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.