The St. Joseph County River Cleanup/
Accessibility Project: Our 2011-12 Progress
During the winter of 2011, Jeff Pant, owner of Fawn River Kayak Guide & Rentals was hired by the St. Joe County Conservation District to remove downed trees impeding boat travel. Community volunteers helped "spot" for Jeff as he waded in frigid winter waters to trim trees, helped repair broken equipment, and assisted with harder cuts by providing counter weight and installing wedges as he worked. A big "thank you" goes to Josh Patterson (Albion, MI) and Allan Eagle for helping keep Jeff safe while he worked our rivers this winter.
Just before a horrible tornado blew through our county on Memorial Day weekend 2011, we could claim that Jeff had completly removed downed tree impediments from the Prairie River between Prairie Lake and Centreville, on the Rocky River between Moorepark and Three Rivers, on the Fawn River as it enters and exists the county (south of Sturgis), and on the White Pigeon River as it cuts across the south-eastern quadrant of the county. After this tornado, the St. Joe County Conservation District had to resume trimming trees. By the end of August, we had again removed all of the woody impediments on the Fawn, Prairie, and White Pigeon (up to Vistula Road) rivers.
During August and September, the St. Joe County Conservation District conducted volunteer river cleanup work projects on the Prairie, Fawn, and White Pigeon Rivers. With the assistance of volunteers, we:
Cleaned 21.60 miles of river,
“Clocked” 466.75 volunteer hours on the project (est. value = $3,453.95 [466.75 hrs. @ $7.40/hr]),
Drove 3,204 miles taking equipment, volunteers, and supplies to and garbage out of the rivers,
Received $6,859.00 in in-kind donations towards this project,
Spent $527.33 on food for volunteers and another $3,382.67 on supplies and equipment rentals,
Pulled 6,600 pounds of metal, 24 tires, and an estimated 787 pounds of odds and ends (such as sign posts, plastic tubs, plastic and glass bottles, Styrofoam, and construction wood) from these rivers, and
Earned $857.00 from Omnisource for the metal retrieved from the rivers
Paddlers wishing to travel these sections of river will find a clean and challenging, yet passable path through our rivers.
Below, please find a few interesting pictures from the 2011 River Cleanup project work weekends.