"Wishing you and yours a joyous celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa..

whatever you celebrate that makes you love one another and our earthly home." Leslee McCarty 2015

The Perfect Last Minute Gift

Thank you to everyone who donated on Giving Tuesday, and throughout the year and through the years! We couldn't do the work without you!

If you are still searching for the perfect gift for someone on your list, or a way to honor a loved one who loves the Greenbrier River, West Virginia, or the planet, a donation to the Greenbrier River Watershed Association could be just the right thing.

$10, or $20, or $30 or any amount you chose.

Every little bit helps us fulfill our mission to promote the maintenance, preservation, protection and restoration of the ecological integrity of the Greenbrier River and its watershed, and you can feel great about giving a gift .

If you'd like to donate, you can do so HERE, or mail a check with your information to:

G.R.W.A. at PO Box 1419, Lewisburg, WV, 24901

Find a Customizable PDF HERE to print and put in their stockings!

Letter from our President

Dear Members and Friends,

We write in hopes that you are all healthy and happy.

Our words cannot express our sorrow in losing our founding member, Leslee McCarty. Leslee spent her energy supporting clean water and a healthy environment to her last days. She will be

missed and we know she will be watching over us.

Our watershed association cautiously eased back into some public activities and educational events this past year. Though it was decided to not hold our annual watershed celebration, we have focused our energy on planning an even bigger celebration event in the Spring of 2023

combined with education, and a rain barrel workshop!

Please stay tuned as we will be at work planning this great event by visiting www.greenbrier.org or follow our Facebook page.

We want to express our appreciation to the members who continue to support our organization. Whether you volunteer or send in a donation, everything you do is appreciated. We continue working to keep the river and its tributaries clean and healthy for you.

Thank you for your continued support!

John J. Walkup, III

President

2022 was a busy year for the Greenbrier River

Watershed Board members and volunteers

* April - We held our annual Make-It-Shine event and picked up about 500 lbs of trash at the Fort Spring boat launch. Later in the month, Board member Autumn Crowe and coordinator Louanne Fatora distributed watershed material at the Earth Day celebration and toured the newly remodeled water treatment plant at the Town of Marlinton.

* May - We were present at the regional watershed meeting at Little Beaver State Park and also hosted "Walk for Appalachia's Future" and showed the movie, "Hard Road of Hope"

* June - found us at the Red Nose Run in Ronceverte with a table of watershed information. Later that month, two interpretive signs were installed at the Ronceverte and Fort Spring boat launches.

* July - Board members discussed our mussel project at the White Sulphur Springs fish hatchery and also attended a watershed event at the Sweet Springs Resort.

* September - We attended the Freshwater Folk Festival and discussed watershed issues and had activities for kids to engage with.

* October - For the first time ever, we hosted a table at TOOT in Lewisburg selling cookies and warm apple cider for fund raising. We had watershed creatures scratch art and educational activities for kids about recycling. Lots of people stopped by to pick up our brochures and discuss watershed issues.

All through the year we were also busy holding our monthly meetings and planning future activities. We have been partnering with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, WV DEP Save Our Streams, Mountain Resource Conservation & Development, USF&WS Fish Hatchery as well as other conservation groups on many different projects!

We hope you stay tuned as we are looking forward to another busy year in 2023.

Some of the projects in the planning stages:

* Annual Spring Make-It-Shine

* A spring time watershed celebration in conjunction with a Rain

Barrel Workshop and education event.

* "Trash Your Kayak" river clean up float event

* Watershed Assessment of water quality

* Mussel restoration project

* Local event attendance

We thank you for your continued support!

Senate vote on Manchin's

"Dirty Deal" imminent

December 15, 2022|

"Mountain Valley Pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream Corporation caused "worst US climate disaster in 2022." Why would Congress - or anyone - let this incompetent company unleash the climate busting MVP on us?

In 13 days, Mountain Valley Pipeline developer "effectively erased the emissions gains from about half the EVs sold in the US last year."

"The incident is one of the biggest blows to the credibility of the US gas industry since the Aliso Canyon leak that began in late 2015 in California and lasted more than 100 days." Bloomberg.com

Editor's Note **As we go to press with this newsletter, the US Senate had not voted to include Amendment 6513, Manchin's "Dirty Deal" on HR 7776, a bill to provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, and for other purposes. You can track Senate floor developments HERE



SEASONAL POSITIONS OPEN AT FISH HATCHERY

The White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery has 3 seasonal positions open here at the hatchery. The bio tech position will be working primarily with our Native Species programs. The 2 animal care taker positions will assist in our Rainbow Trout program.

Apply for BioTech position HERE

Apply for Animal Caretaker position HERE

FERC Monthly Virtual Open Meeting

January 19, 2023 @ 10:00 AM

Virtual Open Meeting

Commission meeting held in Commission Meeting Room (Room 2C) at FERC Headquarters, 888 First St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426

A  free live webcast is available for this meeting from 10:00 am - 11:00 am. All webcasts are archived for 3 months. Full info HERE      

Volunteer

Make your time count by volunteering with your favorite non-profit to do any number of things from helping with river cleanups, to monitoring rivers and creeks, to making phone calls or licking envelopes. You make a difference.

Follow these pages 

WV Rivers ~ WV Rivers is the statewide voice for water-based recreation and clean, drinkable, swim-able, and fishable rivers and streams-from the headwaters to wherever water flows in West Virginia. 

Appalachian Voices ~ The Appalachian Voice has covered environmental, outdoor and cultural news in the Appalachian mountains since 1996. We provide thorough and well-researched journalistic news coverage to fit a niche not often covered by standard news media.

New River Conservancy ~ Protecting the water, woodlands and wildlife of the New River Watershed. River Clean Ups

Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance ~ Protecting the heritage, resources and economy of the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region.

WV Environmental Council ~ Facilitate communication and cooperation among citizens in promoting environmental protection in West Virginia, to assist in organizing grass roots groups, to facilitate interaction among established environmental organizations, and to correspond with all appropriate local, state, and federal agencies involved in the management of West Virginia's environment. 

Wild Virginia ~ Along with our partners, alliances, and citizens like you, we press on in the fight against fracked gas pipelines in our region. The Mountain Valley Pipeline poses a great risk to our forests and surrounding communities. We are also working to improve habitat connectivity for wildlife throughout Virginia and to ensure that all of our waterways are fully protected in accordance with the law.

Stop the Money Pipeline ~ If we can stop the flow of money, we can stop the flow of oil. In early 2020, thirty-two organizations came together to form the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. We stand on the shoulders of years of movement work pressuring financial institutions to act on climate.