Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful
The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable formed a Keep America Beautiful affiliate in 2007, called Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful. The formation of this affiliate resulted from a unique partnership among nine counties and two cities. These localities joined to serve on a Black Diamond RC&D task force for a year and then became the Roundtable's Tourism and Trash Team. After working on many projects together, the group decided to form a KAB affiliate, which was certified April 21, 2007. The affiliate won state and national awards for its litter prevention work in 2007.
Assign-A-Highway Program
Attorney Frank Kilgore successfully launched the Assign-A-Highway Program in Buchanan County as a way to achieve sustainable roadside cleanups. The program utilizes probationers, who are nonviolent offenders, to pick up two-mile sections of roadsides every two weeks. The Roundtable applied for and received a grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to promote this program throughout Virginia. DEQ has funded the program for three years. The Virginia Department of Transportation has funded the program for two years. For more information on this innovative and highly successful program, see www.assignahighway.com.
Stream Monitoring
The Roundtable encourages citizens to become involved in a stream monitoring program that is a cooperative effort with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Save Our Streams program. The Roundtable and DCR offer training workshops to teach citizens how to catch the tiny bugs that are an indicator of stream health. To find out about the next training session, contact the Roundtable. (Image credit: Carol Doss, UTRR.)
Larger Roundtable
The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable has a membership of over 300 individuals. The membership meets each spring and fall. A board of directors and an executive council meet periodically between between membership meetings. Anyone who attends a spring or fall Roundtable meeting is considered to be a member.
The Roundtable and ACCWT
The Roundtable partners with Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) US Office of Surface Mining/Americorps VISTA volunteers and summer associates to jointly accomplish our goals. VISTA volunteers and summer associates are volunteers who donate one year or one summer for national service in many areas including the environment. The ACCWT serves eight Appalachian states (AL, KY, MD, OH, PA, TN, VA and WV). For more information about the ACCWT, click here.
A key concern of the Roundtable and ACCWT is Acid Mine Drainage. The Roundtable created a flier that highlights the harm of AMD and also serves as a field guide for identifying water sources affected by AMD. Click here to download the flier in PDF format.
Upcoming Events
Disc Golf Tournament Fundraiser
Saturday, June 21: 1 p.m.
Entry fee is $15 and includes hotstamp disc and minimarker. Click here for more information.
Stream monitoring workshop
Thursday, July 31: 10 to 11:45 a.m.
This free event will be held at White's Mill in Abingdon. Register by July 25.
Rain barrel workshop
Friday, Aug. 8: 10 to 12 noon
This event is $15 per person and will be held at White's Mill in Abingdon. Register by Aug. 1.
Contact Us
Physical Address:
366 West Main St., Suite 400
Abingdon, VA 24210
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2359
Abingdon, VA 24212
Phone/Fax:
T (276)628-1600
F (276)623-1353
E-mail