The Richmond Hill Garden Club will have an Adopt-a-Wetland workshop next month for volunteers to become certified in chemical and visual monitoring.

The workshop is at 9 a.m. July 14 at J.F. Gregory Park Pavilion. This class is also for those who need yearly recertification and fresh chemicals for the testing.

The program is the marine counterpart to Adopt-a-Stream program, which was developed by the state Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division for monitoring freshwater habitats.

The Adopt-a-Wetland program’s goals are to increase public awareness of the state’s non-point pollution and water-quality issues to provide citizens with the tools and training to evaluate and help protect waterways.

Volunteers are sought to test wetlands in their neighborhood or community. Wetlands are any salt marsh, tidal creek, river, beach or swamp. Wetlands play a role in water quality, sediment retention, flood control and wildlife habitat.

Since the program was first started, more than 145 workshops have been hosted and almost 1,500 citizens have been trained.
Participants have adopted more than 75 sites coastwide. More than 42 groups and volunteers submit data on a regular basis. There are five sites in south Bryan County. Volunteers will spend one hour a month testing water quality. The data can now be recorded on the Adopt-a-Wetland database.

For more information and to sign up for the workshop, call Mary Burns at 727-3219 or email mburns@yahoo.com.