The Stream Team 1,000 celebration was especially meaningful for Mark Van Patten, who was a member of the Roubidoux Fly Fishers when that group became Stream Team No. 1 back in 1989. Van Patten is now the Stream Team coordinator for the Conservation Federation of Missouri. According to Van Patten, one reason for the phenomenal growth of the Stream Team program is that the sponsoring agencies try to encourage and enable each team to pursue its own goals. Joe Bachant, coordinator for the MDC, concurs. We haven t tried to dictate what happens at the local level, he says.
Every team has a reason for being and that s different for every team.
Popular activities for Stream Teams include water quality monitoring, stream cleanups, storm drain stenciling, and community education projects.