Starting From Scratch: The Case of Friends of the Russell Fork and ACCWT

Friends of the Russell Fork (FORF) will serve as a case study of the work of Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT). ACCWT consists of a group of OSM/VISTAs, a collaboration with the Office of Surface Mining and Americorps*VISTA, with a focus on environmental and economic improvement of coal-mining communities. FORF is a young watershed group in Haysi, Virginia, working to improve water quality through volunteerism and partnerships in Dickenson County. Like most of Appalachia, Dickenson County, while rich in abundance of water, suffers from contamination due to poorly reclaimed and abandoned mines, human and animal waste, and illegal dump sites. Improvement is slow due primarily to the poor economy and rural, mountainous nature of the area.

FORF has partnered with ACCWT and currently hosts two OSM/VISTAs. Last year, FORF was awarded a $700 grant from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to purchase coliform water monitoring supplies and to report 20 sites monthly to the DEQ.  FORF partnered with OSM’s Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, state forestry, and mining agencies for a reforestation of two acres of abandoned mine land near Haysi. A weekday morning town cleanup along the riverbank was held last year, recruiting local businesses and high school groups to help. With help from John Flannagan Water Authority, VA Department of Forestry, Lonesome Pine Soil and Water Conservation District, and local watershed groups, an environmental day was held at Sandlick Elementary to present to the 4^th and 5^th grades about forestry, pollution, and water purification.
As a new group, FORF has had a number of successes but still lacks much structure and the funds for all of the appropriate testing. FORF is constantly working to close straight pipes and repair broken septic systems. More activities and improvements are in the works just as more problems arise every week.