Paddle sports and wildlife benefit from healthy rivers
- Michelle Wood
- November 20, 2019
- 1142
I was one in a packed room of self-proclaimed “river rats” a few weeks ago at the first Statewide Scenic Rivers Advisory Council meeting. I am a member of the Mohican Scenic River Advisory Council and as such had the opportunity to hear from researchers and agency representatives about Ohio’s rivers.
It’s no secret that paddle sports (kayaking and canoeing) is one of the fastest growing segments of the outdoor market. Whereas these types of boats used to be sold at niche outdoor outfitters, now every big box store has a rainbow of affordable plastic boats chained to a wall.
My husband and I started kayaking about 20 years ago. We are fortunate to have two scenic rivers within easy driving distance — the Mohican River and the Kokosing River. Back in the day, we rarely saw another kayak on the Kokosing River, before it had a designated water trail.
Now on the rare occasion we do get on the river on the weekends, there are many kayakers. This is good news, assuming people who use the river will appreciate it and want to keep it clean so that they can continue to enjoy it. The more people who care about water quality will support conservation efforts to increase it statewide.
Back to that scenic rivers meeting a few weeks ago — Those in attendance geeked out on fascinating presentations about hellbenders and freshwater mussels, among others. I wish I could tell you the researchers found positive results about increasing populations of these species, but alas, for the most part that was not the case.
Mussels are amazing creatures. Some have appendages that look like small fish to lure in bigger fish, and then they shoot them full of glochidia, the microscopic larval stage of some freshwater mussels. The fish become the host and spread the glochidia. (It’s slow going otherwise.)
There were some adaptive species of mussels that have increased, but for the most part mussel populations have diminished dramatically since last studied. Sedimentation and loss of riparian habitat (trees along the stream corridor) impact mussels the most.
Hellbenders are large (and I mean large; they can be 12-20 inches long) salamanders that live in clean rivers. Despite reintroduction efforts of hatched young hellbenders, their numbers are still tenuous. The Kokosing River is one of the few in Ohio that supports their population. The researcher showed photos of male hellbenders — they actually are the ones that raise the young — with various legs and pieces of tail missing.
Most of us don’t think of amphibians as being especially fierce, but these guys fight each other to defend their eggs, sometimes to the death, as evidenced by a hellbender spine outside of a nesting hut. Sufficient water conductivity and a minimum of 55 percent of a riparian forest covering within 200 meters of a stream are the keys to successful hellbender populations, and most streams in Ohio fall far short of that.
If you care about the water quality of Ohio’s scenic rivers, here’s an action item that you can take right now. Join the newly formed Ohio Scenic Rivers Association, the effort of former First Lady Hope Taft, my friend Tom Butch of Columbiana County and others.
The OSRA seeks to ensure our scenic rivers are healthy and continue to provide clean water for people and wildlife and a safe place for families to enjoy nature. OSRA is composed of a diverse group of Ohioans, all having the same goal of improving our state’s water resources. The annual cost to join is $25 for an individual or $30 for a family, and increased levels of giving go up from there.
The organization is so new that they do not have a website yet, but those interested can find an application on our website at www.HolmesSWCD.com.