Beautiful Rivers = County Revenue
A Plan to Improve St. Joseph County's Green Infrastructure
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St. Joseph County, Michigan has more than 150 miles of navigable waterways – more than any other county in Michigan -- and paddling enthusiasts know it! People can access our rivers for a couple of hours of paddling or they can spend all day on the river and come out at sunset exhausted and happy. Weekend visitors to St. Joseph County paddle our six main rivers (Fawn, Portage, St. Joseph, Rocky, Prairie, and White Pigeon) along with our sundry streams and creeks and spend money at restaurants, hotels, campsites, convenience stores, and gas stations while they’re here. It is no small comment to say that our rivers generate revenue for our county!
However, there is a significant amount of debris laying in our rivers that obstructs paddlers and mars the view. Dead trees have fallen into our rivers making our rivers almost completely impassable. Garbage such as old cars, tires, and trash line broad swaths of our rivers too.
This is why the St. Joe County Conservation District views improving the condition and accessibility of our waterways as an essential part of its mission, v-a-v, “community development through conservation”. Indeed, according to the MSU Land Policy Institute “green infrastructure (such as waterways) has been shown to increase recreation-related businesses, as well as local service businesses" (May 20, 2010) in communities that invest in it.
To that end, the St. Joe County Conservation District intends to take the next few years to clean all 150-miles of our rivers and help stimulate economic development by increasing public access to the rivers through the construction of stable, safe, handicapped accessible kayak and canoe “ramps” onto our rivers. 
History &
Current Objectives
During the summer of 2008, the Conservation District completed a river cleanup project on the Prairie River, Nottawa Creek, Fawn River, and Rocky River. Thirty-four miles of river were cleaned and some 700 pounds of garbage were removed during that summer. In continuation of that project, the Conservation District cleaned another 21.6 miles of river during the summer of 2011. It further intends to complete an additional 95.9 miles of river cleanup during the summers of 2012 and 2013. 
At the same time, the Conservation District intends to solicit funds and work with local, state, and federal agencies for the construction of handicapped accessible “ramps” onto our rivers. Six access points will be constructed by the spring 2014, funds dependent.
Project Specifics
Downed Ash Trees: Ash trees have begun to die across our county. Like a wave moving from East to West, sick, dying, and dead ash trees are starting to be a menace. At about a rate of 2-3 miles per year, ash trees are dying in our county. And they're falling into our rivers!
Click here for pictures of the work performed during the winter of 2011 to remove downed trees on the Prairie, Rocky, Fawn and White Pigeon Rivers.
A local forester predicts that falling ash trees will be a problem for our rivers for at least the next 10 years. St. Joe County Conservation District’s River Cleanup project is intended to be a long-term project with funds available as needed to cover expenses associated with trimming downed trees as they fall.
Garbage: Another section of river favored by less experienced kayakers is the Prairie River near Centreville’s Mill Pond. This section of the river is 1.3 miles long. For an inexperienced paddler, this safe, short (paddle this area in about 2 hours), slow moving current area is perfect for gaining skills without too much risk. This section of the Prairie River is filled with garbage AND downed limbs. There is, in fact, an abandoned 1950’s Chevy rusting along the Prairie River that needs to be removed.
The Rocky River, between Howardsville and Mohney Lake Rd., is also filled with garbage and downed trees. This section of the river is estimated to be 8.6 miles long. It is estimated that it will take up to 35 hours to trim downed trees on the Rocky River. Many day paddlers (and fisherman) use the Rocky River in this section because of its easy accessibility, current, and unpopulated shoreline. This is an area, most especially, needing a thorough cleaning. It was not cleaned during 2008.
Handicapped Accessibility: Kayaking is a sport favorable to a person who uses a wheelchair – if you can get into a wheelchair and move, you can get into a kayak and move. “Paddle until your arms are tired” should be the motto! In addition to the Prairie River between Centreville and Lutz Rd., the St. Joseph River is perfect for the inexperienced, learning, or handicapped paddler. Both rivers have slow moving currents and enough historical markers and fish to keep people coming back. If there were no obstructions lining these rivers a paddler could be on the water all day.
However, leaving these rivers is a big problem for people with disabilities. People with disabilities must be carried out if they want to paddle in our county. As part of a long-term investment in our county’s tourism industry, it is proposed that the St. Joe County Conservation District raise funds for the design, permitting, and installation of six handicapped accessible access points on our rivers. With these access ramps in place, St. Joseph County could heavily advertise that we not only have 150 miles of navigable river (more than any other Michigan county) but handicapped accessible rivers ready for the paddling enthusiast!
Project Timeline
Year 1 Goals: We have accomplished our FIRST Goal! On April 20, 2011, the St. Joe County Conservation District had completed tree trimming on all 37.5 miles of river, making the Prairie River between M-66 and Centreville, a large section of the White Pigeon river between the State Line and Vistula Road, and all of the Fawn River at the bottom of the county completely passable by boat. Volunteers helped us reach this goal, having contributed 368 hours to this effort.
Our next goal is to remove trash from these same sections of river during the summer of 2011.
River water levels are again quite low in late summer. River banks are also relatively dry at this time of year making it easier for volunteers to haul trash to the road. Late summer is when we expect to have volunteers help us remove trash from the rivers. The order in which we work will coincide with the order in which trees were trimmed during the winter, that is, the Prairie first, the Fawn River as it enters and exists our county south of Sturgis, and then the White Pigeon River to the county line. It is estimated that we’ll pull 1.5 tons of garbage out of the rivers during August and September. It is further estimated that this will take 500 volunteer hours to complete.
We
accomplished our NEXT goal on September 17, 2011, the Conservation
District cleaned 21.60 miles of river, pulled 6,700 pounds of metal, 24
tires, 3 methanphetamine debris sites, and nearly 1,000 pounds of
garbage (such as bottles, construction wood, plastic containers, and
cement blocks) from the Prairie River, Fawn River, and the White Pigeon
River. Volunteers helped us reach this goal, having contributed 466.75
hours to this effort.
An agreement to install the first handicapped accessible launch into our rivers has been made between the St. Joe County Conservation District and the Colon Parks Committee. Our first installation is scheduled for 2012 and it will be at the new Colon Sturgeon Lake park. We are currently fundraising for this installation. It is estimated that this will cost $25,000-$30,000.
Year 2 Goals: Having successfully completed a volunteer garbage pickup project during 2011, our plan for 2012 is to start on the Portage River - May 12th at 10:00 am (starting at the Portage Lake public access and ending at the Parkville Road bridge); Prairie River - June 9th at 10:00 am (starting at the Canoe Park in Centreville and ending at Hoshel Road Canoe Camp); Prairie River - June 23rd at 10:00 am (starting at Middle Colon Road bridge and ending at Needham Road bridge); White Pigeon River - July 14th at 10:00 am (starting at the US-131 bridge and ending at Blue School Road bridge); Rocky River - July 28th at 10:00 am (starting at the Floating Bridge Road bridge and ending at the US-131 bridge/Brewsters; Nottawa Creek - August 11th at 10:00 am (starting at the Shorts Road bridge and ending at Fulton Road bridge); St. Joe River - August 25th at 10:00 am (starting at the Farrand Road bridge and ending at the Jacksonburg Road bridge); Fawn River - September 8th at 10:00 am (starting at the Harlsey Square Road bridge and ending at the Fawn River Road bridge).
A Volunteer Party is scheduled for October 6th. Details will be announced.
During 2013, we will identify what next sections of river to complete and schedule this work.
We will also continue to fundraise for the installation of handicapped accessible ramps. Provided we have sufficient funds and requisite approvals, priority will be given to the installation of a ramp at the Constantine dam during summer 2013. The installation of ramps at Mendon, at the Sturgis dam, and at the White Pigeon dam will occur as approvals are reached and funds become available. Construction of all access points will hopefully be completed by summer 2014.
Long-Term (4+ years) Goals: It is assumed that river cleanup work, after a complete sweep of the county’s 150 miles of river by the conclusion of 2014, can be completed more swiftly in years to come as what would be found in the rivers thereafter would be new debris (and not so much of it). A long-term goal for this project in year four + would be to be capable of doing cleanup work on almost half of the county’s rivers per year into the future. Experience, economies of scale, and a dedicated group of volunteers should be able to match this goal.
As was mentioned before, downed trees impede paddlers. It is the St. Joe County Conservation District’s intention to continue to have reserve funds available to pay professionals to trim downed trees in the rivers as needed throughout the coming years. High winds and dying/dead trees can be expected for years to come.
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If you have any questions or concerns about the St. Joe County Conservation District's River Cleanup/Access Project, please contact Robert Perry, at 269-467-6336, ext. 5, email: robert.perry@mi.nacdnet.net or John Nelson, at 269-599-3483, email: jnelson22@charter.net.