What Can You Do?
By Herschel Finch, Conservation Chairman, PRSC
"A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children." -John James Audubon
When we stop and think about it, “Conservation” seems like a monumentally daunting effort. What can a handful of fisherman possibly hope to accomplish towards conserving our threatened natural resources? Not to mention protecting our waters in particular? We have hundreds of miles of waterways in our area that we all know, hundreds of thousands of square miles of watershed with which most of us have at least a passing familiarity. In reality, there is a lot we can do.
The old adage about thinking globally and acting locally really does apply, but it has repercussions. When we think globally, we have a tendency to recoil and be overwhelmed to the point of inaction. But when we see trash at our landings, an illegal discharge into the river, or someone grading off a massive piece of the river bank on their riparian property, we seem to know what to do. This is exactly what that old bumper sticker means.
A collective effort by everyone just in their own backyards can make a decided difference. Carry trash bags in your vehicle and your and pick up a bagful on the river and at the landing when you take out for the day.
Carry a camera with you on your float trips, not just take a picture of that 20” incher for The Buzz--although that’s a good reason in and of itself--but also, so you can get a shot of that corrugated four-inch pipe a guy is running from his trailer or home on the bank to the river, that odd ‘boil’ on an otherwise flat-water stretch of riverbank, or a picture of the riverbank that’s been torn up by a Bobcat (no not the furry kind)!
Now…what do you DO with these pictures? Send them to Jeff Kelbe, the Shenandoah Riverkeeper if you’re on the Shenandoah, or to Ed Merrifield, the Potomac Riverkeeper, if you’re on the Potomac. Give them dates, times and locations as near as you can as to where they were taken. They have the information and the legal standing to get something done about them. We need to serve as their eyes and ears all along the waterways that we enjoy so much and that they help protect…that WE help to protect. These guys can’t be everywhere all the time. They count on people like us to feed them information, pictures, and help out when surveys need to be done, or problems are observed and support is needed at public hearings, when letters to newspaper editors, Boards of Supervisors, Town Councils and state legislators are needed.
How effective can individual effort be? In December of 2006, Jeff Kelbe received a report from Kenny Langston of about 50-75 dead Horse-Head Suckers down on the main stem of the Shenandoah and Jeff needed help to find out whether this was local event, or perhaps something more widespread. He called on a few of us volunteers, and we spread the word further, and had nearly a full survey from Cootes Store on the North Fork and the town of Shenandoah on the South Fork all along the Mainstem to Bloomery Road …in three days.
Two specific things you can do are:
- Become a member of the Potomac/Shenandoah Riverkeeper organizations. You’ll help support their efforts with your donation, and you’ll be privy to first-hand info on their efforts, fund raising events, and conservation efforts through their newsletters.
- Attend one of their “River watcher” seminars. This will be the best two hours you’ll spend for the river this year. You’ll get a detailed course in what to look for, where to look for it, and what to do with the info and pictures once you have them. You’ll also get a lesson in how to use a test kit, which you will given at the seminar, to monitor the waterways for PH, nitrogen, and phosphorus loads—among other things. This info is also important in protecting our waterways and can give an early warning of potential problems.