Missouri Stream Teams: Grassroots Conservation That Works
Created | Updated May 19, 2003
Missouri is a state that has some very unique qualities.
From countless springs 1flow water clear and cold, whose flow has very little to do with rain fall or other surface water ebbs and flows. The land was formed by water; it is not so much hilly (although it looks that way from the ground) but is a dissected plateau2. During Ice Age glaciation the northern part of the state was made flat with rich grassland prairie. Water melting from the leading edge of these glaciers cut deeply into the ground. The southern half of the state was left rugged and folded into a terrain that yielded grudgingly to exploration except by the many waterways left as echoes of the Ice Age.The limestone karst 3terrain is like a huge sponge and very susceptible to damage by pollution leaching down from the surface4.
There exist very sharply demarcated local ecosystems, which are highly elevation dependent. One can find boggy swamps, alpine meadows, and desert glades all in a stones throw of each other just by hiking up or down hill a short distance. Many species5 here in isolated areas exist either nowhere else, or in a very different climate. One that comes to mind is the Niangua Darter, a small pretty colored fish that lives nowhere but the Niangua river and its tributary streams.
It is because of this fragile water formed ecology that the Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources has formed the Stream Team project. Citizens recieve training and are given equipment to monitor an adopted watershed and the data gathered is maintained by the DNR. 6. The data is reviewed and published on the web for mass consumption. The author is founder of Stream Team 1138, and have been monitoring water quality, biodiversity and watershed habitat for 3 years on the Little Gravois River and Coffee Creek in Morgan County Missouri. Stream Teams often gather to do large projects as a group, such as cleaning trash from the Missouri River. This major water transportation route was closed to fishing for many years due to pollution, but now is open as a food source for humans. The efforts of the Stream Teams recovered the Missouri River otter from near extinction and is working hard to save several fish species in grave danger such as the Osage Paddlefish.
If you have a chance to visit Missouri, bring along your waders (and of course, your towel) and get a canoe from a local livery to float on one of the National Scenic Waterways. It will not be your only trip to the Show Me State as the rugged beauty will call you back again and again. If you cannot make it here, browse the resources referenced in this article to build a Grassroots Conservancy in your own home locale.
