The river runs through it.....

One of my main responsibilities during this year is to develop a functioning and sustainable watershed committee for the Big Piney River. While it's been going a little slower than ideal, I feel the group is starting to come along, and more importantly, getting more interest from the community. There are so many things that affect the watershed, one of the biggest challenges was to decide where to start. With the addition of river rental and resort owners, we have been able to get a clear idea about what is needed for our great river, the Big Piney.
In May 2009 our little neck of the woods got hit hard by tons of rain followed by hurricane winds resulting in trees being ripped from the earth by their roots. This obviously caused a lot of problems in the forest, along the roads and where I am now concerned with, the river. There are many log jams in the Big Piney that make it impassible in some places, and dangerous in others, not to mention the erosion that is happening when the water is trying to find a way through. Because let's face it, the water will find somewhere to go! With all that being said, and not to further bore you, we will be applying for a grant that will allow us to navigate through the river, map out where work needs to be done, and then hopefully get funding to remove the problem debris! This will help with safety issues for canoers as well as reduce the erosion and degridation of the river! It's a win-win! That's my excitement for now, hope everyone is staying warm!