Welcome to the Spring Creek Coalition Website!
Mission: to unite as citizens and actively engage in the preservation of the Spring Creek Watershed.

Volunteers help restore Spring Creek stream banks

Keeping Trees and Brush along Banks Can Help Save Our Creek

Current studies on Spring Creek indicate that a main problem is deterioration of the creek banks.

Trees, brush and their roots are very beneficial. They hold banks together, provide food and cover for game and fish, and cool water with shade. Trees and brush filter sediment and pollutants from water running off the land during storms. Grasses alone do not provide all of these benefits.

Removing trees and brush from around creeks results in bank erosion. When this happens, creeks fill with fine sand and gravel. They become more shallow, wider, and warmer. This accounts for the lack of deep pools and pool-dwelling game fish that many long-term residents of Spring Creek recall. As the creek widens, pastures. forest lands and roadbeds are lost to washouts.

Living next to the creek, it’s natural to want to embrace it. If we aren’t careful, we will spoil what we came to the creek to enjoy. So, when thinking about “cleaning up the creek banks“, please consider the fish, wildlife, and your downstream neighbors. Leave a wide border of trees and brush at least 50 feet from each bank. Build pathways to the water instead of wide clearings.

How Cold is the Water?

Several members of the Spring Creek Coalition monitor creek temperature each month as volunteers for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission Blue Thumb program.

Temperatures taken from 2008-2009 in the Luck Springs, Peggs area show a wide range of temperatures. The water varied from a low of 50 degrees in January and February to a high of 75 in July.

Volunteers Needed -
Save Cave Springs!

Saturday, March 20th 11-3 pm

SCC needs your help to plant 300 bare root trees at the flood damaged area of Cave Springs.

• Weiner roast for the kids
• Rain or shine
• Contact Jennifer Owen at 918-637-1449 for information

Location: Cave Springs bridge at Peggs

Directions: Go 7.5 miles south of the Cherokee Turnpike at Locust Grove on State Hwy. 82. Turn east on E640 Road, and go 3/10 of a mile to the “T” at Peggs Cemetery. Turn left going north, and it is 1 mile to the Cave Springs bridge.

Without trees and brush to protect them, banks erode easily, filling the creek with sediment.

Know where you can buy trees for less than $1.00 apiece?

The Oklahoma Forestry Services is currently accepting orders for bare root and containerized seedlings for conservation purposes including windbreaks, wildlife habitat, and erosion control. They offer over 30 species and will help you identify the best choices based on your specific plans and region. Most trees are one or two years old ranging from 6 to 16 inches in height and sold in bundles of 50.

Contact Oklahoma Forestry Services at 800-517-3673 or their website at www.forestry.ok.gov for more information. Better hurry – orders are accepted through March and supplies are limited.

SCC has planted over 1,800 trees in the watershed through this program.