Examples of the group's major accomplishments are numerous but some of the more significant ones are listed below.  

The group has:

• collected over 11,000 bags of trash
• collected over 975 tons of solid waste (appliances, etc.),   125 tons of which   were eligible for recycling
• removed 4,000 automobile tires
• collected a total of 7,979 tons of trash through 2003
• constructed several K-dams on tributary streams to improve fish habitat
• monitored the water quality of Paint Creek and its tributaries through the Save Our Streams Program
• constructed signs to identify the location of all tributaries
• hosted a “Stream Doctor's Workshop” put on   by   the   Izaak   Walton League of America
• secured over $618,000 in grants and in-kind services in less than four years to improve the water quality of Paint Creek
• constructed a new boat ramp on the Kanawha River at Hansford
• constructed a fishing pier for physically disabled anglers and three picnic shelters at Ash Branch
• stocked over 15,000 brown trout finger lings in Paint Creek
• completed a limestone sand project in partnership with the Division of Environmental Protection on Ten-Mile Fork near Burnwell
• improved stream habitat using natural stream channel design approach
• assisted numerous other watershed groups in developing organizational skills

It is not difficult to understand why the Paint Creek Watershed was selected as the West Virginia Watershed Organization of the year in 1999!

John Rader, former Director of the Division of Natural Resources, recognized the major improvements the citizens of the Paint Creek Watershed were making along Paint Creek.   He assembled a Paint Creek Restoration Team to assist the outstanding work that has been accomplished by both the Upper and Lower Paint Creek Watershed organizations.   This team is composed of representatives of the Upper and Lower Paint Creek Watershed associations, the Canaan Valley Institute, the Division of Environmental Protection, the Turnpike Commission, and the Division of Natural Resources.   After developing a vision for the entire Paint Creek Watershed, the group is actively supporting implementation of additional watershed improvement projects.

Trout are being caught year-round from Pax downstream to Skitter Creek and in a section from Burnwell to the vicinity of Ash Branch.   Additional limestone treatment is planned on several tributaries affected by acid mine drainage and could restore several miles of stream.

Paint Creek is easily accessible from the West Virginia Turnpike.   This accessibility combined with watershed improvements offers the potential for greater fishing opportunities for southern West Virginia anglers.

So when you see the new green signs proclaiming -- “Entering the Paint Creek Watershed - Please Keep It Clean”-- remember, you are witnessing the “Rebirth of Paint Creek!”

Article from West Virginia Wild Life Magazine by Jim Reed who is the District Fisheries Biologist in Beckley.

To learn more, call (740) 777-1827, or email info@lowerpaintcreek.com