Volunteer of
the Year - Diane Minick
Diane Minick, from Canton, GA. Diane became the chair of
Upper Etowah River Alliance (UERA) in 2004, and has since invested commendable
amounts of time and energy into bringing renewed energy and focus to this
important watershed organization. She has been partly responsible for bringing
over $500,000 in grant money to the Etowah watershed, and is just as passionate
about helping with the educational aspects of UERA’s mission, leading
programs for children and adults on raingardens, stormwater pollution and
water quality. Diane was a teacher for a number of years, and now operates
a business which installs raingardens, stormwater management systems, and
other Low Impact Design techniques. Diane has inspired countless people to
get involved in river conservation through her work with Adopt-a-Stream,
UERA, and the Georgia Women Flyfishers Association.
Diane Minick at a clean up.
Conservationist
of the Year - Chandra Brown
Chandra Brown of Metter, GA, is the Executive Director and Riverkeeper
of Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper. Chandra is an exemplary organizer and
champion for her watershed, as well as all of coastal Georgia. Chandra
has served as a leader to OCRK as they have evolved and become an increasingly
stronger and more sustainable organization. She has been instrumental in
building a coalition of groups that serves to protect coastal water resources.
Described by her colleagues as properly aggressive and thoroughly professional,
Chandra has made many trips to Atlanta to speak on behalf of the resource
and communities. Chandra is a team player and an active member of the Georgia
Water Coalition. With limited resources, Chandra works on many issues including
groundwater protection, mercury and the “Buy Dry Land” campaign.
Chandra Brown, Executive Director and Riverkeeper, Ogeechee Canoochee Riverkeeper
Watershed Group of the Year (Staffed) - Altamaha
Riverkeeper
Altamaha Riverkeeper (ARK) was organized in 1999 by a couple of crabbers
who were watching their livelihood fail, and in less than a decade, has accomplished
more for the protection of the Altahmaha watershed than anyone—even
the founding members—thought possible. Through the tireless efforts
of founder and Riverkeeper James Holland and Executive Director Deborah Sheppard,
ARK’s presence on the Altamaha, Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers has had
such a large impact in the watershed that business is conducted differently
as a result. Some politicians, loggers, business people and landowners even
seek the advice of ARK before beginning activities that could breach water
quality laws. ARK has become widely known and respected in a community to
which environmental organizations were completely foreign in 1999. Now, in
addition to doing outreach, education and monitoring, ARK has become a major
resource for citizens in twenty counties to report water quality violations—especially
regarding erosion and inadequate stream buffers—and to help citizens
identify problems with local industry, wastewater treatment facilities, sources
of agricultural runoff, and major development sites. ARK also works with
environmental attorneys and the Southern Environmental Law Center to prosecute
criminal polluting, and in every case it has brought before a federal judge
has been won.
L-R: James Holland, Altamaha Riverkeeper
Deborah Sheppard, Executive Director
Debbi Davis, Administrative Tech Specialist
Constance Riggins: Development Director
Watershed Group of the Year (All Volunteer)- Broad
River Watershed Association
Broad River Watershed Association (BRWA) has been very active in the past
year. Based out of Danielsville, Georgia, and founded in 1991, BRWA has brought
the river to its community over the years, and has lately begun to increase
citizen involvement through creating a watershed monitoring program. Two
representatives in the organization have achieved Adopt-A-Stream Trainer
Status, and are using it to lead visual, chemical and biological monitoring
workshops with community members. BRWA plans to gain baseline water quality
data for the watershed to determine sites that need further investigation,
and is involving youth in the project by sampling a creek in the Broad River
watershed with a local middle school class each month. Through this effort,
the students are learning about what combination of biological and chemical
ingredients make a river healthy, and what it takes to be good watershed
stewards.
Photo of BRWA's first watershed survey participants
