INTERESTING TIMES

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.
- John Muir

Paddlers all know that WV has great rivers. The Cheat River has seven free flowing tributaries and many whitewater sections, including the famous Cheat River Canyon where the downriver Nationals were just held. Once a year, in May, boaters and environmentalists from all over the region converge at the Cheat Fest to celebrate the progress we've made in restoring the Cheat and her tributaries to their former wild glory. There are bands and activities and educational booths and a general feeling of joy in the air, each year, when the festival happens beside the Cheat River.

What happened to the Cheat? Coal mining happened. The coal of the region is embedded in sulfur rich rock that causes Acid Mine Drainage to spill into streams and kill all the fish. It takes very careful management to prevent spills and remediate acid leaks where they do occur. Thanks to Friends of the Cheat, this has happened. Friends of the Cheat has taken a gentle but active approach to building consensus among all those who hold a stake in having clean water and healthy fish in the Cheat. They deserve many congratulations for work well done.

1) Avoid TRICLOSAN. It's toxic to nearly everything in our waterways. It must be listed among the active ingredients if it is present in a soap or cleanser. Often it is found in antibacterial soaps.
2) Only buy green cleaning products. Here's a resource.
3) Make your own cleaning products out of vinegar, lemon, etc. Here's their recipe. Ingredients: ¼ cup white vinegar, 2 tsp. baking soda, 3 ½ cups hot water, 20 drops of essential oil (eucalyptus, lemon, or peppermint work great), ¼ cup liquid castile soap.
Mix ingredients in a 32 oz. spray bottle, add castile soap last. More recipes here.

SOURCE
http://www.oeconline.org/our-work/rivers/love-your-river/love-your-river-challenge-green-cleaning

Not a new article:
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/170/
Many thanks to leaves1 where I first read this.
( text: Beyond Hope by Derek Jensen )

The latest Sierra Club project to cross my email is a petition to stop anyone from mining the uranium claims that are inside of 5 miles of Grand Canyon. They say it will cause radiation contamination to the river and everyone downstream. They don't mention how polluted the river already is, or the fact that the radioactive materials leak out of the ground with every rainfall. I wonder if there is some new corporate effort to extract the uranium, or if the claims are in private hands. I'm not saying I agree with the Sierra Club--not enough info yet--but here's what they have to say:
( more )

Turns out the Scouts are not so pro-conservation that they won't sell off tracts of woodlands to developers, or loads of lumber from their "camps", for a pocketful of cash. And there are other distasteful things about them, not the least of which is a long record of homophobia. I learned something of their culture when I was working as a riverguide. While it's important for someone to teach values to the youth, I'm not sure exactly what values are being taught these days by the scouts. Are any of you scouts? My father was an eagle scout. Here's a collection of articles that sheds light on the organization and what they're up to:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/scoutslogging/

This road don't go to Aintry. You done taken a wrong turn.

The Chattooga River........


In the southeast, where I spent many years living and working on the rivers, there is a battle going on over a short section of the Chattooga River. I guided paddle rafts on sections III and IV of the Chattooga, and worked as a safety boater and a bus driver there. I almost quit my job when the company I was working for tried to make me go work on another river. It is a special place. I came to love this river....and still do.
( About the river, it's history, and the current conflict )