Watersheds and Forests

Appalachian Mountains, KY

The forests and watersheds in Kentucky and central Appalachia are under assault by a variety of forces. The region has an abundance of natural resources that have been in high-demand in the industrial age; namely, timber and coal. Their harvest and mining through the years has led to not only their depletion but also many challenges that threaten the land and people.

ASPI staff and volunteers serve on organizing committees, foster partnerships, organize cleanups, and conduct research to work for positive change and to monitor and protect our watersheds and forests.

Contact

We'd love to hear from you! Please send feedback and suggestions to info@a-spi.org

Our interest in the water resources and watersheds extends to forming partnerships and groups that can organize a collaborative approach to clean water in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Please contact us if you are interested in water!

Winter is the time of year when we catch up and plan for the coming spring and summer. This year, ASPI is working with Upper Cumberland Watershed Watch, focusing on revamping our training protocols and making sure that all our citizen volunteers have fresh supplies and replacement equipment. The Rockcastle Regional group will be focusing on former drinking water springs in our watershed, most still in use but officially unmonitored now since city water has been brought in.

ASPI continues to work with local citizens and organizations to monitor the proposed US Forest Service's Crooked Creek Vegetation Management project. USFS would allow logging and the use of herbicides above a local spring and bottling plant at Climax, KY. Many people depend on this source for drinking water, as well as homeowners on the Clear Creek side of the ridge who have their own developed springs, so the impacts of this proposal are of importance.

Rockcastle Karst Conservancy and ASPI are collaborating on the installation of a modern composting restroom facility at Great Saltpetre Preserve. In the next month, we will begin to tour and demonstrate dry toilets and greywater set-ups from homemade to commercial construction.

ASPI is also pleased to be collaborating with the Rockcastle Board of Eduction and Rockcastle County Solid Waste Program to provide an educator, Wanda Hammons, to work in our three elementary schools on clean water and recycling issues. Our kids are the future, and the more information they have, the better able to make good environmental decisions in the future! If you want to find out more about, or take part in, any of the activities above, please contact suzi@a-spi.org