CI f t deck 



Black River Upgraded 



The state confirmed in April what 

 nature-lovers and scientists have known 

 all along — the Black River is outstand- 

 ing. 



By unanimous vote, the N.C. Envi- 

 ronmental Management Commission 

 designated the Black an "outstanding 

 resource water," placing it in the com- 

 pany of similarly protected state waters 

 such as the Nantahala River and a por- 

 tion of Masonboro Sound. The protected 

 area will also include a portion of the 

 Black's eastern source creek, Six Runs, 

 and part of its major tributary, the South 

 River. 



Calling the Black "the obsidian 

 jewel of the East," commissioner and 

 Sea Grant researcher Charles "Pete" 

 Peterson commended state efforts to 

 buoy its status. The state Division of 

 Environmental Management will now 

 implement a special management plan 

 that prohibits new or expanded waste- 

 water discharges and limits develop- 

 ment and stormwater runoff near the 

 riverbanks. 



The Black's scenic beauty, excel- 

 lent water quality and ancient bald cy- 

 press trees helped the river win recogni- 

 tion and protection; grassroots support 

 of the plan cinched it. At a public hear- 

 ing in Clinton in September, favorable 

 comments outnumbered opposition to 

 the plan. Of 34 letters received by the 

 state during the month after, only two 

 were against the ORW status. 



Spence to Lead 

 Teachers in Peru 



Lundie Spence will be on foreign 

 soil when she leads a group of U.S. 

 teachers through a hands-on study of 

 soil and water chemistry in Peru in July. 

 But it's ground that the N.C. Sea Grant 

 marine education specialist will be 

 treading for the third consecutive sum- 

 mer as an instructor for the International 

 Teachers Rain Forest Workshop. 



Iquitos, Peru, is a long way from 

 the hills of Piedmont North Carolina. 

 But dig a little deeper and you'll find a 

 striking similarity in the earth beneath. 



The weathered red clay of the Amazon 

 Basin isn't that much different from the 

 Piedmont clays of our state, Spence says. 



"The problem of lower fertility and 

 the need to protect topsoil from erosion 

 and abuse exist in the rain forest, too," 

 she says. 



Spence will be in the company of 

 tropical experts — including a 

 Smithsonian bat expert and a medicinal 

 plant specialist from the U.S. Department 

 of Agriculture — who guide this unique 

 learning experience for 80 to 100 teach- 

 ers. The workshop is operated by Interna- 

 tional Expeditions of Alabama and 

 Explorama in Iquitos. 



"Ecotourists can go to these camps 

 anytime and experience the jungle," says 

 Spence. "This is the only week specifi- 

 cally designed for teacher training." 



The participants live in open-air 

 camps. They travel the Amazon by dug- 

 out canoe. And from a walkway 120 feet 

 high in the rain forest canopy, they watch 

 foraging flocks of parrots and tanagers. 



Spence will lead a half-day work- 

 shop featuring a number of concepts in 

 tropical soils put together by Stanley 

 Buol and Jot Smyth, soil scientists at 

 N.C. State University. 



"We will be working with the type 

 of soil that is available for subsistence 

 farming, which is the same soil that sup- 

 ports the rich diversity of the rain forest," 

 says Spence. 



A unique scholarship will be send- 

 ing a N.C. State University student along 

 as Spence's research assistant. Jobi 

 Bridgers is assisting in a soil profile of a 

 100-foot cliff above the Rio Napo that 

 Spence and the participants began study- 

 ing last summer. 



"The topography of the rain forest in 

 this area is very gentle," says Spence. 

 "Finding this much exposure is unusual. 

 It's like the cliff was saying, 'Come look 

 at me. Try to figure me out.'" 



The outcrop includes layers of many 

 kinds of clays — yellow, red, blue, gray 

 and charcoal black — and two layers of 

 lignite, which is similar to coal. 



"At the base, where it meets the 

 river, is a layer of small shells," she says. 



"There's a story in these layers that tells 

 the story of the river — its source, its 

 geology." 



Under the guidance of Paul Baker, 

 a Duke University geologist, Bridgers 

 has been analyzing samples from the 

 previous cliff excavation. 



"This summer we'll fill in the gaps 

 on the profile and try to relate the profile 

 to the soil layers that are evident in 

 nearby subsistence farms or fincas" she 

 says. 



The work gives the involved teach- 

 ers an opportunity to be part of a re- 

 search team at the same time they are 

 students. 



"So little work has been done in 

 this particular area," says Spence of the 

 site. "Our results will be mainly descrip- 

 tive, but they are providing a location 

 and a base for future research interests." 



Bridgers' participation is being 

 sponsored by NCSU's College of Agri- 

 culture and Life Sciences' International 

 Programs, NCSU International Pro- 

 grams/Study Abroad and International 

 Expeditions. 



For more information about the 

 workshop, call 1-800/633-4734. Or call 

 Spence at 919/515-2454. 



Storm Drain Stenciling 

 Joins Year of the Coast 



The Year of the Coast activities 

 committee has endorsed storm drain 

 stenciling as a way to keep coastal wa- 

 ters clean of pollutants that are com- 

 monly dumped or washed off streets. 



The project is poised for a midsum- 

 mer start with additional funding from 

 the N.C. Division of Coastal Manage- 

 ment and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, says stenciling organizer Bar- 

 bara Doll, N.C. Sea Grant's coastal 

 water quality specialist. 



Doll plans to rally volunteers to 

 paint storm drains and catch basins in 

 over 60 cities that drain to sounds and 

 estuaries. The effort will reach from the 

 coast to the Piedmont with a stenciled 

 educational message that reads: Keep 

 Clean! Flows to Albemarle Sound (or 

 Pamlico Sound or Cape Fear River). 



24 MAY I JUNE 1994 



