Permits, logistics, etc. are underway. We’ll post images and video once the project is underway…

9 Supporters ι $5200 Raised in Cash

2 Supporters ι $3297 Raised in Kind

PROJECT OVER 100% FUNDED!

Hi! I’m Watt Bradshaw, and along with my wife’s family, we own Suzy Q Farm in Tenth Legion, Virginia, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.

About Us

Our farm is not unlike most farms in the Shenandoah Valley. Through the years we’ve raised cattle, poultry, and in general try a lot of things just to keep the farm going. Smith Creek runs through our farm and used to have native Brook Trout in it. By trade, I’m a chemist and I’ve been trying to track surface water chemistry here for years. I’m also a fly fisherman and concerned about the native trout here and all over the world.

The Project

About a decade ago we decided that we wanted to try to bring the trout back in our stream. We fenced off the cattle, and planted trees to help stop erosion and to bring back shade. Unfortunately, the streambank erosion that occurred won’t heal anytime soon and we’d like to try to get this fixed. It’s not cheap – and costs tens of thousands of dollars. We’ve already done a lot of it ourselves, with the help of some government money. Unfortunately, there’s a heck of a lot still to do and the government money is starting to dry up and even if we get it we need to find in-kind funds to draw it down.

The proposed project is designed to stabilize three sections of eroding bank by use of log/rock j-hooks.  These “j-hooks” will serve the added benefit of significantly improving in-stream pool habitat by providing excellent cover for trout and other resident stream fishes. Approximately 200 linear feet of streambank will be restored and replanted with this project, in three Phases (50 Linear Feet, 60 Linear Feet, and 90 Linear Feet).

We’re trying to try to raise funds through an “all or nothing” funding model with three separate installments – if we get all of the first, we go to the second, and so on. If we don’t get a minimum of all of the goal for the first project, we won’t go on and all contributions will be returned to you.

The first two phases cost $8437 each. The third phase is a bit more, $9750. We’ll run each project for 45 days.

The Rewards (Kudos)

On-Farm Kudos - We thought we’d try Ahyayha as a way to help multiply our resources to get this done. We’ll provide in-kind rewards in exchange for small contributions. These include an end of project Habitat for Humanity-like blitz bank-restoration (great for kids), celebration, and free stream restoration seminar on the farm. We’ll also produce a video documentary of the entire project and we’ll add Supporter names to the credits on the video.

Local and National Business Kudos – We’ll also work to steer new customers to local businesses, like Mossy Creek Fly Shop, in exchange for them providing discounts, on things like fly lessons and merchandise. We believe in what Ahyayha is trying to do – use restoration of biodiversity as a way to increase sales to local businesses. Of course, we’ll know Ahyayha will also try to enroll national retailers, as well to provide some incentives for folks living outside of the Valley.

Footprint Reduction Certificates – We are also offering Footprint Reduction Certificates for quantities of stream bank restored. The idea is really simple. Too much reactive nitrogen is causing environmental problems. Some of this nitrogen is bound to soil particles. So, when we we stabilize a stream bank, reducing erosion, we can roughly determine how much nitrogen pollution is eliminated downstream. The Smith Creek project will provide a total reduction of approximately 340 lbs. of nitrogen.

We suggest you use a “calculator” developed by the folks at the University of Virginia Environmental Sciences Dept., called N-print, to estimate your reactive nitrogen yearly Footprint. For every contribution, Supporters get a signed certificate from Ahyayha documenting the amount of nitrogen reduced and a cool bumper sticker like the one shown in the $20 Kudo Package.

Here are the steps:

1. Estimate your Transportation Footprint. We all drive cars, particularly folks in cities like D.C. and Richmond. You can use the pollution estimates below for vehicle commuting impact. Or, you can go to the N-print site for more detailed estimates that include public transportation, flying, food consumption, and much more.

200 miles per week – 10 lbs. per year

400 miles per week – 17 lbs. per year

600 miles per week – 24 lbs. per year

2. Select a Kudos (Rewards) Package

We’re offering pledge levels of $20, $40, $60, $80, $100, $200, $300, $500. Each level has an amount of Reactive Nitrogen reduction. You can reduce some or all of your yearly impact.

3. Click on the Contribute Button

Remember your pledge level, click on the orange contribute button at the top of the Kudos list,  and use your credit card to make the contribution.

Thanks to the folks with Ahyayha for helping us put all this together and mostly, thanks to each of you for helping us continue our family’s mission to restore Brook Trout back to this Shenandoah Valley stream.

Coming End of May, 2013…

It’s already an incredible story. Last year, York County, VA. Oyster Farmer Anthony Bavuso (Seaford Oyster Company) was denied a Special Use Permit (SUP) by the York County Board of Supervisors for a commercial oyster farm on the Poquosin River. In a reversal of the Board’s decision, the Circuit Court ruled that Mr. Bavuso needed no permit.

Seaford Oyster may have won the right to farm, but the struggle depleted the family’s finances. To scale the operation to a more sustainable level, more enclosures (cages) are needed to grow the young oysters to commercially-harvestable size. Each 2′X3′ cage is hand built using wire materials costing ~$60. The company has asked Ahyayha for help with funds to partially cover expenses associated with the creation of 75 cages. Collectively, these cages will remove roughly 414 pounds of nitrogen over 10 harvest cycles to clean-up the Bay. And the nitrogen removal is not the only benefit.  The oysters and cages provide a mini-reef structure as habitat for a multitude of marine animals.  The oysters also filter algae out of the water increasing water clarity and promoting growth of aquatic grasses.

In return, Seaford Oyster will ship fresh oysters to every contributor along with other rewards (Kudos) such as hats, t-shirts, and perhaps a plaque on the cages. They are also thinking about adding a student water quality monitoring component to the project.

So, all you Ches. Bay oyster lovers, stay tuned – we’ll launch this project by Spring of this year.

We all the know the state of our economy – and things are particularly tough on young adults. Is it possible to carve a space in our economy for a local stream cleaning and water quality monitoring service staffed by Central Virginia public high school kids specially educated in their Ecology II class and paid for by streamside landowners? We’ll find out beginning spring, 2013.