This survey preserves firsthand accounts and family traditions throughout the Pocatalico River and its tributaries, including Frogs Creek, Middle Fork, Rocky Fork, Harmons Creek, Kellys Creek and other local waters. It follows the river corridor from the Looneyville headwaters area through Walton, Cicerone, Island Branch, Hicumbottom, Sissonville, Millertown, the Pocatalico area, Rocky Fork, Lanham and Raymond City to Poca and the Kanawha River. The survey also documents changes residents have observed in aquatic life, water, streambeds and access to traditional food gathering.
Please report what you personally remember or were told by your family. Estimates are welcome. “Not sure” is a useful answer. A reported change does not, by itself, establish its cause.
Scientific-method and limitations notice. The survey is designed so responses can be collected, coded, preserved and analyzed consistently using documented survey-research practices. Questions distinguish firsthand observations, family accounts, estimates, dates, locations and uncertainty. Responses will retain unique identifiers and survey-version information; original responses will be preserved; possible duplicates will be flagged for review rather than silently removed; and future analyses will use written, reproducible rules established before results are reported. Photographs and records may support an observation but do not automatically prove its cause.
This is an open, voluntary community survey, not a randomly selected probability sample. Its results describe participating respondents and may be affected by self-selection, unequal participation among locations, memory limitations and possible duplicate or related-household responses. A conventional statistical margin of error will not be claimed. Historical accounts will be analyzed separately from measurements collected in the field. Any water, sediment, habitat or biological sampling conducted as a result of this survey will follow the established scientific protocol appropriate to that measurement, including standardized equipment, site selection, collection, labeling, quality control, chain of custody when applicable and documented analysis. Survey responses may identify patterns, locations and hypotheses that require independent field verification; they are not themselves a substitute for professional sampling or proof of causation.
Your survey response will be kept private. The analysis spreadsheet will not show your name, email address or telephone number. Contact information will be placed in a separate follow-up file only when you request follow-up. Findings may be shared only as combined results that do not identify any respondent or household.
Complete one survey for only one town or location. Select one primary location in Section 2 and answer every question for that area. If your family lived, moved, relocated or had experiences in more than one area, mention the additional places in the final comments. You are welcome to complete a separate survey for each additional town or location.