Spring Creek Coalition

 

A 501(C)3 nON-pROFIT

Established in 1994, the Spring Creek Coalition (SCC) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization comprised of private landowners, residents and supporters.

 

It is the mission of Spring Creek Coalition to unite as citizens and actively engage in the preservation of the Spring Creek Watershed.

 

landowners who care

Landowners in the watershed are proud of their land and their way of life. Many of them grew up in the woods hunting and fishing. Others moved to the area because the land is remote and the water pure. Still others commute in from cities to fish, swim, relax and enjoy nature. We all love the resource, but we want to avoid taking it for granted and assuming someone else will take care of problems. It is far easier to complain about a problem than it is to do something about it! Many of the landowners have come together to form the Spring Creek Coalition.

A Clearing House for Information

SCC serves as a clearing-house for the exchange of information about the creek. Coalition members and supporters have a central location they can go to report problems or get information.

SCC also keeps everyone up-to-date with quarterly newsletters.

Events that benefit the creek

SCC members place plastic protectors over newly planted bare root trees.

In spring we plant black walnut, pine, persimmon and other trees to help stabilize the creek banks and provide wildlife habitat. Trees keep the water cool, filter nutrients, slow run-off and help prevent flooding. SCC has planted over 2,800 trees in the Spring Creek watershed.

 

Coalition members come together to clean-up the creek and create community awareness.

Our Fall clean-ups along public access points to the creek have removed thousands of pounds of harmful bottles, cans, plastic and baby diapers from the watershed.

After an indoor lecture, participants headed to Spring Creek to search for Oklahoma salamanders.

Seminars and Outings

The more people learn, the better stewards of the stream they become.

SCC hosts seminars and outings on various topics including how streams flow, Native American artifacts, geology, local fish and wildflowers.

Ecology Field Days

Working with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission Blue Thumb program, SCC invites area watershed school students to fresh water ecology field days on the creek.

Rob Barossi of Blue Thumb (white T-shirt, left) helps Peggs 7th and 8th grade science students kick up invertebrates to see what they might find. The presence or lack of certain species tells us about a stream’s health.

issues

SCC has no regulatory authority, but we support individuals who foresee a threat to the integrity of the Spring Creek watershed.

Some of the issues we have or are in the process of exploring include:

  • The illegal use of fly ash by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to repair roads along the creek;

  • Gravel extraction from creek beds and it's affect on the creek and property both up and downstream;

  • The pumping of water by the Peggs Water Company from a spring along the banks of Spring Creek and its potential affect on water flow.

A significant issue in 2020 and beyond: the inundation of mega poultry houses into northeastern Oklahoma, its affect on the people who have to live next to them and on Spring Creek’s water quality and quantity.


Significant Accomplishments

  • Won Oklahoma's environmental excellence "Best of the Best" award, 2015, from Keep Oklahoma Beautiful;

  • Received Certificate of Merit for "preservation and restoration of valuable bird-friendly habitat, by the Oklahoma Ornithological Society;

  • Collaborated with Grand River Dam Authority in recovering one of the largest illegal dumps in Cherokee County;

  • Supported a foreign species lawsuit that resulted in a 2006 court ruling against the introduction of non-native species such as trout into High Quality Waters such as Spring Creek

  • Awarded "Conservation Organization" for 1995 by the Oklahoma Wildlife Federation;