Chattooga Quarterly
Fall, 2004

Take The High Road

Director's Page
This Chattooga Quarterly will reach you shortly after the election. I have no idea who will be our next president. I do know that the next four years will be a critical time for conservation. Policy direction as set by the president for the next four years on such issues as energy and the environment, global warming, national forest management, and even foreign relations will have profound effects on the health of our environment. Read more.

Watershed Update

• DON’T BE HORSIN’ AROUND
• ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH—NOT QUITE!
• WHAT’S THE DIRT?

Stekoa Creek: A Plan For Restoration
One of the best ways to assess the ecological health of a watershed is by looking at water quality. America’s waterways had become so polluted by the mid 1960s that environmental activists began calling for new laws to restore and protect the water quality in our rivers and streams. Read more.

Conservation Easements
Dick and Gillian Heywood live in southern Macon County, North Carolina in a 120-year old, restored log cabin on Middle Creek. Their 35-acres have been farmed since the Civil War, producing corn, beans, cattle and chickens. In just six years in the United States during the 1990s over five and a half million acres of agricultural land was converted to developed use. The Heywoods were concerned about the future of their property and wanted to ensure that it would continue to be used for agriculture, and not developed. With the help of the Little Tennessee Land Trust, the Heywoods established a conservation easement to protect their land’s agricultural heritage. Read more.

Destruction of Environmental Policy
By the time this article is published, the result of the 2004 presidential election will be decided, assuming the process goes as planned. Regardless of who is in charge next year, Bush has indeed launched a series of climate change initiatives, and his administration has left in its wake a legacy of environmental erosion. Two major targets are the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. Read more.

Who Was General Andrew Pickens
Long before Harry Potter, the upstate of South Carolina had it’s own Wizard Owl. Known by the Cherokee as Skyagunsta, or the Wizard Owl as a tribute to his skill as a warrior, General Andrew Pickens played an important role in the history of the state and the nation. Read more.