Youth Needs

The High Country Workforce Development Board recently held a High Country Youth Summit in Blowing Rock.  Attendees came from a seven county area and represented a wide segment of the community, from schools, agencies, and non-profits to businesses.    The purpose was to discuss ways to cultivate the high country’s future workforce.  The forum set the stage with information from the perspective of one local school system, state data, young adults who are mobilizing, and beyond.   The forum emphasized the need for school drop-out prevention, building community capacity so that youth have opportunities in our area (job and youth development), and the importance of career development awareness.   While much information was shared and discussed, several things stood out.

Avery County Schools Superintendent, David Burleson presented some striking information.  He emphasized that two things help lead youth out of poverty and to educational and career success:  education and relationships.  School success is dependent on each youth having one caring adult in their life.  “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship”. 

There are so many important people who can provide that significant presence in a young person’s life.   Many programs, agencies and events provide a way for us to make a difference and there are many ways we can help our schools.

Other key thoughts that popped out included continuing to find ways we can:

Keep the needs of youth in mind when serving them

Connect young people to the world of work

Help youth become aware of their interests, skills and abilities

Provide relevant, “real world” learning opportunities

Champion shared visions, community involvement and collaboration

Let's all think about how we can make a positive difference in the life of young people and support these ideals. 

BigSweep River Clean Up set for September 21 on the Watauga River

Volunteer collects trash out of the tree next to the river during
the spring clean up!

Date: September 21, 2013

Time: 9am-1pm

Where: all over the watershed

Contact: Wendy Patoprsty at 828-264-3061 to sign up 

Supplies:  gloves and trash bags provided

Volunteers made a huge difference this past spring with a river clean up and live stake installation.  This past April, 47 volunteers cleaned a small section of the Watauga River producing a truck load of trash.  The volunteers also installed 300 livestakes of native silky dogwood, elderberry, silky willow, and ninebark along the river.  Its time again to get out and clean the river!

The Watauga River is our playground all year long, from swimming and tubing to fishing, lounging, birding, wading, photography, boating, and much more. It’s disappointing to see so much trash every year, but it is awesome to see the volunteers getting out there and cleaning up.  Sign up to do your part! Call Wendy at 828-264-3061 or email at Wendy_Patoprsty@ncsu.edu

Backyard Stream Repair Workshop in Cove Creek

Spring 2013 workshop - Before and After

Have you every wondered how to care for your creek, but weren’t quite sure where to begin?   Well, the North Carolina Cooperative Extension has you covered with a hands-on workshop to reduce streambank erosion.  From 9:30am -4 pm on October 16th specialists from N.C. State University will provide a streambank repair workshop in Cove Creek.

The program starts at 9:30am in the classroom at Cove Creek Community Center where lunch will be provided.   The workshop will then move to a local section of Cove Creek for some hands-on lessons.   The workshop is a great time to ask questions and learn about the causes of streambank erosion and how to create a healthy streamside environment.   Participants will have hands-on experience in enhancing an eroding streambank using grading, matting, plants, and other various natural materials.  

To attend the workshop, please call the Cooperative Extension at 828-264-3061 to register.  Space is limited so sign up early!  The cost is $25 and checks can be made out to NCCES and sent or dropped off at the NC Cooperative Extension Service, 971 West King St. Boone, NC 28607.

For more information contact Wendy Patoprsty at Wendy_Patoprsty@ncscu.edu or call 828-264-3061.

Did you know that sediment (soil, dirt) is the number one water quality problem that faces North Carolina?   Sediment clogs waterways, destroys habitat, creates problems for drinking water filtration plants, and can carry other pollutants into our waterways.   As the streambank erodes, all that soil is washing downstream, and you are losing your yard!  We all know how expensive real estate is, so why should you let it wash away?    We can minimize streambank erosion by installing native plants and live stakes.  Live stakes are a long hardwood cutting from a native shrub, adapted to moist conditions, planted outdoors without rooting hormones.   In this area, we use silky dogwood, elderberry, ninebark, silky willow, and buttonbush. 

These woody plants have extensive root systems that stabilize the soil on stream banks during rainfall and high water flow.  The shade produced by the shrubs help maintain the cooler temperatures that our mountain fish and aquatic life need to survive, while the leaves help provide habitat and food for insects and fish. (Leaves fall into the stream, aquatic insects eat and live in the leaves, trout eat the insects) “Greening our Creeks” with vegetation is really important because it acts as a filter to prevent sediment, fertilizers, pesticides, bacteria, pathogens, and heavy metals from entering our rivers.

Wetland Plant Walk at Boone’s Clawson-Burnley Park August 21

Boone Stormwater Wetland, July 2013

Date: Wednesday, August 21
Time: 6:00pm
Location:  Clawson-Burnley Park, Hunting Hills Lane, Boone
Cost:  Free

Join Wendy Patoprsty, Watauga County Natural Resources Extension Agent, on an educational walk and talk on the Greenway Trail at Clawson-Burnley Park in Boone, focusing on the wetlands area adjacent to the New River.  Find out how this wetlands was formed, what its function is and the types of birds, insects and other wildlife it attracts.  This walk will be held rain or shine!

It’s been 4 years since the 1.4-acre stormwater wetland was constructed along the greenway trail in Boone.  Within these 4 years volunteers and town employees have planted hundreds of native plants that are now thriving and providing water treatment and habitat for wildlife.  The wetland tour will be led by Wendy Patoprsty of the Watauga County Cooperative Extension and will last one to two hours.  All ages are welcome to join us, as Wendy will provide some hands-on activities to view the flora and fauna of the wetland.  

“A wide variety of wetland, floodplain and upland plants are blooming,” Patoprsty said, “and all those plants play a specific role in the wetlands and for the wildlife in the wetland.”  A constructed stormwater wetland is different from a natural wetland in that it captures runoff from the streets, parking lots and rooftops and cleans it before entering the river.

This “ecosystem service” to clean the water is the first of three primary goals of a constructed stormwater wetland.  “Not only does it help filter the water, it also provides a unique ecosystem for lots of different species of plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and mammals” Patoprsty said.   

Water-fowl and migratory songbirds find a resting place here in Boone in the constructed stormwater wetland on the Greenway Trail.  The Greenway is part of the North Carolina Birding Trail and one can find diverse species along the river, fields and woods that make up the path.  Wetlands are important bird habitats because birds use them for breeding, nesting, rearing young, a source of drinking water, resting, and social interactions. Wetland vegetation also provides shelter from predators and from the weather.

Lastly, this wetland park within the town is an area for the community to enjoy.  The trail around the wetland provides a great view to observe what’s going on in the wetland.  During the tour, participants will walk around the wetland, identify plants and birds and learn about how the wetland contributes to the health of the New River.   The trail is ADA accessible so that all may enjoy the sounds and surroundings of nature.

What to bring:  this is a rain or shine event, either an umbrella or rain gear if the weather looks wet, binoculars if you have them, any nature guides that you think would be appropriate, questions and intention to explore!

For more information contact Wendy Patoprsty at (828) 264-3061 or email at Wendy_Patoprsty@ncsu.edu

Join Mandy the Mayfly on a High Country Watershed Adventure

Drawing by Carol Hancock,
Master Gardener Volunteer

Have you ever turned over a rock in a High Country stream and seen little insects wiggling around?  Many of those insects are mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, all of these aquatic nymphs need cool clean water to survive.  Most children love to explore our creeks and find critters that they can identify and observe breathing, eating, squirming, wriggling, and swimming around in the water. 

But how can children learn more about our streams and aquatic ecology without clicking a website?  Children are in luck!  They can get a free copy of  “Mandy the Mayflies High Country Watershed Adventure” booklet to help them learn what makes a stream healthy for wildlife and humans.  

Art by Carol Hancock,
Master Gardener Volunteer

This original High Country based workbook targets students from 3^rd -6^th grade.  The children’s activity booklet was produced by the Watauga River Partners in collaboration with the Watauga County Cooperative Extension and funding from the High Country Water Media Society, Flanigan and Pipes Land and Commercial Properties, Mast General Store, Brushy Fork Environmental, Footsloggers, Watauga Riverkeeper, Western NC Alliance, SOS Printing, and MountainKeepers  The booklets include 16 pages of activities led by “Mandy the Mayfly” as she teaches the biological basics of our river systems.   Local artist and Extension Master Gardener, Carol Hancock, illustrated the front and back cover of the book which adds a memorable “splash” to the character of the book.

Each child in the 5^th grade who attends the Watauga County Environmental Field Days in September will receive a free copy of the activity book. What’s even more special is that the original “Mandy the Mayfly”, Joan Hearn - Watauga River Partner Volunteer- will be handing them out during the field day.  Each child will participate in viewing live aquatic benthic macro-invertebrates (creek critters) with magnifying lenses and id guides through the Watauga County Cooperative Extension station.   Environmental Field Days is a hands-on, experiential education program where students rotate though activity based stations. 

If you are interested in getting a free copy of the “Mandy the Mayfly Activity Booklet” stop by the Watauga County Cooperative Extension Service at 971 West King St.  in Boone.  Or for more information contact Wendy Patoprsty at 828-264-3061.