Post by Steve King (Admin) on Jan 10, 2009 23:20:32 GMT -6
Tranquility in the Current River valley
By Tom Uhlenbrock — ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH - 2008
AKERS, MO. -- Gene Maggard can hear the difference. "The loud stereos have disappeared," he said. "We've got a different atmosphere, more peaceful." Maggard's family has been living and working in the Current River valley since the Civil War. His dad, Buck, once owned 220 acres on both sides of the river. That land is now part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, a national park that protects about 134 miles of the clear, cold Current and Jacks Fork rivers.
Those stretches also are the most popular in the state with floaters. Too popular, in some instances.
To curb the crowd that turned the rivers into noisy parties on summer Saturdays, the National Park Service instituted a new set of regulations last float season. Beer bongs, kegs, Mardi Gras beads, Jell-O shots, dry ice bombs, air horns and loud stereos were banned on the two federal rivers.
I was visiting the valley to inspect the site of the new Current River State Park, which will be built around a historic lodge on the river, and to meet with a director of The Nature Conservancy, which has embarked on an ambitious plan to preserve the Current forever.
But Maggard dropped a news tip: "There's a senator who may propose legislation to make the regulations statewide."
That state senator is Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, who has met with about two dozen members of the Missouri Canoe & Floaters Association. Their message was that state streams like the Niangua, Meramec, Huzzah and Courtois also would benefit from regulations on rowdy behavior.
"The federal rules have pushed the guys who want to do nothing but get drunk onto the state streams," Scott said in a telephone interview. "We realize there is a problem and, if the association comes up with overwhelming support, I will propose the legislation.
See and audio slideshow on changes in the Current River Valley
See last year's audio slideshow on the new river rules
"There is no discussion of banning alcohol. We want to ban the high-octane utensils used to get drunk fast. A number of suggestions have been made — ban beer bongs and beads that lead to nudity, limit the size of coolers. There will be an outcry from the folks coming to get drunk, but the streams belong to everybody, not just the drunks."
Meanwhile, the Missouri Water Patrol has agreed to increase its presence on state rivers this summer to enforce existing laws, Scott said.
THE ORIGINAL GEM
Gene Maggard operates Akers Ferry, which charges $4 to take a vehicle across the Current, and also runs Akers Ferry Canoe Rental and General Store. He has not always agreed with the park service, which he said "took" his ancestral lands about 40 years ago to make the Current and Jacks Fork the nation's first federally protected rivers. But he does like the new federal rules.
"There's still a few behavior issues out there, but it's calmed down a lot," said Maggard, who is president of the 114-member floaters association.
And while some of the outfitters on the Current and Jacks Fork feared the new regulations would hurt business, Maggard said he has seen an increase in some groups. "We've always had the families here," he said. "This year, I've noticed a lot of church groups are signing up, and the Scouts are calling in."
The Current River is the crown jewel of the Ozark's sparkling streams. The Nature Conservancy would like to keep it that way by buying land in the river's watershed, that area in which a falling raindrop could flow into the river.
"This is one of the few streams in middle America where we have a chance to sustain it," said Doug Ladd, the Conservancy's director of conservation science. "But we're seeing alarming rates of change in the watershed — pasture for cattle, hard surface development.
"We have in America a history of not really appreciating something until it's disappearing. Here, we have the original gem in its original setting. It's an unparalleled opportunity not to play catchup after it's damaged."
BUYING VULNERABLE LAND IN WATERSHED
The Current River is born in a series of springs that flow out of Montauk State Park. Maggard's bus took three of us and our kayaks to Cedargrove, downstream from the park, and we floated the eight miles back to Akers. Along the way we passed Welch Spring, which doubles the Current's size with a daily flow of about 105 million gallons, creating a standing wave on the river that can dump an unsuspecting kayaker.
A doctor bought the spring in 1913 for $800 and built a hospital of native stone over the mouth of the cave from which the water pours. He figured the spring water and pollen-free air flowing from the cave had healthy properties for patients suffering from asthma and tuberculosis. The rock walls of the hospital still stand, and the cave air provided a cool spot to sit while Ladd explained the Conservancy's effort to save the Current.
The plan began with a challenge grant announced last year by Howard and Joyce Wood of Bonne Terre. Howard Wood is a founder of Charter Communications, a former state conservation commissioner and a lifetime floater on the Current River. The couple will match, up to $2 million, what the Conservancy can raise by Dec. 31. The money will be used to buy vulnerable land in the watershed of the river, particularly acreage where heavy logging, development or clearing for pasture would lead to erosion.
The Current's watershed totals 1.6 million acres, and 45 percent of that already is protected by some private, state or federal agency. "But 70 percent is the critical minimum," Ladd said. "You get below that and you see degradation in the watershed."
The Conservancy plans to use challenge grant money to buy strategic land from willing sellers. It then will sell those properties back to private buyers, often at lower prices, but with a conservation easement on them to guarantee that changes to the forest are done in a manner that does not harm the river.
"Our short-term goal, within the next 15 years, is to see another 100,000 acres in the watershed in permanent forest," Ladd said. "That will get all the highly vulnerable lands protected, if it's configured right. We need to match that challenge grant and use the $4 million to get the program off the ground. To date, we've raised over $700,000 and acquired more than 7,000 acres."
IN TOUCH WITH NATURE
The next morning began 12 miles north of Eminence, off Highway 19, on the grounds of the Alton Box Club, which was built in the 1930s as a corporate retreat for the Alton Box Board Co. The wood-and-stone structures overlook the river and reflect the rustic architecture popular in park and camp buildings in the first half of the 20th century, earning the complex a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Missouri Conservation Department had owned the property but turned it over to the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages parks and historic sites. That department announced late last year that it will use money from the $180 million settlement with Ameren Corp. over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse to establish Current River State Park.
Don Stier, one of four DNR employees who led a tour of the site, said the historic buildings are within the scenic easement of the national park and will be restored to their original state. About a third of the 806 acres near the river is under federal restriction. New structures, including overnight camper cabins, a small campground and an education center, will be built on the upper two-thirds, out of view of the river.
Denny Bopp, supervisor of the Ozarks Parks District, said the new park will give visitors information on hikes, float trips and other attractions available on the surrounding public lands. Work has begun at the park, and it is scheduled to open in 2010.
"We envision the park will do a lot to bring people in touch with nature, whether it's through cave walks, information on a one-day hike, or an archaeology weekend or backpacking workshop," Bopp said. "We will have connections to other trails on the public lands around us."
The Current will have a landing for floaters to pull in and inspect the new park, although there will not be an access to put into the river from the park.
"People have seen it when floating by on the river, and they're anxious to take a look," Stier said. "The locals all have fond memories of the club."
FOR THE BIRDS
In three days, I floated the most popular stretches of the Current — from Cedargrove eight miles down to Akers, from Akers 10 miles down to Pulltite, and from Pulltite 10 miles down to Round Spring. Persistent rain had the river flowing briskly, a tad murky but still clear enough to see fish darting over the gravel bottom and boulders stranded in the deep green pools.
"Over half of the base flow is spring fed; there's not a lot of rivers in the world where you can say that," said Ladd, who came along for two of the floats. "The river's not pristine, but it's in pretty good shape. If I was a school teacher grading, I'd give it a B."
Ladd said the Conservancy took a biological survey of the river, and its members were "blown away" by what they found.
"There are 35 aquatic species, mostly small fish and mussels, that are globally significant," he said. "Twenty-five of those have their best or only populations on earth in this river. We have all these springs and caves with their species, and the last large tract of upper woodland forest. It's a Shangri-la for our natural heritage, the original living Ozarks."
We had the river largely to ourselves, except for an outdoor recreation class from Wartburg College in Iowa, which was doing the same 28-mile run in canoes. Instructor Jim Miller said the students were finding the Current's twists and turns and chutes and riffles challenging.
By Tom Uhlenbrock — ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH - 2008
AKERS, MO. -- Gene Maggard can hear the difference. "The loud stereos have disappeared," he said. "We've got a different atmosphere, more peaceful." Maggard's family has been living and working in the Current River valley since the Civil War. His dad, Buck, once owned 220 acres on both sides of the river. That land is now part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, a national park that protects about 134 miles of the clear, cold Current and Jacks Fork rivers.
Those stretches also are the most popular in the state with floaters. Too popular, in some instances.
To curb the crowd that turned the rivers into noisy parties on summer Saturdays, the National Park Service instituted a new set of regulations last float season. Beer bongs, kegs, Mardi Gras beads, Jell-O shots, dry ice bombs, air horns and loud stereos were banned on the two federal rivers.
I was visiting the valley to inspect the site of the new Current River State Park, which will be built around a historic lodge on the river, and to meet with a director of The Nature Conservancy, which has embarked on an ambitious plan to preserve the Current forever.
But Maggard dropped a news tip: "There's a senator who may propose legislation to make the regulations statewide."
That state senator is Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, who has met with about two dozen members of the Missouri Canoe & Floaters Association. Their message was that state streams like the Niangua, Meramec, Huzzah and Courtois also would benefit from regulations on rowdy behavior.
"The federal rules have pushed the guys who want to do nothing but get drunk onto the state streams," Scott said in a telephone interview. "We realize there is a problem and, if the association comes up with overwhelming support, I will propose the legislation.
See and audio slideshow on changes in the Current River Valley
See last year's audio slideshow on the new river rules
"There is no discussion of banning alcohol. We want to ban the high-octane utensils used to get drunk fast. A number of suggestions have been made — ban beer bongs and beads that lead to nudity, limit the size of coolers. There will be an outcry from the folks coming to get drunk, but the streams belong to everybody, not just the drunks."
Meanwhile, the Missouri Water Patrol has agreed to increase its presence on state rivers this summer to enforce existing laws, Scott said.
THE ORIGINAL GEM
Gene Maggard operates Akers Ferry, which charges $4 to take a vehicle across the Current, and also runs Akers Ferry Canoe Rental and General Store. He has not always agreed with the park service, which he said "took" his ancestral lands about 40 years ago to make the Current and Jacks Fork the nation's first federally protected rivers. But he does like the new federal rules.
"There's still a few behavior issues out there, but it's calmed down a lot," said Maggard, who is president of the 114-member floaters association.
And while some of the outfitters on the Current and Jacks Fork feared the new regulations would hurt business, Maggard said he has seen an increase in some groups. "We've always had the families here," he said. "This year, I've noticed a lot of church groups are signing up, and the Scouts are calling in."
The Current River is the crown jewel of the Ozark's sparkling streams. The Nature Conservancy would like to keep it that way by buying land in the river's watershed, that area in which a falling raindrop could flow into the river.
"This is one of the few streams in middle America where we have a chance to sustain it," said Doug Ladd, the Conservancy's director of conservation science. "But we're seeing alarming rates of change in the watershed — pasture for cattle, hard surface development.
"We have in America a history of not really appreciating something until it's disappearing. Here, we have the original gem in its original setting. It's an unparalleled opportunity not to play catchup after it's damaged."
BUYING VULNERABLE LAND IN WATERSHED
The Current River is born in a series of springs that flow out of Montauk State Park. Maggard's bus took three of us and our kayaks to Cedargrove, downstream from the park, and we floated the eight miles back to Akers. Along the way we passed Welch Spring, which doubles the Current's size with a daily flow of about 105 million gallons, creating a standing wave on the river that can dump an unsuspecting kayaker.
A doctor bought the spring in 1913 for $800 and built a hospital of native stone over the mouth of the cave from which the water pours. He figured the spring water and pollen-free air flowing from the cave had healthy properties for patients suffering from asthma and tuberculosis. The rock walls of the hospital still stand, and the cave air provided a cool spot to sit while Ladd explained the Conservancy's effort to save the Current.
The plan began with a challenge grant announced last year by Howard and Joyce Wood of Bonne Terre. Howard Wood is a founder of Charter Communications, a former state conservation commissioner and a lifetime floater on the Current River. The couple will match, up to $2 million, what the Conservancy can raise by Dec. 31. The money will be used to buy vulnerable land in the watershed of the river, particularly acreage where heavy logging, development or clearing for pasture would lead to erosion.
The Current's watershed totals 1.6 million acres, and 45 percent of that already is protected by some private, state or federal agency. "But 70 percent is the critical minimum," Ladd said. "You get below that and you see degradation in the watershed."
The Conservancy plans to use challenge grant money to buy strategic land from willing sellers. It then will sell those properties back to private buyers, often at lower prices, but with a conservation easement on them to guarantee that changes to the forest are done in a manner that does not harm the river.
"Our short-term goal, within the next 15 years, is to see another 100,000 acres in the watershed in permanent forest," Ladd said. "That will get all the highly vulnerable lands protected, if it's configured right. We need to match that challenge grant and use the $4 million to get the program off the ground. To date, we've raised over $700,000 and acquired more than 7,000 acres."
IN TOUCH WITH NATURE
The next morning began 12 miles north of Eminence, off Highway 19, on the grounds of the Alton Box Club, which was built in the 1930s as a corporate retreat for the Alton Box Board Co. The wood-and-stone structures overlook the river and reflect the rustic architecture popular in park and camp buildings in the first half of the 20th century, earning the complex a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Missouri Conservation Department had owned the property but turned it over to the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages parks and historic sites. That department announced late last year that it will use money from the $180 million settlement with Ameren Corp. over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse to establish Current River State Park.
Don Stier, one of four DNR employees who led a tour of the site, said the historic buildings are within the scenic easement of the national park and will be restored to their original state. About a third of the 806 acres near the river is under federal restriction. New structures, including overnight camper cabins, a small campground and an education center, will be built on the upper two-thirds, out of view of the river.
Denny Bopp, supervisor of the Ozarks Parks District, said the new park will give visitors information on hikes, float trips and other attractions available on the surrounding public lands. Work has begun at the park, and it is scheduled to open in 2010.
"We envision the park will do a lot to bring people in touch with nature, whether it's through cave walks, information on a one-day hike, or an archaeology weekend or backpacking workshop," Bopp said. "We will have connections to other trails on the public lands around us."
The Current will have a landing for floaters to pull in and inspect the new park, although there will not be an access to put into the river from the park.
"People have seen it when floating by on the river, and they're anxious to take a look," Stier said. "The locals all have fond memories of the club."
FOR THE BIRDS
In three days, I floated the most popular stretches of the Current — from Cedargrove eight miles down to Akers, from Akers 10 miles down to Pulltite, and from Pulltite 10 miles down to Round Spring. Persistent rain had the river flowing briskly, a tad murky but still clear enough to see fish darting over the gravel bottom and boulders stranded in the deep green pools.
"Over half of the base flow is spring fed; there's not a lot of rivers in the world where you can say that," said Ladd, who came along for two of the floats. "The river's not pristine, but it's in pretty good shape. If I was a school teacher grading, I'd give it a B."
Ladd said the Conservancy took a biological survey of the river, and its members were "blown away" by what they found.
"There are 35 aquatic species, mostly small fish and mussels, that are globally significant," he said. "Twenty-five of those have their best or only populations on earth in this river. We have all these springs and caves with their species, and the last large tract of upper woodland forest. It's a Shangri-la for our natural heritage, the original living Ozarks."
We had the river largely to ourselves, except for an outdoor recreation class from Wartburg College in Iowa, which was doing the same 28-mile run in canoes. Instructor Jim Miller said the students were finding the Current's twists and turns and chutes and riffles challenging.
