1st Annual Lower Manistee River Cleanup
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Today we tried to use a Drift-boat to do a cleanup. It would have
been very useful had we actually had time to do what we wanted, but
the rain cut that short. Ted and Andrew took off early and missed this photo op.
The weather was threatening and Glenn didn't think it was a good idea to
go, but the radar forecast showed us that the rain would hold off until 1:00pm.
Sure enough, we didn't go 100 yards before the rains came and continued
in earnest for 3 hours. We had to make a shelter with our canoes but Andrew,
Ted and Marlene were not so fortunate and had to sit it out in the downpour.
In all, more than 7 inches of rain fell in 3 hours.
We finally had to paddle out to the takeout in the rain, thunder and lightning.
It was not fun. I had several gallons of water in my canoe when I arrived.
Thanks to Andrew and Ted for braving the terrible weather to help with this project.
They did get in some fishing, so it was not a total loss.
They got to the takeout first, but waited for us to be sure we were ok.
I was never so happy to see a takeout in my paddling career.
We did manage to take out some trash and we were happy to see that the
American Canoe Association funded monofilament recycle bins that we placed last
April are being used by local fishermen.
We took a full bag of mono out of two of them at Tippy.
Our thanks go out to the Manistee Conservation District for running our shuttle.
No one from the MUCC or the Steelhead Manifesto was at the
High Bridge Landing to meet us when we arrived.
That is no way to treat your volunteers when they were in danger
We will not be doing this project with them again.
The few photos I managed to take in the rain can be found here:
All Trip Photos
Thanks to the ACA, Manistee Conservation District and the brave volunteers
who helped with this project.
Respectfully submitted,
Norm Fred
BRCS
Additional Information:
We find that the river went from 2000 CFS to 3400 CFS in just a few hours.
It rose from 8.75 feet to 9.75 feet in just a few hours.
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This is the email I sent to the MUCC and the Steelhead Manifesto about the way
we were treated when we arrived at the takeout.
*******************************************
Norman R. Fred <nrfred@yahoo.com>
Cc:Shaun McKeon,americorps@mucc.org,Susan Spencer,Roger Hinchcliff
Bcc:Adams Andrew,Ted Wendling,Marvin & Marlene Puska,Jacqui Morgenstein,Marvin Ison
Jul 21 at 9:19 PM
The trip yesterday was the worst day we have ever experienced on a river in the 15 years we have been doing river cleanups.
It was not your fault that we decided to go even though there was lightening and thunder in the area. That's on us.
But I was very disappointed that no one was at the High Bridge Landing when we arrived at 2:30.
We had been told that we would be fed and that people would be there to help us when we arrived.
All of you left us on the river to fend for ourselves as if we didn't really matter to you.
We can only deduce from your actions that you didn't care what happened to us.
That is not the way to treat people who are signed up for your projects.
It was as if our safety didn't really matter you.
Susan Spenser did text us to see if we were ok. The MUCC and the Steelhead Manisfesto people didn't seem to care.
We will not be doing this project with you again.