there
are
unacceptable
levels
of e
coli
bacteria
and
other
pollutants
in the
river
and
convinced
state
authorities
to
validate
those
concerns.
It is
the
first
time
since
the
1960's
that
the
river's
health
has
been
tested.
The
program
has
been
ongoing
over
the
past
three
years
on the
third
Saturday
of
every
month,
weather
permitting.
The
Stream
Team's
efforts
have
been
acknowledged
by the
Southwest
Center
for
Educational
Excellence
at
Missouri
Southern
State
University
and the
team
was
nominated
for a
Making-Learning-Come-Alive
award
by Dr.
Gary
Reed,
superintendent
of
Carthage
R-9
schools.
The
Spring
River
watershed
ecosystem
include
several
state
or
federally
listed
threatened
and
endangered
species:
the
Ozark
cavefish,
Neosho
mad
tom,
red fin
darter,
Arkansas
darter,
western
fanshell,
Neosho
mucket,
bluntface
shiner,
and
western
slim
minnow,
and all
its
tributaries
need to
be
preserved
in the
highest
state
of
water
quality
- not
only
for the
aquatic
life,
but to
assure
the
health
of the
human
community
as
well.
The
Carthage
Stream
Team is
one of
about
2,000
such
teams
of
volunteers
throughout
Missouri
who
report
their
findings
to the
state. |
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