Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team

[Beckley, WV] – This summer the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) placed 30 AmeriCorps*VISTA Summer Associates in 8 Appalachian states to improve local watershed organizations and the waterways they serve.
Working with AmeriCorps VISTA, the hard-working Clean Streams Practicum Coordinator, an OSM/VISTA of the Beckley office, and the director of ACCWT, managed to nearly triple ACCWT’s allocation of Summer Associates – from 12 to 31. With a group effort, the team was able to find the necessary people and sites to place every single one. Together they brought over 10,000 hours of paid assistance to the watershed groups of the Appalachian coal country.
The Clean Streams Practicum:
The ACCWT held part one of the Clean Streams Practicum Training Conferences in spring of this year to educate Appalachian watershed organizations in how to be more effective in fiscal sustainability and water quality monitoring. The Clean Streams Practicum consists of three parts: a three-day training retreat held this spring; a summer Practicum period involving the implementation of lessons learned through a structured Practicum project; a final three day training retreat in the fall.

At the close of the spring portion of the practicum, funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Southern Partners and Patagonia, ACCWT members brought the participant organizations together to devise strategies to implement lessons learned during the conference. The ACCWT then placed Summer Associates to help with part two of the practicum, implementation of the strategies outlined at the training. These positions were filled mostly by college students and teachers on break for the summer.

Very soon, participants will return to Twin Falls State Park in WV for a follow-up conference. They will be able to discuss their summer accomplishments and provide feedback for conference organizers. This portion of the Clean Streams Practicum is also funded by the aforementioned grants. An additional grant from Ben &Jerry’s has recently been secured and will help to offset training costs as well.

For more information, visit:
www.accwt.org