The Missouri Stream Team Promise By Rebecca O’Hearn, MDC Volunteer Programs Manager Most have heard the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child”. The phrase describes the difficulty of parenting and the need for community support extending beyond the family to raise children. The phrase is often shortened to “it takes a village”, which expands the need for community action to all sorts of difficult endeavors. This sentiment is so ubiquitous to the human experience, that we can easily call to mind many synonymous phrases throughout the world and many re-phrasings through the passage of time - “Many hands make light work”, “there is strength in numbers”, “united we stand”, and one of my favorites, “teamwork makes the dream work”. Well, my fellow Stream Teamers, this sentiment most certainly applies to our Missouri streams and the watersheds that drain into them. Without a doubt, this sentiment is the reason why Missouri Stream Team was created in the 1980s. The program’s sponsors and many concerned Missourians and conservation professionals had witnessed destruction of stream habitat, degradation of water quality, and alteration of natural stream flow. With limited conservation and natural resource professionals, we knew that conditions would only get worse without the help of “the people”. Our mission is to educate as many Missourians as possible about our amazing streams, their problems, and how to protect and restore them. We know this is an endeavor that requires “a village” and “all hands on deck”. In that sense, it’s crucial that Stream Teamers invite friends, family, co-workers, and others in their communities to join our mission. We also know that the greatest achievements will come if we invite Missourians from all walks of life to participate. From picking up litter and collecting water quality data to teaching school children and feeding volunteers - there is a task for everyone regardless of what you look like, your age, your education, what language you speak, your political views, or your physical capabilities. Come one and come all! Just remember to live up to the Missouri Stream Team Promise: As a Missouri Stream Team member, I promise to: Remember that I live in a watershed and anything I do in that watershed can affect a stream positively or negatively. Learn all I can about Missouri streams. Engage in activities that promote and preserve the health of Missouri streams. Conduct myself in a professional manner so that my actions do not reflect negatively on my Stream Team, other Stream Teams, or the Missouri Stream Team program. Consider others’ points of view regarding water resource issues; recognize that our state’s waters serve many purposes, some of which may appear to conflict; and advocate for the health and values of Missouri streams based on good science and accurate data. Respect the property rights of private landowners and always ask permission before entering private land. Report my Stream Team activities so my efforts can be included with all other Stream Team activities to show we are making a difference locally and globally.
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Stream Heroes for the Unseen Winners By Jeff Cantrell, Volunteer Engagement Specialist There are probably as many reasons to be involved in Missouri Stream Team as there are people who identify themselves as a “Stream Teamer” (could be thousands). Caring about the environment and often having an ownership are the underlining themes for the volunteer’s dedication. The volunteer efforts in categories of litter pick up, water quality monitoring, stream habitat and stream bank erosion are truly “frontline” efforts to conservation work for a large number of species. The types of events with storm drain stenciling and educational programs bring both immediate and far-reaching change with people’s awareness and actions. We maintain satisfaction with regular water quality testing of our adopted stream sites. We’ve earned self-pride when we turn in a monitoring report which displays a change in past observed data. That report will be significant and our biologists with Department of Natural Resources will want to investigate possible causes and effects. Those changes may have been hidden longer if not for vigilant members of Missouri Stream Team. Certainly, a sense of accomplishment fulfills volunteers when they end a float with a mesh bag of trash, a tire, and some cans to recycle. The evidence of the litter pick-up cultivates the volunteer’s smile, but there are other unseen winners of these results. Some of the waters surrounding these stream team events work their way down large and extremely small passages in Missouri’s karst topography. These dark waters may provide residence for animals living underground like the endangered Ozark cavefish and the rare grotto salamander. Conservationists applaud Stream Teamers for this frontline action to help these cave species. Nationwide many species of freshwater fishes, mussels, and crawdads are showing population declines. Biologists collaborate conservation efforts and plans for recovery of these aquatic species like the Niangua darter, Neosho mucket, and Freckled crayfish. However, often the foundation of those recovery plans has a footing based on volunteers’ efforts in outreach regarding land use from erosion control of silt in the stream to preventing items like tires and other car parts eroding toxins in the water. It might not be written in the conservation plan itself, but volunteer efforts are in the management framework for positive results. Unseen benefits also move up the food chain and throughout food webs of the state’s wildlife. Keeping the food chains healthy for everything from smallmouth bass, river otters, to osprey and bald eagles should add to that sense of accomplishment and pride in enjoying our rivers and streams. The Missouri Stream Team shirt is a symbol of caring, being part of something larger than us and truly is an amazing benefit to our environment. Thank you, heroes, for your passion, sharing, and being on the frontline of conservation! Please be proud of your efforts; we are proud of you!