June 2009 FOCL e-news


Friends of Claytor Lake • June 2009 • FOCL enews • Issue 47
In This Issue: •No Boat Parade This Year •Water Quality Report •Fish Habitat •Board Meeting Minutes Quick Links: •FOCL Website •Join FOCL •FOCL Merchandise •Upcoming Events Contact Information: •Phone: 540-674-0166 •Fax: 540-980-3540 •Email: darla113@verizon.net We meet at 6pm on the second Thursday of each month (with the exception of July & December) in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Town Hall. All are welcome!		No Boat Parade This Year With the state of the economy and the timing of the fourth, we've decided to give our Annual Boat Parade a rest this year. You can see photos from past Parades and Parade winners in our Archives section of our website. But be sure to attend Pulaski County's July 4th Parade through the town of Pulaski! The Friends of Claytor Lake Boat, the *Miss Pulaski County,* which does all the heavy lifting in our Cleanup Operation, will be in the parade along with members of the Clean-Up Crew and members of the FOCL Board. Water Quality Report Ferrum College has completed its annual water quality survey of Claytor Lake and presented the results of the Survey at the April Board Meeting. The results can be found on our website at this link. A chart from Ferrum College's 2008 Claytor Lake Water Quality Report showing the Trophic State Index. You can read up on the Trophic State Index by clicking it.
			Fish Habitat On June second, a crew went to work creating fish habitat. There are several organizations that are partners in the project including FOCL, APCO, DGIF, Claytor Lake State Park and Rockhouse Marina. This new innovation in the encouragement of fish habitation is in response to local fishermen pointing out that the removal of debris from the lake may not always be a good thing in that the Clean-Up Operation often takes away potential habitat for fish. But a lake with natural debris can be a dangerous place for water-sport enthusiasts...so what do you do? The solution, developed by John Copeland of DGIF and a member of the FOCL Board, was to create specifically designed areas for fish habitat. Fourteen areas of the lake have been carefully selected for this project. All 14 areas are located on APCO or Claytor Lake State Park lands and were chosen based on lack of shoreline fish habitat. To create the habitat areas, specially selected trees were felled and cabled to the shoreline using braided steel cable that will be inspected annually and replaced as needed. Depending on the size of the tree, a "hinge" is left on the stump, which will help to prevent the trees from getting away. The "hinge" is created by only partially cutting through the tree, so part of the tree remains attached to the stump. Of the 14 sites, two were selected to create the habitats as a trial. Over the next year, John will be monitoring these 2 sites by doing fish counts. Following are some pictures of the process of creating the habitat sites. The crew including Wayne Alexander of APCO and John Copeland of DGIF head out into the lake. The first site--an undeveloped cove along AEP-owned land located in Peak Creek. Chaining the tree to keep it near the shoreline and from drifting out into the lake.Felling the tree and an up-close shot of the future fish habitat. The crew at work on the second site.Thanks to Boardmember John Toothaker for the great pictures of the project.
	Board Meeting Minutes FRIENDS OF CLAYTOR LAKE • Board Meeting Minutes • April 9, 2009 Members Present: Ranny Akers, Jeff Arnold, John Copeland, Bill Cunningham, Dean Jackson, John Johnson, Larry Moore, Chris Owens, Ronnie Powers, Mike Spraker, Dave Stevenson, Cheri Strenz, Darla Jennings, Laura Walters, Shep Zedaker, Jackson Beamer, Chris Meade. Guest: Bill Thompson Ronnie Powers welcomed everyone to the meeting and all members introduced themselves. The March minutes were approved as sent. Dr. Carolyn Thomas and {her husband} Bob, from Ferrum College, presented the water quality results from last summer’s testing. Ferrum is a level three water quality lab. The results were good overall. These results will be posted on the website. Water quality monitoring will begin in June this year with the first samples due on June 6^th. Priority Area Reports (Committees) 2009 Contributor Appreciation Day. Things are progressing for this event. The next meeting will be at the Dublin Town Center on April 24^th at 6:30 pm. Dan Carson from AEP will be at the Event. We are still working on the caterer. Chris Owens has completed the grant request. Communications, Education and Public Relations. No report. Financial Resource Income / Expense Report: Darla noted that donations are down, probably due to the economy. We currently have $56,000+ in the operating fund, but clean up starts May 15^thand much of that will be used for clean up. This report was approved unanimously. Environmental Resources. A letter was sent to lake residents informing them of the FERC relicensing process. Bill Thompson questioned about the lake drawdown in the future which was mentioned in the letter. The letter gave contact information for both AEP and FERC to express concerns. The proposal to stop drawdown is due to endangered mussel populations. John Copeland explained this. There is a letter in process which will be given to the county with regard to slope recommendations. The county has approved our clean up funding request. Ronnie and others have identified areas that will and will not be cleaned. The areas that won’t be cleaned will be left for animal and fish habitat. We are in the process of hiring three workers for the clean up process. Darla reminded everyone that the New River Symposium will be held May 21-23 at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. The meeting was adjourned.
Thanks for your support of FOCL and Claytor Lake!