Greetings from your Stones River Watershed Association.  April 2006.

April is going to be a busy month, with plenty of opportunities for outdoor events. We hope you can join us for at least one of the activities listed.

Thursday, April 6. Pervious Concrete Basics, 6:-6:45 p.m., Smyrna Town Hall. This presentation to a joint meeting of the Smyrna Planning Commission and Stormwater Advisory Committee is part of the Local Officials Curriculum project of the Cumberland River Compact and is open to the public.

Saturday, April 8. "Stones Throw Away" river cleanup sponsored by Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation. This is our third year to join the effort, and SRWA has a designated stretch of Lytle Creek that begins where Old Fort Parkway crosses the creek just off W. Main St., working toward the Overall Creek trailhead parking. All participants should go to the information center at the trailhead and sign in before finding the SRWA crew to begin working. Wear shoes that can get wet and muddy. We'll have some gloves and tools but you might want to bring your own. We'll work from 8:30 am to 11:00. If you can't join us in the morning, the event continues into the afternoon, when the operation moves to the Bragg Headquarters site off of Old Nashville Highway from 1 to 4 pm. NOTE: Due to heavy rains on April 7, this was rescheduled to Sunday, April 23 from 1 to 4 pm at the Overall Creek trailhead.

Thursday, April 20. Earth Day at MTSU. SRWA will have a table at the celebration near the Keathley University Center, 11 am to 2 pm. Volunteers needed. Please contact Mayo at 890-2081 or mayo@stoneswatershed.org.

Thursday, April 20. Board and membership meeting. Everyone welcome. 6:30 p.m., Carriage Lane Reception House, 337 E. Burton St., Murfreesboro.

Saturday, April 22. EARTH DAY! SRWA will participate both in Murfreesboro and Smyrna. We will have a booth at the community celebration on the Murfreesboro City Plaza from 10 am to 3 pm, and will send volunteers to help with a stream cleanup in Smyrna. If you can possibly help with either part please contact Mayo at 890-2081 or mayo@stoneswatershed.org.

Our Stream Assessment Trainings were fantastic! Many thanks to everyone who turned out on March 18 or 25 to be trained in visual stream assessment. Thanks also to the Harpeth River Watershed Association and John McFadden for helping with the training! About 35 people attended the workshops and the entire length of Lytle Creek has been "adopted" by teams who will perform the assessments in coming weeks. We hope to offer the training again and to begin work in other areas of our watershed.

One of our own is featured. Terri Hogan, park ranger, ecologist and active SRWA member, was prominently featured in the most recent edition of the Nashville Scene. The full page story describes the uphill battle faced by the Stones River National Battlefield and other public land agencies in trying to maintain the native environment. If you can't find a copy of the paper, view it online at: http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Special_Issues/House_and_Hammock/2006/0 3/30/Weeding_the_Forest/index.shtml

Got any good pictures of the river? Winter is gone so it's time to change the photo on the front page of our website to reflect the warming season. If you have a good shot of the Stones River or other local natural features that you would like to see featured on our webpage (with credit of course) email it to Mayo at: mayo@stoneswatershed.org. The photo needs to have a horizontal orientation and should reflect our mission as stewards of our local water resources.