1) Select a site to adopt.
2) Decide what activities your Club will participate in. Create a long-term schedule of when activities will be done and document your work.
Some examples of activities:
a) Clean-ups: Remove waste from in the water and around the site.
b) Bio-monitoring: Macroinvertebrates can tell a lot about the water quality of a site. Club members can take macroinvertebrate samples and identify species. members should have taxonomic identification training.
c) Water Quality Monitoring: Collecting water samples to measure the pH, phosphates, nitrates, dissolved oxygen and temperature, can help determine the health of your stream.
d) Weeds Pulls: The plants on the bank of a stream play an important role in preventing erosion and bank stability. If the stream edge (called the riparian area) is over-run with weeds, the stream and also the fish can suffer. Weed pulls can help maintain the success of native plants and ultimately help the fish. Information about weeds can be found with your local extension office. Also check out our Anglers Against Weeds Program.
e) Restoration: Sometimes a site needs serious help - fencing out livestock, bank stabilization and planting trees and shrubs are some examples of activities that can be done.
3) Once the site and activities have been decided, the Club must contact the state wildlife management agency to ensure that this program and the sign will be compatible with the agency.
4) Work with your Council Conservation VP or the Conservation Coordinator to develop a plant to post the Adopt a Stream Sign. Your Club my qualify for money to defray costs of the sign.
5) Annual reports to the Conservation Coordinator are expected. This information will be used in our Magazine and on the web to recognize the work of a Club.
Need help getting started? Contact the Conservation Coordinator 406-222-9369 ext 102 or
email.