Group seeks to enhance river use

While spending time on the Little Pee Dee River appears to be a popular pastime of many, one organization is hoping to increase time spent on the river and conservation awareness through an environmentally friendly paddle trail. The organization American Rivers is looking to help provide a “Blue Trail” or paddle trail that would be tailor-made for those who enjoy the quiet serenity of self-propelled boating. Such a trail would incorporate the necessary landings and shoals.

“One of the things that we have seen with this program nationwide, is that this can be a great example of how nature can reclaim itself if given the chance,” American Rivers representative Matt Rice said. Rice was speaking with a group gathered at Mullins-based Wildlife Action, Inc. Wildlife Action is an outdoors education center on the Little Pee Dee River. One of the main goals of American Rivers, especially with regard to the Little Pee Dee River, is to protect the natural integrity of the river through community action and to shelter the heritage that the river represents, Rice said. “American Rivers believes that it is impossible to have a protected river without having the community united in a way that will create one voice for the community,” he added.

Some residents believe a “Blue Trail” would provide the needed respite from jet-skis and fast boats that routinely cause wakes along the shore, which in turn cause a great deal of soil erosion. “There are so many fast moving boats and jet-skis that will just fly by and not give any caution to the wakes that they are causing,” Miona Blunt, who lives along the more Southern bank of the Little Pee Dee, said at the meeting. The 12 or so residents gathered said they were concerned with the amount of pollution that has occurred within the Little Pee Dee area and are looking to help clean up the mess.

“Sometimes I will just find trash that people throw in the bed of my truck and along the river and it’s like they just don’t care about the way that the river looks at all,” Giles Page, a frequent “river steward,” said. River stewards are those who prefer self-propelled boating. “It requires so little effort to clean up after yourself when you’re on the river, but some people just aren’t interested in that.”

American Rivers began in 1973 in Denver, Colo., as an organization with only 63 staff members who decided there was a need for a charity-based organization to help conserve rivers. With an overall budget of $9.3 million, American Rivers is one of the top charities in the country and is noted as one of the most dynamic river assistance organizations in the country, according to the group’s Web site at http://www.americanrivers.org. While American Rivers can lead the initial charge to get the community organized in creating a “Blue Trail,” the citizens who would benefit from the trail and the presumptive secondary benefits must shoulder the brunt of the work.

“American Rivers is not designed to be able to shoulder a load like that,” Rice said. “We can gear the community up and provide the needed information on how to start a ‘Blue Trail,’ but we can’t do the heavy lifting.” Rice also said that with the work the community puts in, it will reap the benefits that come from having a “Blue Trail.” “Through case study, after case study, we have found that these sorts of trails improve local economies, drinking water, recreational support, and in many cases, protects the river from flooding,” Rice said.

Many feel that the a trail on the Little Pee Dee River would fetch a great deal of tourist dollars that could benefit the community. One of the things that we have found, is that statistically, people who use canoes and kayaks seem to spend more money in an area than other types of people who like to use the river, Rice said.