2004 Department of the Interior
Environmental Achievement Awards Recipients

OSM/VISTA Watershed Development Team, OSM, Rallying Resources for Watersheds

Dr. Allan Comp, working with the West Virginia VISTA Director Judith Russell, assembled an initiative to bring awareness and expertise to important acid mine drainage issues. The resulting OSM/VISTA partnership secured over one million dollars in in-kind donations and over half a million dollars in cash grants. Over the last 18 months, the OSM/VISTAs enlisted 2,784 volunteers who worked 32,727 hours to find sources of contamination, effects on water quality, and potential solutions. Additionally, the OSM/VISTAs work with children and young people to help instill in them a sense of pride in their community, an understanding of environmental issues, and practical things they can do to help.

From left to right: Cindy Wigger, Chad Calvert, Allan Comp, Steven Griles, Judith Russell, Kellee Gomola, Jim Mahrer, Anne Daymut, Amy Stout, Josh Flaccavento, Tom Shope

The OSM/VISTA Development Team is now thirty strong and serves groups in seven states, from Pennsylvania to Alabama. The OSM/VISTA Watershed Development Team creates a solid base of environmental stewardship in watersheds that are part of the OSM Clean Streams Program.

Project Point of Contact
Allan Comp, Project Coordinator
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Washington, DC
Phone: 202-208-2836, Email: tcomp@osmre.gov
and
Judith Russell, Project Coordinator
VISTA, Charleston, WV
Phone: 04-347-5246, Email: jrussell@cns.gov

More Information
OSM/VISTA Website