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Ever been to the headwaters?

Posted on August 31, 2007 | Filed Under Northeast, Outreach, Stories

Chelsea Lane-Miller, Associate Director of Outreach
Outreach Events and Activities

Last week I said I was going to write a couple of blogs about Vermont rivers. Well, this blog is about a river in New Hampshire — not quite Vermont, but pretty close!

I suppose there are a lot of rivers whose headwaters begin somewhere up on a mountain, but I’ve only ever been to one that I know of, and that’s the Ammonoosuc River, which starts at Lake of the Clouds on Mt. Washington. I climbed to the Lake of the Clouds (and to the top of Mt. Washington, which, incidentally, is less exciting to me than Lake of the Clouds) again just a few weeks ago.

It was a lovely day. My uncle and his dog, Willi, started first. We knew we were on the right trail when we came to a stick sign in the trail that said “Willi”, and then “was”, and then “here.” That dog — he’s a clever one. Leaving us messages like that.

The trail is pretty steep for a while — the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail is the shortest trail to the top, which means it’s pretty steep. But, it’s a beautiful way up. You follow the river at first, and then turn away from it as you climb up stairs, but then come back to it. I love this part of the hike — the water is stair-stepping down the granite, and is so clear and clean. You also have a pretty good view (if it’s a clear day) of some of New Hampshire’s other excellent mountains.

Anyways, we soon made it to the Lake of the Clouds — two lakes that are the headwaters of the Ammonoosuc River. The Appalachian Trail will take you to this place, too.

For some reason, it’s so cool to me that a river could start all the way up on a mountain slope. A very beautiful beginning. It’s neat to think, too, of the long journey the water takes from those lakes all the way to the Connecticut River, and then down the Connecticut River all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

We left Lakes and headed around Mt. Washington (most people just head straight to the top, so if you go on some of the trails that circle Mt. Washington, you often find them deserted. On this day, it almost looked like we were hiking somewhere in Scotland or Ireland, perhaps. It was gray, a little foggy, and the amber tundra sort of glows beneath it. Makes you feel as though you’re out in the howlin’.

We hiked along the Alpine Garden Trail next, and were pleasantly suprised to find alpine blueberries and cranberries waiting for us at our lunch site. They were scrumptious. Willi liked his berries and his carrots. We all had window seats.

Then, we did in fact summit the mountain. The clouds broke, too, while we were on the top, which was a treat. We saw many flip flops — what we believed to be a sure sign that their wearer had driven to the top until we met one man who had, in fact, walked to the top in his green, flimsy flip flops.

Willi ate a big dog biscuit. He is so good at making friends, especially on hikes.

Then, we headed down the Jewel Trail (which always seems to take so much longer than going up!) As we came into earshot of the river running down the side of the mountain again, I thought to myself, there is more than one way to enjoy a river!

I had always considered my time on rivers as something different and separate from my hiking and backpacking. They are different activities, but water is an important element for both. Can you think of anything better than soaking your feet in a cold mountain stream after a long hike…

What runs, but never walks?… — Unkown

Posted on August 31, 2007 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“What runs, but never walks? What has a mouth, but never speaks? - A river. — Unknown

*The creation and maintenance of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) has destroyed more than 20,000 acres of buffering coastal wetlands that could have reduced Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge and spared lives, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to close the navigation channel. The health, safety and welfare of coastal Louisiana residents depend on the Corps’ willingness to heed the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. Speak out and urge the Corps to properly close the MRGO. Comments are due Tuesday, September 4. Act now

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Senator Craig and Pacific salmon

Posted on August 30, 2007 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Northwest, River Renewal

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

The Vancouver Columbian reports that the debate over how to restore salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers may be affected, should Idaho Senator Larry Craig resign.

Reporter Erik Robinson writes,

Craig has long pushed for greater deference to hydropower interests in the federal government’s long-running effort to balance federal dams against imperiled salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The three-term senator has criticized decisions by U.S. District Judge James Redden, who has ruled that various federal plans to operate the dams violate the Endangered Species Act.

Read more about our efforts to restore salmon runs and help local communities in the Columbia-Snake basin.

Save the date: Sept 20 in Portland

Posted on August 30, 2007 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Events, Northwest, Outreach, River Renewal

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

Here’s the poster advertising our fun and free event at the Lucky Lab in Portland on September 20. It’s for the Portland premiere of our short film about the restoration of the Sandy River!

(download a PDF)

Tell the Army Corps to Close Hurricane Highway

Posted on August 30, 2007 | Filed Under Alerts, Deep South

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Alert

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) — the controversial navigation channel that funneled the storm surge into New Orleans and greatly worsened flooding — is still a threat to the city’s safety. The creation and maintenance of the MRGO has also destroyed more than 20,000 acres of buffering coastal wetlands that could have reduced Katrina’s storm surge and spared lives, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to close the channel.

Scientists from Louisiana State University estimate that the wall of water that hit New Orleans moved at 8-10 ft/sec through sections of the MRGO — 3 to 4 times faster than it would have over natural wetlands. The MRGO remains a grave threat to surrounding communities as long as it remains open.

After much pressure, the Corps has developed a plan that will help protect and restore the wetlands lost to the MRGO, but this plan does not fix the storm surge threat to Greater New Orleans. The health, safety and welfare of coastal Louisiana residents depend on the Corps’ willingness to heed the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. Urge the Corps to properly close the MRGO. Comments are due Tuesday, September 4, so please act today!

Big problems for world’s biggest hydro dam

Posted on August 30, 2007 | Filed Under Clean Water, Flood Protection, Global Warming, Northwest, Sewage

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

Messing with nature can bring some hefty consequences. See, for example, the “Hurricane Highway” built by the Army Corps of Engineers that worsened flooding in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Another example in the news today is China’s Three Gorges Dam. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports on a host of problems plaguing the world’s largest hydroelectric dam:

“Now, a year after completion, the project has new problems — including landslides, water pollution and suggestions that the dam could contribute to the very flooding it was built to prevent.�?

Frequent fluctuations in water levels have triggered landslides –

“Local officials worry that a whole mountainside here could collapse into the water, killing residents and threatening a vital shipping lane.�?

Water pollution is also a concern –

“The urbanization that accompanied the dam’s construction led to more raw sewage and fertilizer runoff, which collects in the reservoir rather than flushing downstream.�?

This pretty much sums it up:

“The emerging issues at Three Gorges illustrate this rapidly industrializing country’s efforts to control its environment, and how the attempts to overcome them can worsen the problem.�?

Obviously, the economic development of China and how it manages its rivers are complex issues (see my blog post about guide and China-rivers-expert Jim Norton).

Still, the Wall Street Journal article is a good reminder that working with nature can be a lot smarter, safer and cost-effective than working against it.

People always ask us, ‘Are things better or worse today?’ … The Delaney Sisters

Posted on August 30, 2007 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“People always ask us, ‘Are things better or worse today?’ Well, some things are better and some things are worse…But there are a lot of problems in the world today that no one dreamed of when we were young…Why clean water was just something you took for granted.” — Sisters Sarah and Elizabeth Delaney (written in 1994 at ages 103 and 105, respectively.)

* Today, communities can’t take clean water for granted given that there is no consistent national standard requiring sewage system operators to alert the public about spills and overflows. Learn more

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

One Man’s Trash is Another’s… Well, Trash

Posted on August 29, 2007 | Filed Under Cleanup, Events, Southwest, Stories, Wild and Scenic

Brad DeVries, National Media Director
River Stories

Late last month I enjoyed a beautiful day out along the banks of Fossil Creek, helping out in a river clean up along the banks of America’s best comeback river story! The cleanup roster read like a who’s who of Arizona conservation: The Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, Arizona Wilderness Coalition, Arizona Riparian Council, Republicans for Environmental Protection, Friends of the Forest, Friends of Arizona Rivers, Yavapai Trails Association, Stewards of Public Lands, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Arizona Wildlife Federation, all participated. The Mayor of Camp Verde, Tony Goia, also pitched in.

What I noticed most - aside from the verdant green swath along the creek as it cut through the arid valley - was that rivers and creeks seem to attract people for all sorts of reasons. Fishing and boating, of course, and the simple pleasures of hiking, bird watching and sightseeing.

But rivers across the country seem to attract other activities as well, like illegal dumping.

What is it about a river that someone could look at and see a perfect final resting place for that Dodge Dart that nobody ever got around to getting running again, or an appliance store’s worth of broken washing machines, or just plain old, everyday garbage?

Is it a hope that high water might carry the junk away sometime soon, and make it someone else’s problem? In some places, is it that decades of industrial activity have left riverbanks a wasteland, suitable mainly for more discards? Or is it simply that rivers, by carving valleys, make for gradient and more convenient roadside tipping?

Whatever the reason, it was obvious that at least one area along Fossil Creek was seen as a dumping ground for decades, and that the presence of old junk along a river tends to draw new garbage and new dumping to itself.

Along with old car parts, we found plenty of old automotive oil cans - opened with either a church key opener or the punch spout I remember from family driving vacations when I was very young. There were also food cans - including condensed milk cans that were sealed with a lead solder plug about a quarter inch across. With lead paint on toys in the news that week, I had to wonder about the effect of using lead for decades to seal milk and other canned foods!

But the new trash was the most vexing - everything from bottle caps, aluminum cans and fishing line to diapers. Hey, just because the box says “disposable,” it doesn’t mean you can throw a diaper out where ever you want!

River cleanups give me mixed feelings. It’s hard to match the sense of accomplishment and connection to your home river that you get when an entire community turns out for a big deal like National River Cleanup Week. But part of me can’t turn loose of the anger and annoyance at people who come to rivers not to enjoy them or clean them up, but to dump things they don’t want to ever see again.

A watershed is that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system… — John Wesley Powell

Posted on August 29, 2007 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“A watershed is that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community.” — John Wesley Powell

*American Rivers and NOAA are partnering to improve or remove road culverts that damage streams and block salmon runs in Washington. See before and after pictures

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Download FREE music & help save rivers!

Posted on August 28, 2007 | Filed Under Technology

Chas Offutt, Director of Internet Strategy
Technology & Rivers

We’re very excited to launch our new online program, the eRiver Community.

Though the eRiver Community is still in *beta* phase, we are live! Now anyone who joins the eRiver Community (or logins) on www.AmericanRivers.org will have full access to a suite of online goodies…including Dread Clampitt’s newest album, Geaux Juice.

In giving away free music, we’re asking folks to join our fight to save the rivers we all love. Our eRiver Community is a growing tide of river lovers across the country who are standing up for healthy rivers.

We are very proud to be partnering with Dread Clampitt, a band that will undoubtedly make you want to “kick yer shoes off and dance!” The American Rivers partnership with Dread Clampitt began in June 2007 when they were the “official” band of our first Blue Trail dedication on the Congaree River in South Carolina (see the highlights on YouTube - and listen to Dread Clampitt too!).

In addition to music downloads, we’re excited to also offer calendar wallpapers, screensavers, premium content, discounts and much more.

Join the eRiver Community today or login now to take advantage of the many online benefits of standing up for healthy rivers.

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