The Shadow
Dear Editor,
Now that the year is winding down, I thought it would be a good idea to get out a report regarding our Jackson River Preservation Association (JRPA) activities during the past year, so here goes:
1. Pulses – By now, most of our members know that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) releases 3.500 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Gathright Dam once a month, beginning in June and ending in October. These releases are coordinated with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), and WestRock, and come about because of pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up the pollution in the Jackson River below Covington so that the Jackson River can, hopefully, be removed from the “impaired streams” category.
The results of the pulses are somewhat mixed. Clearly, some of the “pollution” below Covington is being flushed downstream but there are concerns about stream bank erosion and some are concerned about possible adverse impacts on the fishing (Rainbow and Brown trout), although tests to date by the VDIF indicate a healthy fishery.
The JRPA continues to meet with the USACE and the state agencies as testing is going on. I encourage JRPA members who have comments about this issue to get in touch with me.
2. The Proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) – Since the JRPA voted to oppose this pipeline, citing probable damage to the Jackson River and its watershed, a lot has happened. The JRPA put me on the Steering Committee of the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA), which is an organization made up of dozens of groups and outdoor organizations opposed the ACP. The ABRA Steering Committee meets by telephone conference every other Thursday or on the call of the chair.
The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked many of the permits previously and improperly issued in the rush to do Dominion’s bidding.
I have said before that it is a shame when state and federal agencies “roll over” in their haste to do Dominion’s bidding. So far, only trees have been cut on the right-of-way in Virginia but Dominion is pushing in every possible way to begin construction.
The ACP is already estimated to cost over $7.5 billion and Dominion plans to pass this cost through to its customers. If you feel so inspired, please write your Senators and Congressmen about this disastrous project as the ABRA CEO suggested. I will keep you posted.
3. Stream Monitoring – Under the capable hands of Karen and John Feldenzer, our stream monitoring program is moving forward. The Izaak Walton League (IWL) is cooperating with us to generate volunteers to help with the “bug” gathering and counting. John is chairman of our committee and both John and Karen are certified to do the testing under the IWL’s Save Our Streams (SOS) program.
Some of you may have seen the front page article in the Virginian Review titled “Alleghany Students Join Efforts to Preserve Quality of Jackson River,” about Ms. Teresa Reed’s Alleghany High School students meeting with the Feldenzers to learn about stream monitoring.
My hope is that we can eventually establish several monitoring stations along the river so we can get a better idea of stream health —but we need volunteers to collect, count and report the “bugs” netted.
If you can help, call John Feldenzer at (540) 520-5539 or me. This is fun stuff, easy to do and very important.
4. The Otters – Word came to me from one of our members that there were otters on the Jackson River which might be filling the fish. That was “the shot heard around the world” and generated a lot of emails, etc.
The bottom line seems to be that although the otters are there, and in fair numbers, the fish population seems to be withstanding their presence so far.
We’ll keep an eye on this potential problem.
5. River Cleanup – The river appears to be relatively clean although I do see trash from time to time. Maybe next spring after the rains, we can organize a floating clean-up.
The Omni Homestead Hotel might help us with this since it is heavily using the river for its guests floats. I have reached out to the Homestead extending an invitation to join the JRPA but so far I have not received a positive response.
6. The Annual Meeting – It was a smashing success, I have heard, and we were honored by having many special guests, including representatives from the USACE, the VDGIF, the DEQ and the IWL.
The meeting was held on the Jackson River at the home of Karen and John Feldenzer, who graciously served as our hosts.
We also had in attendance Sheriff Kevin Hall and his wife and Ann Gardner, commonwealth’s attorney.
It was a great meeting and if you were there, you know we covered most of the above subjects.
As all of you know, the JRPA is a §501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means we can receive charitable donations from members and non-members which are tax deductable.
Our annual dues are only $20 per person, and have not gone up since we started. I would encourage you to donate to the JRPA and, if you know of others who might join us or donate, please encourage them to do so.
Merry Christmas to all – we are doing good work.
Sincerely,
Bill Wilson, President Jackson River Preservation Association Covington
