Park Service Seeks to Encourage Outdoor Activities Along River
Towns
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
13 November 2011
By Jeff Pikulsky
The National Park Service is lending a helping hand to California
Borough and other communities along the Monongahela River with
hopes of getting residents more in touch with the waterway through
canoeing and kayaking.
The Upper Monongahela River Towns Program has been selected to
receive assistance from the park service's Rivers, Trails and
Conservation Assistance Program.
U.S. Rep. Mark S. Critz, D-Johnstown, recently announced that the
park service selected the River Towns Program from a competitive
field of requests.
It is one of four new projects receiving assistance throughout
Pennsylvania.
The River Towns Program is designed to improve the connection
between the towns and the river as a source of recreation and
business opportunities.
The RTCA staff will help create "Paddles on the Mon," a series of
events designed to encourage exploring and enjoying the river in
canoes and kayaks.
RTCA manager Peggy Pings said the goal of the events, which are
set to begin in the spring, is to encourage residents to connect
with the sights and sounds of the river in an intimate way.
"Each one will start out at one of the river towns and they'll be
themed," she said. "We'll be developing the dates and the themes."
RTCA will work with an already established pool of
environmentalists in each community, Pings said.
"With Upper Mon River Towns, they have student conservation
association interns helping, one for each of the river towns," she
said. "They already have a good number of boots on the street. So,
my role for this project is going to be running river trips."
What's and who's involved
The Upper Mon River Towns Program is a two-year partnership
between the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Student
Conservation Association that is financially backed by The Claude
Worthington Benedum Foundation.
McCollom Development Strategies developed the River Towns Program,
which involves the California, Fredericktown and Millsboro areas
in Washington County, Point Marion in Fayette County and
Greensboro and Rice's Landing in Greene County.
A press release from Critz's office stated, "This project will
help to further the goals of the Americas Great Outdoors
initiative, supporting community efforts to increase access to
outdoor recreation, and to cultivate stewardship and appreciation
of America's natural and recreational resources through innovative
partnerships."
One of those partnerships is already taking shape in California
Borough, Pings said, where a student-run environmental group from
California University of Pennsylvania has expressed interest in
working with the RTCA.
Pings said RTCA will work with the Cal U Eco Action club to set up
events on the Mon.
"They have a small fleet of canoes or kayaks. They haven't done
any river trips yet," Pings said of the group. "I think before
winter hits, we'll probably have a little trip out there and give
the trainers a day on the water."
Pings said paddling trips will promote river recreation,
environmental awareness, riverside businesses and tourism.
"The idea is to try to encourage more paddling," Pings said. "You
really can get closer to the river when you are in a canoe or
kayak and you can appreciate what the river offers you a little
more easily.
"It just is more of a serene kind of experience, where you really
get to see things and feel things you wouldn't in a motor boat."
Up a creek with a paddle
Pings said the Harry Enstrom Chapter of the Izaak Walton League
of Greene County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
environmental conservation, is sponsoring the paddling trips.
Participants will need to bring their own equipment and vessels.
"They need to bring their own boats, their own life jackets, their
own paddles," Pings said. "They're kind of self-sufficient trips,
but we all set up the shuttles together. A lot of people don't
know where to put on and take off on the river and where to set up
a shuttle."
Encouraging outdoor activities is the main thrust, Pings said.
"That's the main thing, to get people out of their living rooms,
out on the water, to appreciate what the rivers are like and maybe
start caring for it and understanding where their water comes from
and goes," she said. "Maybe some of them will get their own boats,
go out on their own and become entrepreneurs and get into renting
canoes or kayaks. On the Mon River, there are not that many people
who canoe and kayak, so it's an opportunity waiting to happen."
Through the RTCA Program, the National Park Service helps develop
new trails and greenways, and protect and manage open space and
improve rivers.
This year, the RTCA has helped more than 175 communities
nationwide leverage $1.65 million in funds for targeted projects.