Final kiosk installed at Star City

 I'm going to be honest about this: I'm so glad the final kiosk is finished!

After a number of blisters and cuts and bruises and hours and hours of work, the last of three information kiosks is now in place. (Click for larger views of photos).

I want to thank several people who helped make this idea become a fact: That would include Charlie Huguenard and Joe Douglass at Longview Power Plant for funding, Kevin Nuce and Robert Lloyd at Star City for help in site preparation and Mary Davis with Greenspace Coalition for keeping track of expenses.   Also thanks to Anthony Giambrone for taking the idea to Star City's leadership for support.

This took longer than I expected, but it's hard to do weekend projects such as river cleanups and kiosk construction and also work for WVU.  Regardless: Number one is at Deckers Creek (finished in 2010); number two is at Walnut Street (completed in spring 2012) and the Star City riverfront kiosk is number three (completed in late summer 2012).  I can tell you that the one at Deckers Creek (for which Charlie and Joe actually dug post holes) is definitely working: we've emptied the litter barrel several times this summer.

You can see our messages about litter if you click on the photo to enlarge.  The left side has a river history, an appeal for better public consciousness about litter, and a no wake notice (regarding the Morgantown no wake zone).  The right has DNR information on invasive aquatic fishes and the fish tagging program, sent by Frank Jernejcic of the WV DNR.

Special thanks to Chris Wilson and Biao Qiu who helped with construction and some very tough digging at the Walnut Street location. Aslo Jennie Terman, my daughter, and David Helsabeck helped with the final stages of the Star City installation.

NOTICE: Our river cleanup schedule for September is:  Sept 2, Sept. 9, Sept 16.  If you want to be part of the crew, let me know.  Contact me at tterman@mail.wvu.edu. These will begin at the Morgantown Marina docks at 9 a.m. and we usually finish around 1:30 p.m.

A nice scene

Last Sunday I took a joy ride on The Monongahela Monitor downriver to the Greer fleet, which is just below the power plant on Beechurst Avenue.

I noticed a motor boat along the west bank across from Deckers Creek with a man, woman and two children. The kids and dad were fishing, quietly sharing some quality time in the shade of the big sycamores and paw-paw trees.  I also saw a guy in a kayak fishing.  That's something that takes some coordination, I believe.  Regardless: it was good to see.

I have often thought of the Mon River at Morgantown as our Cheat Late. People are so into recreation on Cheat Lake, but for those of us who live in Morgantown, well, the river's a lot closer.  And now, with our no wake zone from just below the Westover bridge to the lock and dam, it's a lot more peaceful.

An example, pretty good sized cruiser passed me while I was at the Greer fleet at a pretty good clip. He had a jet-ski zooming along behind him.  So, I was curious about what would happen when he went around the bend and encountered the no wake buoy.

It was perfect.  The jet ski did a couple of doughnuts and they both came about and headed back down the river.  Now, just imagine if that buoy and no wake zone were not there.  The guy fishing in the kayak and the family fishing along the west bank would have been pounded by the wake of the cruiser and jet ski.  I think everyone was well served by our new no wake zone.

Oh, I also watched a heron.  These birds seem to pose for me: I came up to one along the west bank across from Ruby McQuain Park and watched it spread its great wings and fly to a branch further upriver. Then, it posed, its long neck and legs, dagger-like beak and top crest, gray and back-lit against the green trees. Then, it flew off again, posing in the air, swooping just above the water, reflecting in the river, to another branch, where, of course, it posed again as my boat overtook it. Herons along the Mon River do this; flying as you approach, then posing, then flying, posing, flying, as your boat get closer again and again.

The folks in fast boats, bouncing everyone around as they pass, don't get to see this.  Too bad, I guess.

Hey, maybe I'll see you down at the river!

Anyone lose a pickup bed liner?

We wondered how something like this bed liner came to be in the Monongahela River. No good answers. It's among the largest items we've pulled out; probably second to the car bumper from a couple years ago. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Anyway, we had a good day of "fishing" for litter on the Mon and really got the Morgantown harbor area looking good.  In this photo you see the liner and our other ''catch" with crew members Carol on the left and Hannah on the right.

Thanks, Carol and Hannah. They worked hard, as you can see in this photo, left. Each bottle, Bud Lite can, etc., must be picked up individually. There's no other way. So this is labor intensive, and it takes a real commitment to the environment and the Earth and the Monongahela River, to get this job done.

Below, the crew cleaning up the decks of the Monongahela Monitor back at the dock after our Saturday morning effort.

What's up at Opekiska Dam

My wife and I took a trip to the southwest portion of Monongalia County on Tuesday and stopped by Opekiska Dam. The photos (click them for closer view) I took show a lot of debris ready to come downriver to places like Morgantown. The trees and tree limbs are natural. But look closely at all the bottles, plastic, tires, etc. This shameful. What's worse, little is being done about it. (Please note the US flag and the Corps of Engineers flag flying over this mess across the river).

We try to clean up what we can during the summer months in the Morgantown area. But looking at this was disturbing and, I'll admit, disheartening. That we simply flush this down stream, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, is wrong. It's just wrong. That it's there in the first place is a statement about humans and their ways. It's there. It's waiting to come our way.

But here's the interesting point. There is a crane on top of the dam superstructure, right above this mess. That crane (see below) could dip this stuff up, deposit it on the shore for disposal - probably in two or three days of work. But guess what? The crane doesn't work. That's the word I received from a representative of the Corps of Engineers. So, status quo.

All this is coming down the river, down the river and out into the oceans. The Corps of Engineers doesn't have money to fix the crane, so there's no use discussing it. Seems like the same kinds of answers always come from that direction. Well, perhaps they always have the same kinds of funding problems. I don't know. But I'd be willing to get a petition drive going to get money to fix the crane and get this mess out of the river.



After working in the Morgantown area to clean up the litter since 2005, I now realize that the answer to the problem is here at Opekiska Dam. The litter should be removed here before it even heads down to Hildebrand and Morgantown. I should say the solution to the problem is to not have it in the river in the first place, but that's a long-term effort. For the short term, we need to do something here. And I believe the US Corps of Engineers should be part of the solutions.

Still Cleaning Up

Here's a Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis). Saw several of these along the bank during the cleanup.

My river cleanup is continuing. Here's some of the latest. Pretty much the same as always, plastic, balls, cans and bottles. The area around the Morgantown Wharf District is quite clean now. This weekend I worked the area above the dam.




Before,and After on the deck of The Monongahela Monitor.






And, going through the lock at Morgantown, I took the photo below of the Corps of Engineers repair equipment. Some work is being done on the dam.


News: I have several WVU students signed up to work on river projects this fall. During the winter, we will be recruiting youth organizations from around the county to do litter cleanups on the roads (before it goes into the streams in the spring).

Down on the river in June

We are having some hot weather this June, but it's not bad. I had my first swim in the Mon Saturday. We did a litter cleanup and I was washing down the Monongahela Monitor's deck and dropped my bucket into the river. As I saw it disappearing, I jumped in and grabbed it. It was great.

The Farley family joined me again. Ben, with mom Michelle and dad Rick Farley. We gathered in more than we expected. Thanks, you guys!

It is a little disconcerting to see what's in store for us though. Here is a photo by Mike Hardy who took his boat up through Morgantown Lock Sunday morning (my wife Maureen and I saw him go up while we were having a coffee on the Mon Monitor in the shade below the dam). Mike went up through Hildebrand Lock and said he'd never go again.

Do you see the bass competition boats in that mess? (Click to enlarge). I wonder, Mike said, what they were thinking. Probably the same as you Mike: they are going to leave never to return. Something must be done! There is a meeting about this Friday.

Another photo from Saturday's cleanup. Note the blue barrel, tire and, yes, a small refrigerator....

Pretty, not so pretty

Whenever I talk about the river to people, I try to give equal parts of positive and negative. If I'm complaining about litter and talking about clean-ups, I also try to emphasize the beauty and wonder of the river and the environment in and around it, and the people I get to meet out there.

Last Sunday we had an lovely day, cool and clear, for August, which around here is known for being pretty hot and humid.

Photo above: The gates close behind us as we lock up river, leaving the Morgantown harbor to clean up litter above the dam.

So, that's the theme here. Beauty and the beast. Beauty first. I don't understand some people who run up and down the river at full throttle, causing a big wake and lots of noise. Especially those on jet-skis. I guess if I were young that's what I'd do, but I'd miss a lot. Like the flowers. Always in the spring and summer there are flowers and trees blooming on the river banks.

Photos right and below: I don't know what these are called. They are all over the banks during August.










I wish I knew more flower names. I spend way too much time playing the banjo, I guess, or I'd learn something useful.

In the spring, the black locust blooms, white flowers like bunches of albino grapes cascading from the early spring yellow green leaves and scenting the air with perfume.

I wanted to get a photo of a bright red flower that's blooming now -- a tiny thing I've heard called Indian's paintbrush. I'll try again next weekend.

So, that's the beauty. Here's the beast: Well, this pretty little pink flamingo (below) is nice. It was in the litter we found along the west bank just above the lock.

This is all material that was caught by the Morgantown dam, then floated upriver, ending up in a pile along the shore.I'm happy to say we've very nearly eliminated most of it in this particular location.

It's hard work and pretty boring, but we love the "before and after" effect. Maureen and I were pretty tired when we finished this area, having moved 17 bags of litter, picking up each bottle, can, cigarette lighter, cup, ball individually. And DEP bags are very large. So, it's gone now and the osprey flying overhead says, "Hey, down there, thanks a lot: I live here and it looks so much better now." Also, if you go down to the river in the Morgantown area much, you'll notice it's pretty litter free. Well there's a resaon for that. I don't think you'll find it to be so in many other areas.

One other thing: Please join the Facebook cause.