Now I’m not trying to imply anything, but the best way to get to know the Sangamon River may not be to sit back in your LaZBoy, prop your feet up on the coffee table, have Fido fetch your slippers and flip open your Mahomet Citizen to read “Notes from the River.”

No, the best way to get to know it is to get out there on it.

Leisurely paddling the Sangamon can be a singularly rewarding experience. Canoeing the cool, winding Sangamon under an intimate canopy of bright green trees and blue skies is a fine escape from the straight county roads and unending horizons of Central Illinois.

But before tossing your Citizen and picking up a paddle, maybe this week reading “Notes from the River” is not such a bad idea.  That’s because this week’s column presents the “unofficial” guide to accessing the Sangamon (meaning, whatever you do, do not try this at home).

The furthest “unofficial” public place upstream of Mahomet where one might reasonably consider dropping a craft in the river is at the Sangamon River Forest Preserve. This Forest Preserve is off CR 600E north of Mahomet near Fisher.  It’s a pretty good walk due West from the parking lot to the river, and the river access, where Wildcat Slough meets the Sangamon, is pretty average. The bank is relatively steep and can be quite slick when muddy and wet. The roots of a convenient tree can provide hand support, and as long as the water is low, putting in here is not too bad. Be careful!

A couple of hours downriver from the Forest Preserve (less than 10 minutes by car) is the Hazen Bridge off CR 2600N. This beautiful old bridge in a wooded setting is a great place to visit, but unfortunately, there is no official parking area and so parking here is, well, nonexistent.  You may be able to wedge your car along beside the road (at your own risk), but better would be to get dropped off here if you plan to launch or to arrange a pick up. 

In contrast to the parking challenges, getting in or out of the water at the Hazen Bridge is pretty easy, with low shallow banks and easy access to the river. The best side is on the east side of the river. Some people hike down the steep embankment on the east side, others come in on the west side, carry their craft over the bridge and walk down; easier, but longer.

The next unofficial public access, about three or four hours by river (15 minutes tops by highway) is at Lake of the Woods.  The best river’s edge “official” parking in this area is at the end of the road leading to the Izaak Walton cabin. But the problem here is getting in the water. With a steep muddy embankment and relatively deep water in certain areas, this is a place to be very careful. The best area is perhaps off to the left a bit (downstream) where the embankment slopes more gently to the river and the river is much shallower. But even here, the muddy bank can be quite slippery when wet, making access a dicey experience. Some people are tempted to get in by way of the spillway creek, but the bank is slick and the bottom is filled with thick, soft, quicksand like muck.

For now, it’s probably best to skip Barber Park and to be aware that that nice convenient boat ramp you can see from Highway 150 across from Barber is private property, so too bad for you (although the owner is a really nice guy!). On the other hand, some riverside property owners, including myself and this one, will sometimes allow river access to USCR members, so join NOW! ($15 annual dues: cheap!)

One of the nicer sites to access the river is under the newly revamped bridge at IL 47/Division Street just outside Mahomet. There is ample parking at the usually empty, but newly revamped Sangamon Greenway parking lot.  Then you can walk down by the bridge to the river. The shore line of the river here is covered with large granite rocks called rip rap. And it could do something like that to your feet if you’re not careful.  But all things considered, the river is fairly shallow near the bank, and the bank is low, and that’s as good as one can expect for accessing the Sangamon for now.

Other people may have other ideas, but the bottom line is, accessing the Sangamon can be difficult and challenging, especially at high water. We do need better access. The USRC is actively working with property owners and local officials to change that. But in order to develop better access points, more people need to be interested in the river, and in order to care about the river you really need to get out there on it. But in order to get out there on it, we need better river access. Which comes first? Always a good question.

But despite the access difficulties, paddling the Sangamon River is always a rewarding and unique experience for this area. So now put down that Citizen and get out there on it! (after reading about County politics, foster parenting, nutrition advice and all that other fun stuff, too, of course).

For more information on accessing the Sangamon and a helpful map, visit sangamonriver.org

Appeared as Notes from the River, Mahomet Citizen, May 3, 2012, by Scott P. Hays

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Spring, 1970: the year many credit with the birth of the modern environmental movement. On April 22 of that year our nation celebrated the first Earth Day.  Earth Day is a worldwide celebration, held on or near the Vernal Equinox, to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment.

And in 1970, here on the Sangamon River somewhere between Decatur and Allerton Park, the “Battle for the Sangamon” had been joined.

The Army Corps of Engineers had a tremendous advantage in being scientific back in those days, mostly due to the name “Engineers” which sounded pretty darned scientific to most folks. So when the Corps presented “scientific” information, many people were inclined to believe them.

However, by Earth Day 1970, reality had begun to show otherwise.

Carlyle Reservoir was constructed on the Kaskaskia River in 1958 in Clinton County to “control flooding and provide recreation” according to the Corps. But in the end that meant that instead of being flooded under 6 feet of water until floodwaters quickly receded, now farmers’ land remained under 6 inches of water for three months, making it impossible to farm. And by 1970, Carlyle Reservoir had caused extensive losses resulting in area farmers’ damage claims against the Corps.

In addition, the reservoir’s banks in the recreational areas around Carlyle had started to erode so badly that signs were posted reading “WARNING DANGER: Caving Bank.” And to control further erosion the Corps filled in the banks with large rocks, changing the signs again to read , “WARNING DANGER: Keep Away from Stone.” Sounds inviting, right?!

The science of the Corps was nothing versus the reality of nature. And ordinary people, deeply committed to saving the planet and their own back yards, began to fight back.

So now it’s the spring of 1970 at the dedication of the latest dam and reservoir on the Kaskaskia River, Lake Shelbyville, Bruce Hannon of the Committee on Allerton Park (COAP) had procured a press pass to the Shelbyvile Dam dedication, so there he was in the front row.

But unbeknownst to the various dignitaries in attendance, including Senators, Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie, and the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, Hannon had planned a surprise. At 2pm, just as the ceremony was to begin, they heard the sound of a small Piper Cub approaching. It was towing a banner with 8 foot high bright red letters that read “Dam the Corps.”  The Piper flew low and slow right past the podium as TV cameras rolled and other cameras flashed. And there was Hannon, smiling silently in the front row.

The honored dignitaries, who had arrived in their own personal airplanes, scrambled their pilots to chase the little Piper away. But the Piper, struggling hard with its very loud engines, was much too slow for them, and all they could do was buzz in and fly past, creating a sort of slow motion aerial dogfight for the dedication guests. It was the lead story that night on the WCIA TV news. 

Lake Shelbyville was of course dedicated anyway. But its design was based on a prediction of severe flooding once in 87 years.  Within four years after construction, severe flooding had occurred five times. With heavy losses, local farmers, initially assured by the ‘scientific’ Corps of Engineers of protection from flooding by these projects, began wishing they had never heard of Shelbyville or Carlyle.

Later in 1970, John Marlin took an interest in the proposed Oakley Dam. He was a senior at the U of I and was an experienced journalist from (as he is fond of saying rather quickly) “Washington, T.C.” (that’s Tazewell County).  Marlin figured this sounded interesting so he’d lend his talents and, in his spare time, he’d have this ill conceived dam licked by the end of his senior year.

Marlin’s approach was to gather the science that would counter the science of the Corps. He enlisted numerous researchers from the U of I and beyond, and by the end of that year he had published “Battle for the Sangamon,” the definitive work on this effort (and incidentally, the source of much of my material here).  But Oakley dam wasn’t going down easy, and John’s work was just beginning. He was to become instrumental in leading opposition to Oakley, which lasted several more years, as well as of the environmental movement in Illinois and in the country.

In the end, as regular readers know (hi, Mom!), there is no Oakley Dam. Oakley exists only as an unseen monument to the extraordinary commitment of ordinary people such as John and Bruce and thousands of others like them. And now the torch passes to you.

The point of Earth Day is to protect our Earth for the Earth’s sake and not exploit it needlessly for projects that reveal only that messing with Mother Nature is, in many cases, ill advised. 

This Sunday, April 22, remember that first Earth Day in 1970 and what it stood for.  And this year, be sure to celebrate “Earth Day, Every Day” at Mabry Gardens at Lake of the Woods from 1 to 5. We’ll see you there!

Appeared as Notes from the River, Mahomet Citizen, April 18, 2012, by Scott P. Hays

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In the end, it’s all interconnected.

To demonstrate, this column is really going places. We’re headed to the horse latitudes of the North Pacific, to Stafford England, to Starved Rock State Park, and to the ‘hydrofracturing’ natural gas extraction wells of Pennsylvania and beyond.

It all starts on Illinois Highway 47, just north of Mahomet.  Some of you may have noticed that the Upper Sangamon River Conservancy has “adopted” (we prefer “has assumed stewardship of” but that doesn’t make for as nifty of a slogan) the two mile stretch of Illinois 47 from Interstate 74 north to near County Road 2425.

This may leave you pondering, why would a river group be stewarding a highway?

In the end, it’s all interconnected.  Remember when you sucked out that last drop of Dew from that 32 ounce Super Pantry Mega Chill and pitched the empty out of the window of your Hummer while driving along HIghway 47 (without getting even one discount refill)? Did you know that this plastic Mega Chill cup reportedly has a known life expectancy, before degrading, of (approximately) 7,000 years?

In that amount of time, rain may wash that Mega Chill down into Buffalo Trace creek near the I-74 interchange,  into the Sangamon River, on past Decatur and Springfield, into the Illinois River, then the Mississippi, then south to the Gulf of Mexico, then it might float out into the Atlantic, around the tip of South America and into the horse latitudes of the North Pacific, ultimately to end up where much of our plastics are winding up these days: stuck forever in the North Pacific Gyre, aka “The Great Garbage Patch”. This Great Garbage Patch of discarded plastics is currently estimated to be approximately twice the size of the continental United States. And that Mega Chill will likely stay there for the next several thousand years.

So what about Stafford, England? In the end, it’s all interconnected.

The USRC is honored to be assuming highway stewardship duties from the Champaign County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League. The Izaak Walton League, founded in Chicago in 1922, is one of the oldest and most respected conservation associations in North America.

The League has its roots in promoting fishing and was named for (but notably, not founded by) Izaak Walton (1593-1683), whose chief claim to fame is publishing “The Compleat Angler” in 1653, one of the first books ever written about the sport of fly fishing, both from the ‘how to’ perspective, but also, in the form of a dialog between friends, on the joys of the sport itself.  Izaak Walton lived and wrote on a small farm in Stafford, England, and to this day, a quaint little cottage at the site has been preserved there as a museum to Izaak Walton and to sport fishing.

And we have our own quaint little Izaak Walton cabin right here at Lake of the Woods. The local Izaak Walton chapter was formed in 1924 and worked on several issues, including the creation of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District in 1948. And in 1964, the local chapter also constructed the quaint little Izaak Walton cabin in Lake of the Woods Park. The cabin overlooks the Sangamon River and is where the local League still holds its monthly meetings to this day.

And what about Starved Rock and the natural gas wells in Pennsylvania? You guessed it, it’s all interconnected.

This past Tuesday at its monthly meeting at the Izaak Walton cabin, the local chapter hosted Elliott Brinkman from Prairie Rivers Network. Elliot talked about an environmentally sensitive project supported by the Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers that is proceeding without proper public hearing and which has the potential to damage one of our treasured area parks along a Central Illinois river.

No, it’s not about Oakley Dam. Elliott was talking about Starved Rock Sand Mine near the entrance to Starved Rock State Park. I asked Elliot the obvious question: we’re permitting an environmentally sensitive project for a SAND MINE? Heck, I remember having plenty of the stuff where I grew up in Florida.

But apparently this isn’t just any sand. This perfectly hard and round sand is almost pure silica and is perfect for ‘hydrofracturing’ injection natural gas extraction well operations in Pennsylvania. Our area river sand is actually in great demand for these rapidly expanding “fracking” operations in Pennsylvania and out west. According to Elliot, it has already begun something of a 21^st century gold rush, and we can only expect more such mines along our rivers in the near future.

As I also continue the saga of Oakley Dam, something that occurred 50 years ago with no visible trace of that effort today, I am reminded that the lack of an Oakley dam is a credit to those watchful few who paid attention. And while sand mines along our river corridors may or may not be environmentally damaging, we all need to pay attention to what’s going on in our own backyard and along our rivers and to what we do along our highways.

Remember, in the end, it’s all interconnected.

Appeared as Notes from the River, Mahomet Citizen, April 4, 2012 by Scott P. Hays

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