Hi Folks! And welcome to the inferno of summer! Yikes, it's hot! But, despite the storms of last month and the heat of this month, CFI is still plugging along. In fact, we are having a Summer Fund Drive! And, we have an anniversary of sorts coming up in September! 

But, first....our Fund Drive! I'm sure everyone is aware of the budget crunch we are all in the middle of! This will certainly impact funds currently available for ANY conservation work. And, we can only assume that that will mean CFI as well! We rely heavily on federal funding for the bulk of our restoration and monitoring work! If a considerable chunk of these funds dry up, we will have to scramble to find funding to keep us going through these lean times. Donations from private sources help to allow us to make infrastructure repairs and improvements. Many of these are badly needed! We found out recently how much we need a dedicated back-up generator when much of our power was out for several days! This was the largest power outage in the Knoxville Utilities Board's history! I say much of our power because, thankfully a portion of our three phase power was still on! With some crafty re-routing of extension cords (mostly by Pat!) and use of our currently undersized generator, we were able to weather this storm with few, if any losses directly attributable to the power outage. This was due in part to the good fortune that the outdoor temperatures were not terribly high during this period (the central air conditioning was out!). If the weather had been as hot as it is now, or if the power had been off for several more days, the situation might have been much worse!

So, we are asking anyone that is able to please look for the big "Donate" buttons found throughout our web site and do what you can for conserving fishes in the southeastern U.S. AND...we will be conducting a Silent Auction for some Fish/Endangered Species/CFI/Just Plain Fun-related Memorabilia and Experiences. Bidding starts at 9:45 AM Eastern time on Wednesday (07/20/2010). Click HERE to place your bids!  Bidding will end on Saturday at 8:00 PM Eastern. We will need your help to keep CFI going into the future! There is a lot more work to be done out there!

Now, for that anniversary!

It will be 30 years this Fall since we first laid eyes on (and stuck our heads into) Citico Creek! In 1981 my wife, Peggy, and I came to the University of Tennessee to start working toward our masters degrees under Dr. David Etnier. One of the first places we went was to Citico Creek to night snorkel for the recently re-discovered smoky and yellowfin madtoms! As it turns out, Peggy did her thesis work on the life history of the yellowfin madtom while a friend, Gerry Dinkins, did his on the smoky madtom. That resulted in lots of nights working in this beautiful stream and a life-long love for the fishes in Citico Creek, and ultimately (eventually) led to CFI's work to reintroduce these fishes into nearby Abrams Creek where they once occurred. Now, 30 years later, Peggy and I have a daughter the same age we were when we started this work. And, along with Pat and all of the fine folks that have been a part of CFI over the years, both of these madtoms along with the Citico (formerly duskytail) darter are well on their way to being reestablished in Abrams Creek!

           Citico Creek                        Smoky madtom                           Yellowfin madtom

So, remember our Summer Fund Drive and do what you can for our continued work with some of the rarest fishes in North America! Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook, there's a link to this on our home page (left hand side of the page). We post lots of field work photos regularly on our Facebook page! Join the fun!

Thanks for your continued interest and support!

J.R.