Hatchie Clean up number 2

When we began the clean up on this segment of river, we knew that the river was low. We had 22.5 miles of river we hoped to clean. We had planned to work this section of river simply to provide greater exposure of our volunteers to different sections of the river. That has been a primary goal of mine in working with TSRA.

I hope to expand the understanding of the average outdoor enthusiast to include the concept of the entire river being a unique ecosystem. This system is much larger than just the section of river we are used to experiencing.

Our group of seven boats and fourteen volunteers put in at the TWRA boat ramp at Highway 70 in Haywood County about 7:00 am on Saturday September 18. Did I mention that the river was low? It was 3.2 feet on the Rialto gage (see river stages link on the right).

Launching our boats was eventful and resulted in one volunteer’s boat trailer having a tire and wheel ruined. It turns out that he had to winch the truck and trailer back up the ramp.

The next thing that happened was a snake falling into the boat of another volunteer. The snake hid under the floor decking and could not be removed. No problem…the collective solution was to flood the back of the boat with several inches of water. This would force the snake up to the dry front of the boat. Our volunteer planned to continue the journey and continue cleaning up.

The next thing that happened was another volunteer lost his propeller, stainless steel propeller, for a 40 horse power Yamaha. This is a very expensive item: they NEVER just fall off like this.

Well, then the guy with the snake and the water in his boat ran up on a log…raising the bow…lowering the transom…and flooding the boat…all the way…to the bottom…while the motor was running. All that was above the water was the very end of the bow, the owner…and the snake. They soon parted ways. The boat was salvaged, the motor dried out and the boat returned to the landing under its own power. The volunteer did loose his shoes, an expensive fish finder and his GPS unit.

You keeping track? Trailer tire… $60
Trailer wheel…. $70
GPS unit……… $200
Hummingbird fish finder $300
Stainless steel prop……. $400
Shoes $40

A great day on the Hatchie with friends……PRICELESS

Due to the cleanup operation becoming a survival Man vs. Wild reality episode, our heroic volunteer’s still managed to collect 1,200 pounds of garbage and car tires.

All of this material was recycled by Haywood County. Special thanks are due to Hon. Franklin Smith, Haywood County Mayor and Mr. Clinton Neal, Public works director of Haywood County for all their help. Thanks Mayor! Thanks Clinton! I also want to thank Mrs. Ruth Wallace and the Keep Tipton County Beatiful Commission for working and donating supplies! Thanks Ms. Ruth!

Another thank you goes to Crop Production Services and Mr. Bo Cranford for serving a great BBQ lunch with all the trimmings. Thanks Bo!

Thank you to my friends who let me sucker them into such an adventure. No one was upset with any property damage and all wanted to know when we could do it again. These are truly remarkable people and I am blessed to count them among my friends.

Lastly, I owe a huge thanks to the folks at TSRA, specifically Ms. Lucy Garabrant for making these events possible.

Funding has been made possible through a grant from TWRA and TSRA has helped administer the funds. Thank you TWRA, Thanks TSRA and Lucy!

Stream Clean up ~ Saturday September 18, 2010

Come join us for our next clean up event. We will start at Highway 70/76 in Haywood County. We will be signing up participants starting about 7:30 am at the Highway 70/76 boat ramp.

If you have a life jacket, please bring it along. We will furnish everything else. Haywood County government will collect all of the waste material at the Highway 54 bridge where we will take out.

Crop Production Services will be providing our lunch at the Highway 54 Ramp.

Come join us! See you on the River!

Conner

Track the flood in real time

Over on the right side of this website is a list of links. One link is titled "US Army Corps of Enginreers River Gages". If you double click on this link you will go directly to the Corps of Engineers web site. You can click the link to the side or you can copy and paste the link http://www.mvm.usace.army.mil/ here into your browser.

Once the Corps web site opens, click on the 'Water Control' or 'River Gages' links near the top. From there you can navigate your way to all sorts of interesting information!

The "Hatchie River at Rialto" gage is linked to a satalite. Gage information is automatically downloaded via a link up with a satilite every hour. From there the river stage information (and forcast) is sent right to your computer.

Flooding postpones May clean up event

Due to the vast flooding across the region the hatchie river will be approaching technical "Flood stage" by May 8. This not only has flooded the ramps and parking lots but has made the river much more dangerous.

This is nature. This is part of the ecology of the floodplain that remains un-channelized. Bottom land soils are being replenished and forest ecosystems are being nourished; more ox bow lakes are being born and the water is being oxygenated which is critical for aquatic life.

Visit the site again to check for new dates!

Next Clean Up Event SATURDAY MAY 8

Mark your calendars! The next Hatchie cleanup is in three weeks; Saturday May 8. We will start at Hwy 70/79 in Haywod County and end at Hwy 54.

If you want to volunteer please call me at (901)603-0127. I have one volunteer who has offered to cook our lunch; others have offered to help with registration. There are hundreds of ways you can help! Plus it is a lot of fun!

Earth Day Celebration

Earth Day in Covington was a great day. A cold front moved through the area Friday night. Satuday morning found people doning sweatshirts and jackets under overcast skies. We gave away about 50 oak trees in the 10 am to 2 pm event. We visitied with over one hundred visitors to the TSRA and Scenic Hatchie River booth.

Thanks to the Keep Tipton County Beautiful committee and the Tipton County Museum and Nature Center staff and voulnteers for the hospitality. Mrs Alice Fisher and Mrs. Ruth Wallace and all the other local volunteers made the fantastic day even better!

Thanks!

Easter River Ride

Don't forget; you can click on the photos to enlarge them. Please feel free to copy them to your computer and use them for wall paper!

After church services on Easter Sunday, I felt especially uplifted. It was a beautiful afternoon to be out doors. Now that Daylight savings time has come around, I had time for a nap and a boat ride. I decided to take a little trip on the river to photograph how the buds are turning into leaves! There is an Easter message here but I will leave it for another time.

Another cleanup date is Saturday May 8th 2010! This is the section we will be traveling that day. There was a lot of garbage in the water this day. So there is a lot of work we can do!

Come see the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association booth at the Nature Museum in Covington on the May 17 celebration of Earth Day!