Issue 15•January 2006 Keeping you informed about the land and water we care about.
You can reach us by phone: 540-674-0166; or mail: Friends of Claytor Lake, PO Box 815, Pulaski, VA 24301
This issue’s content:
1. Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Plan Meeting
2. Mussels and the Drawdown
3. The FOCL Map of Claytor Lake
4. Public Service Announcement: Financial Assistance for Small Scale Farmers
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1. Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Plan Meeting
The Friends of Claytor Lake is delighted to announce a public meeting for those
interested in sustaining the life of Claytor Lake. The meeting is to be held:
WHEN: Saturday, January 21, 2006,
WHERE: New River Community College, Richardson Auditorium
TIME: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
The purpose of the meeting will be to provide a progress report in regard to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Feasibility Study as it relates to the Aquatic
Ecosystem Restoration Plan for Claytor Lake. This meeting is an effort to keep
the public informed and included in the decision making process.
FOCL is proud to be a partner in this endeavor along with:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Appalachian Power Company
Pulaski County
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Department of Conservation and Recreation (Claytor Lake State Park)
Isaak Walton League
Please be in community with us as we consider important issues regarding the
future of Claytor Lake!
Ron Powers at last summer’s Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Plan Meeting.
2. Mussels and the Drawdown
No word as yet concerning the mussel study done during 2005’s drawdown. We’ll
share the results of the study as soon as we get them.
We received several responses from you regarding these questions posed in the last
enews about the drawdown:
•Is the drawdown really necessary?
•Must it be done every year?
•Is the drawdown worth shortening the fishing and boating season?
•Who benefits from the drawdown?
•Do lake stakeholders truly use the drawdown for clean-up and repairs?
•Or is it something that continues to be done out of tradition with little regard to actual practicality?
General consensus from these responses was both confirmation that the drawdown
is used as intended for debris clean-up and shoreline repairs and an expression of
concern for the habitat of Claytor Lake.
Debris exposed along the shoreline during the 2005 drawdown. This debris was
removed from the lake during the drawdown.
3. The FOCL Map of Claytor Lake
At the November Board Meeting, the FOCL Board met with George Martin, the
publisher of the FOCL map of Claytor Lake. Due to the amount of work required
to make significant changes to the map and the need for more maps by this spring,
only errors will be corrected for a March 2006 reprinting.
Jeff Arnold (standing) discusses FOCL map corrections with George Martin (sitting).
In the fall of 2006, Mr. Martin will contact FOCL to discuss producing the map
digitally which will allow for more significant modifications.
4. Public Service Announcement:
Financial Assistance for Small Scale Farmers
The US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
will provide up to $250,000 to help small-scale farmers in Virginia implement good
conservation practices on their land.
Eligible small-scale farms are defined as farms having 181 acres or less of cropland
or pastureland. To be eligible applicants must have less than $50,000 total
household income and have at least 10 percent of the open land in an alternative
crop or livestock. Cost share rates range from 50 to 90 percent.
Contracts will be limited to $10,000. Applicants must be registered in the Local
Agricultural Service Center Information system or grant permission to be
registered. Applications must address natural resource concerns to reduce soil
erosion, protect water quality or improve grazing land or forestry management.
Eligible applicants must be willing to plant or produce an alternative crop.
Alternative crops are not the traditional crops such as cotton, soybeans, rice,
grain sorghum, field corn, wheat or similar crops grown on large acreage and
produced for off-farm sales.
For additional information use this link:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/altlist.htm
Or contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service or a Cooperative Extension
Small Farm Technician. This program can help operators of small farms move closer
to reaching their conservation goals.
Planning assistance is available from the NRCS office to help interested individuals
develop a natural resource management plan. The developed plan will assist
potential participants with the application process. Applications will be accepted
at the Christiansburg NRCS office until January 13, 2006.
For more information contact Tom Greene, District Conservationist at the
Christiansburg NRCS office, (540) 328-3262 ext 101 or email at:
tom.greene@va.usda.gov
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We wish you a Happy New Year and look forward to a great year of
stewardship for Claytor Lake!
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Thanks for your support of FOCL and Claytor Lake. http://www.focl.org
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