
Reaching Out: Notes from NANFA's Regional Outreach Program -
First Half 2012
By Michael Wolfe
NANFA Regional Outreach Program Coordinator
As
of today we have 26 Regional
Representatives covering 25 states. Most of our Reps (as is
our
membership) are located in the eastern part of the
U.S., but the one
new rep we added in the second quarter is in New Mexico (welcome to Joe
Franke),
so we are growing in the right direction. See some
of the highlights
submitted by reps from their regions:
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Florida
(Charlie Nunziata):
At the
recent American Killifish Association convention, two members of the
regional
group presented a workshop on collecting in Florida and Alabama with an
emphasis on the work and goals of NANFA. In addition, a small NANFA
membership
display was set up in the general show area. We also have
upcoming trips
planned to the western Florida panhandle and Mobile Bay, AL, and a
second trip to
the Homestead area to survey exotics in southeast Florida. Data from
both trips
will augment the next update of the Florida Collecting Guide, a
publication
produced by the regional group with all profits donated to the NANFA
general
fund.
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Georgia
(Michael
Wolfe):
We had a
busy April, with an event almost every weekend.
Six NANFAs helped with the Reinhardt University
Bioblitz capturing and
sharing fishes with the students as part of a larger event put on by
Dr. Zach
Felix. Next, we had
a stream side
display tank and helped with the Rivers Alive trash pickup on the
Apalachee
River. And we ended
the month with
another trash pickup on John’s Creek which has provided us with some
future
opportunities for outreach. Later
in the
summer, a group of us went snorkeling the Etowah River, near the site
of the
first American gold rush. We
found
mineral gold and the Bronze Darter along with the endemic and protected
Etowah
Darter, both at their type localities.
More has happened already in July and planned for
August, but that can
wait for our next report.
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Indiana
(Mike Berg):
Provided information on NANFA at the
annual HOW (Hoosier Outdoor Writers) Conference, May 4-6,
2012. My
brother, Tom Berg (The executive director of HOW) made sure our
pamphlets were
available to all that needed them.
In June,
I set up an outing for Southern Indiana with the help of Dr. Jim Wetzel
&
PJ Arant. We
sampled the Blue River
& Patoka Wildlife Area.
It was a good trip, and even though it
was extremely hot, we encountered a lot of diversity, including what
might be
an un-described Crayfish according to Dr. Jim Wetzel. The water level
was
extremely low, but with the help of beaver dams we found the second
place to
try. I was amazed by the number of Grass Pickerel in this area; have
never seen
dozens at the same time before.
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Kentucky
(Josh Blaylock):
I started http://www.kycreeks.com in
the fall of last year as a website focused on common KY fish with basic
information that was easy to locate and to promote
NANFA. Recently I was
contacted by an intern at the Louisville Nature Center that wanted to
start a
native fish display. I helped him with the setup and directed
him to
NANFA and with help from the people on the NANFA forum the tank was
setup and
ready for fish. I was fortunate enough to take Andy Frink
& Gus
Thomas out for a day collecting to get fish for the display tank at the
nature
center. We had an amazing trip to the upper Green River and
the Middle
Cumberland. I've
been excited about the
increased number of new people that are from Kentucky. Thanks
to the
amazing posters from Charlie Nunziata I will be setting up a NANFA
display at
the annual 'Clean the Green' in August with posters, display aquarium,
and
flyers.
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Minnesota
(Jenny Kruckenberg):
We took three darter hunts in May and
conditions were challenging, not because of the cold, but because we
had large
amounts of rainfall off and on all
month. When all was said
and done, we surpassed an all-time record! (For a full account of
Jenny’s
Darter Hunt see American Currents
Vol. 37, No. 2) In
June, Konrad Schmidt
and I helped with the fish portion of the ninth annual Bioblitz at the
Cedar
Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in northern Anoka
County. After
hauling in trap and minnow nets, we seined for
minnows. We totaled
up 17 species of fishes and several aquatic
invertebrates. Check out
these links for informationon the Bioblitz, http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu
and http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/Researchand
Teaching/Bioblitz/index.htm
We set
up an aquarium and several kritter keepers in the visitor center
accompanied by
NANFA and Minnesota Aquarium Society literature.
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Missouri
(Bob Hrabik):
I put out a call to all Missouri
NANFA members to have a meeting, get to know one another, and begin to
lay the
foundation for a strong Missouri NANFA Chapter. Although we
have not had
a meeting yet, there was a positive development regarding native fishes
in
Missouri and NANFA participation. The George Owens Nature
Park in
Independence, MO, is interested in setting up a 150-gallon aquarium
that will
emphasize native fishes. The Nature Park is in the middle of
a renovation
and is looking to do something a little different. They were
directed to
me through another NANFA member, Jason
Dattilo. We had a nice chat about his vision and how to get
started in
keeping native fishes for public display. We are planning to
meet later
this summer and do some field collecting. In the meantime, he
will be
learning about native Missouri fishes and keeping natives in aquaria. I
pointed
him to the NANFA web page and told him about the NANFA members who are
quite
good at keeping and raising native fishes.
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Ohio
(Matt DeLaVega):
We had a very busy spring and recently
got out electrofishing with Brian Zimmerman to confirm that Lake
Chubsuckers
were still present in Jackson Lake. They were, which is good news due
to their
status. I have also hit the Little Miami, and confirmed that the local
mountain
madtom populations are still doing well. Went jugging on the Little
Miami one
night with NANFAn Tony Branham and caught Flathead Catfish, a Snapping
Turtle,
and a Spiny Softshell Turtle. Also recently stocked fourteen 1-6 pound
Bowfin
in my pond with hopes of a good spawn next year. Went down to Kentucky,
and met
Josh Blaylock, and sampled. The highlights were Cumberland Plateau
Darter
(formerly Kentucky Arrow darter), Gilt, Channel, Tippecanoe, and
variegate
darters, and one Ohio Lamprey. Also I am busy working with Josh, and
others
planning the 2013 Kentucky convention.
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Oklahoma
(Brandon Brown):
Maybe
the biggest contribution we've made to
outreach is a two page article on "Weird Fish Of Oklahoma", which is
currently
featured in the Oklahoma 2012 fishing regulations (thanks again to Nate
Tessler
for photos). Also, we've contributed material to the Oklahoma
Department
of Wildlife's website on stream fish. I am working to get
NANFA’s
contribution to the website recognized with our name or logo.
Also, we conducted two
video presentations on
native fish at Oklahoma State University (with three NANFA members in
attendance) and provided tissue samples from a disjunct Southern
Redbelly Dace
population for a grad student's PhD project on dace genetics.
We've also continued
developing our Oklahoma
native fish outreach poster (thanks again Todd Crail for the idea and
graphics)
and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife has agreed to print an
additional 1,000
copies (NANFA's contribution is clearly recognized on the poster).
In
addition we've begun work on a native fish display for the upcoming
Oklahoma
Wildlife EXPO.
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South
Carolina (Dustin Smith):
During a recent outing, we found the
Seminole Killifish in Lake Marion,
South Carolina. After
further research
we discovered that this species is now established in the lake probably
due to
bait bucket release. This
fish has also
been taken multiple times by Department of Natural Resources surveys
and local
fishermen. We also
led the Riverbanks
Zoo staff to the mountains to collect Fieryblack and Yellowfin Shiners,
Rosyside
Dace, and Rosyface Chub for their new trout stream exhibit. We also
witnessed
both Redlip and Yellowfin Shiners in breeding masses just a couple
weeks apart
but sadly no photos since I didn’t have an underwater camera. We hope
to get
good photos this coming spring to share.
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Tennessee
(Casper Cox):
This spring, I presented my “The
Fishes of South Chickamauga Creek” slide and video show to the South
Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance's members. Jeff Basinger of
Freshwaters
Illustrated and NANFA's Lance Merry were also in attendance.
Later in the summer, I
organized and offered
an open invitation for all NANFA members to the annual Cement Pond Pool
Party
and Tennessee Free Fishing 3 Day Weekend. In attendance were Charles
Avennego,
Rolf Wilhelm, Ranger Bob & Betsy Culler, Lisa Gyure and her
friend Eli.
Information and photos of the event are posted on the NANFA Forum under
South
activities. Recently
I presented “The
Fishes of South Chickamauga Creek” slide and video show at Audubon
Acres to
about 35 folks. Also
produced and
uploaded an account of the 2011 Virginia Convention on the NANFA
Members Photo
Gallery and finished the design and production of the official
convention
T-shirt for the 2012 Ohio Convention.
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