The mission of the South Grand River Watershed Alliance is to educate and involve the members of the community in preserving, restoring and protecting the waters and aquatic habitat of our South Grand River Watershed. The Alliance is a nonprofit (501c3) organization.<\/p>\n
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CHAIR – Phil Needham (phil.needham@sgrwa.org<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Phil was born and raised in Abilene, Kansas graduating from Abilene High School in 1979. In 1983 Phil graduated from Mizzou with a BS in Wildlife Management.<\/p>\n From 1984 to 1990 Phil worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation in the Wildlife Division.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1991 he entered the Agents Training Academy from which he was assigned to Reynolds County for 3 \u00bd years as a Conservation Agent. He was transferred to Cass County in 1995 and has been a Conservation Agent in Cass County the last 22 years.<\/p>\n Phil has been married to Shelley for 31 years and they have three children.\u00a0 Angel, David and Thomas who are students at Midway High School. Shelley is self-employed as a seamstress.<\/p>\n Phil\u2019s hobbies are hunting, fishing, and mostly managing his 100 acres for wildlife with wetland developments and plantings of native grasses and trees. \u00a0Other local groups that Phil works include the \u00a0Freeman Community Club (2012 President), \u00a0Ducks Unlimited (Area Chairman), National Wild Turkey Federation (Committee member), and \u00a0Quail Unlimited (Committee member).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n VICE-CHAIR – Ted Lange (tlange@sgrwa.org)<\/strong><\/p>\n Ted has actively participated in growing and establishing plants in Cass county since the early \u201890s. He grew up in the Ozarks region of Missouri and enjoyed many activities in the clear rivers and freshwater springs. He became interested in water quality after moving to Cass county seeing the lack of recreational opportunities in waterways due to the deterioration of water quality and access.<\/p>\n Ted enjoys traveling and volunteering in other areas of the country and has participated in many projects including prescribed prairie burning, invasive species removal, seed collection, disaster relief, as well as seeding and planting projects. He is excited about the work SGRWA is doing and wants to do and is honored to get to be a part of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SECRETARY –\u00a0<\/strong>Doris Sherrick (doris.sherrick@sgrwa.org<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Before retiring, Doris taught 20 years in the Belton School District. She grew up in the Bourbeuse and Meramec River watersheds and enjoyed wading and playing in local creeks and rivers\u2014they were clear and clean in those days.\u00a0 Her interest in streams and water quality has greatly increased in recent years as she has become more knowledgeable and aware of the impacts people have on water quality. Because she wants future generations to be able to enjoy our waterways as she used to and to have clean waters for all uses, Doris became involved in the formation of the South Grand River Watershed Alliance to provide education and awareness of how we can all work together to restore and protect water quality.\u00a0 She formed a neighborhood Stream Team and has Stream Team Level I training.\u00a0 Doris has attended numerous seminars and workshops to learn more about Water Quality and Quantity.<\/p>\n Doris and her husband, Bob, enjoy spending spare time working to reconstruct prairie habitat on their 60 acres.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n BOARD MEMBER – Heather Martin (hmartin@sgrwa.org)<\/strong><\/p>\n Heather Martin is from the Cass County area. Growing up she always enjoyed family camping trips to the Ozark rivers and Mark Twain National Forrest which sparked a love of clean rivers and a passion for conservation and preservation of our rivers and natural environments. She graduated from Westminster College with a bachelor degree in Environmental Science and has since began a career working in water quality. After graduating school and moving back to the Cass County area an interest in learning more about water quality and helping out in her local community led her to meet the South Grand River Watershed Alliance organization. She is happy to work and help with maintenance and projects in the watershed and keep our streams clean for all to enjoy!<\/p>\n BOARD MEMBER – Kimberly Myers<\/strong><\/p>\n BOARD MEMBER – David Galeski<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n TECHNICAL ADVISOR – Scott Sigman<\/strong><\/p>\n Scott is a lifelong Kansas City area resident who has been with the Missouri Department of Conservation since 2012.\u00a0 He works as the local Missouri Stream Team contact providing water quality and stream cleanup education and training.\u00a0 He has\u00a0BA degrees in Biology and Business Administration from the University of Central Missouri.\u00a0 Scott especially enjoys sampling macroinvertebrates\u00a0\u201cbugs\u201d\u00a0 and working with people from all walks of life in protecting our streams.\u00a0 He also enjoys spending time with his son Brandon doing \u201call and anything outdoors\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PAST TREASURER – Bob Sherrick<\/strong><\/p>\n Bob Sherrick passed away in 2024.\u00a0<\/em> He is greatly missed by all members of the South Grand River Watershed Alliance.<\/em><\/p>\n Bob Sherrick is a retired mathematician. He received his bachelors degree from Southwest Missouri State (1963) and his master\u2019s degree from University of Missouri at Rolla (1966). He acquired his love of rivers by floating and fishing Ozark streams in his youth. This has grown to the broader issue of water quality through his concerns of protecting his grand children\u2019s access to the same experiences he had growing up.\u00a0 Bob is a Stream Team member and has completed Level I training and took part in the Stream Team Program, Understanding Streams.\u00a0 He also attends seminars and workshops about Water Quality and Quantity to gain further knowledge about watersheds.<\/p>\n Richard T. Lincoln passed away September 24, 2012.\u00a0 He is greatly missed by the Directors of the South Grand River Watershed Alliance.\u00a0 His passion for protecting water quality, his interest and enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge about the natural world and how to better protect it serve as inspiration to each of us as we continue to work on those efforts in his memory.<\/em><\/p>\n Rick has spent much of his career as a civil engineering technician and designer. Many of his duties are related to stormwater management, including stream monitoring, chemical data collection and storm sewer mapping and database management. More recently, he has become a professional soil and erosion control designer.<\/p>\n Rick has always had an interest in streams. After moving to rural Cass County in his middle school years with his parents, he spent many hours exploring Black Creek, a tributary to the South Grand River.<\/p>\n Throughout his life he has been interested in water quantity and quality. More recently he has enjoyed learning more about watershed management and advocating for healthy streams. Besides his involvement in the South Grand River Watershed Alliance, he has a Stream Team and has achieved Level 2 requirements as a Volunteer Water Quality Monitor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The mission of the South Grand River Watershed Alliance is to educate and involve the members of the community in preserving, restoring and protecting the waters and aquatic habitat of our South Grand River Watershed. The Alliance is a nonprofit … Continue reading
\nPAST CHAIR – Rick Lincoln<\/strong><\/p>\n