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When: Message from the Chapter President on the Status of the Overmountain ChapterSince we're halfway through the year, I wanted to share with you my thoughts on where I see the Chapter's status since we started monthly meetings in January 2003. We have a very active board that meets on the first Monday of each month to establish plans for events, identify speakers and review the overall health of the Chapter. Some key statistics of our chapter membership are: 190 members (147
regular, 9 life time, 7 family, 2 business and 25 seniors). We have
a fairly young membership with 106 of the 190 members who have joined
in the 2000's. Several noteworthy Chapter accomplishments are: 1) stream cleanups have been conducted on Buffalo Creek and Watauga River with plans taking place for the South Holston River Cleanup and Todd Burleson Memorial Stream Cleanup, 2) obtained a more meaningful website and email address, 3) moved monthly meetings to Cams Catering to facilitate speaker's presentations, 4) conducted an Introduction to Fly Fishing class, 5) energized the River and Stream Watch program, 6) expanded use of email to communicate with Chapter members to minimize postal expenses, and 7) continue publishing the Chapter's newsletter "Newscaster". There are two areas that the Chapter needs your assistance. The first area is attendance at monthly meetings which has ranged from a high of 27 to a low of 9. Our speakers have been outstanding and covered a wide range of fishing and conservation subjects. Cams Catering has prepared delicious buffets and those in attendance are very complimentary of the quality and quantity of food available. We need your advice on what would increase member participation. The second area is in support of Chapter conservation projects. I know our Saturdays represent precious free time, but we need you to come out for our cleanups. Community involvement continues to improve, but our Chapter participation is woefully lacking. If you have recommendations on how to improve the Chapter, please email me at chasekr@xtn.net or call me at 423-975-0357. We all need to do our part to conserve, protect and restore North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. I hope to see each of you at our next meeting and upcoming events. Mark your calendar for the second Thursday of each month for 6:00 p.m. at Cam's Catering. Thanks for your continued interest and support! Ken Chase
Minutes of July Board Meeting
1. Treasurers
Report--General Fund $1252, Embrace-A-Stream Project Grant $7165, Stream
Cleanup $275, Tom Carson Memorial Fund $1100, Total All Accounts $9792. 2. A meeting
with TVA, TWRA, and TU officers to discuss the South Holston Position
Paper and how to proceed is scheduled for July 30. 3. Plans
for South Holston Cleanup scheduled for August 9 continue and will be
announced at July Chapter meeting. TU will concentrate on tailwater
clean up. 4. The
Todd Burleson Memorial Cleanup is scheduled for September 27. Food needs
will be mentioned at the August Chapter meeting and a signup list will
be circulated at the September Chapter meeting. 5. Work
continues on strengthening River/Stream Watch Teams. A brief report
of work on one stream will be made at the July Chapter meeting. 6. The
final content review of the TU Pocket Card was made and it should be
printed and ready for distribution at the August Chapter meeting. 7. Ken
Chase announced that work on the Embrace-A-Stream Project on Buffalo
Creek is ready to proceed as soon as Elizabethton selects the contractor
to do the work. 8. Discussion
of work to gain access to locked gate and upper area of Rocky Fork Creek
was tabled to the August Board meeting. 9. Ken
Chase plans to research information available on various state certification
of fishing guides, guide fees and licensing and review at the August
Board meeting. 10. Ken
Chase and Gary Barrigar will attend the TU Public Relations Training
in Townsend on September 13 and the Board approved reimbursing them
for motel expenses. 12. The
next meeting of the Board will be on August 4, at Hampton Creek
Stream Watch On Saturday,
June 28, Bob Bierbaum, Hampton Creek Stream
Watch Leader, and Bill Beazell performed water analyses on Hampton Creek
and the At the July chapter meeting, Bob reported that the Conservancy had established three trail crossings of the creek in the first ¾ mile above the Barrier. At the June 28 work party, a loop in the trail was made about ¾ mile above the Barrier. The plans for holding tank and watering troughs are still in development. The group is interested in having the brook trout section of the stream extended downstream to the edge of the property. This would require keeping livestock out of the old barn area, and building another Barrier. A new barn in another location is presently under construction. Our water analyses of two locations on Hampton Creek and
one location on the Jim Habera, TWRA, Reports
on Tailwaters In his
program for the June Chapter Meeting, “Tailwater Sampling Update”, Habera focused on the Watauga, TWRA’s recent creel surveys have shown that more people
fish, and with better results, on the Watauga than on the The Clinch continues to be the most productive tailwater, but the Cherokee is now expected to become the best. Habera, who had fished it and found 20” fish, says it fishes like a western river. July program
on Buffalo Creek Status The program for the July Chapter Meeting, “Buffalo
Creek – Protecting a Trout Stream” was presented by Do you know the mission of these State agencies? Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (Division of Water Pollution
Control). Responsible for managing the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act
by issuing permits to cities, industries, and others who discharge
waste water or potentially pollute storm water runoff. They also monitor the water quality of streams
and lakes across the state, protect wetlands, issues permits for stream
alterations and regulates surface mining. If you have an environmental question, call
1-800-891-TDEC (8332) or locally contact the TDEC office in http://www.state.tn.us/environment/water.php Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
TWRA is dedicated
to the preservation, conservation and enhancement of To view or download the latest Wild Trout report go to: http://www.homestead.com/twra4streams/32700.html To review the latest reports on Tailwater Fisheries go to: http://www.state.tn.us/twra/fish/StreamRiver/tailtrout/tailtrout.html OVERMOUNTAIN CALENDAR OF EVENTS Todd Burleson Memorial Cleanup
in Please renew your National TU membership through the Overmountain Chapter.
The chapter receives $5.00 for each renewal and $10.00 for each new
membership. We send it to National TU. Make your checks payable to TROUT
UNLIMITED and either give to RIVER AND STREAM WATCH PRIORITIES Watauga Tailwater—Margie Stratton and John McKee—Boat access in Elizabethton South Holston Tailwater—Bob Viers—Weir Dam flow, silt and spawning beds Patrick Henry Tailwater—John Krutak and Andy Hale—Pollution Hampton Creek—Bob Bierbaum—Protection of fishery N. and S. Indian Creek—Elaine Walker and Foster Levy Rocky Fork--Elaine Walker and Foster Levy --TWRA Lease Doe Creek—Jere Houser--Water removal Laurel Fork Creek— Beaverdam Creek—Ron Harrington - Clean up, Stocking and monitoring Buffalo Creek – |
