Gunpowder Gorge Strainer

[mick]

Be careful. There is a new strainer on the Gunpowder Gorge. It is just below the waterline at the top of triple drop. It's river wide and hard to see.

[Eric Ruhl]

Big? Small, removable?

[Tom]

Big? could be problem Small? not much of problem Removable? Don't even think about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bd]

I hiked in last night to have a look at it. Mick has described it perfectly - river wide and just below water level.

An experienced boater could boof it with a little speed. An inexperienced boater might flip and be pushed under.

With the weather starting to warm and a little water the GPG, this is quite a hazard for the newbies & tubers.

On the bright side, the right side is not wedged. A good rain could lift it up and over the rock to flow downstream.

bd.

[Eric Ruhl]

Ok, I guess I since I received an exclamation point note to not remove it I should not, however I care not to listen since I have done some tree removal in my day, plus I have a few friends in the business that can help

Bill, it sounds like that since it is not wedged, there is a chance to create a pulley system and potentially leverage it out of the water to either move or cut up and then move out... If this is the case, let me know because I will reach out to my friend in the park service and see if I can get a crew down there to work it out...

[Tom]

Bd will you inform why we do not remove strainers from the Gunpowder Gorge.  I'm even surprised someone would even mention it on this board.

[bd]

With so many new members in the club now, I suppose a short history lesson is in order here to provide some context. I'd hate for us to tun into the situation George Santayana so famously observed:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

So... The GBCC has a long successful history of community involvement in both ecological and safety related activities. The club has organized many outings to clean the upper Gunpowder of tires and the lower Gunpowder of everything from tires to refrigerators. On the Patuxent, the club partnered with other organizations to  remove abandoned cars from the river banks. In the city, wood and debris were removed from the Jones Falls annually to make the river safe for boating. And on Long Green Creek, fallen trees were periodically cut out of the river bed to allow safe passage and remove danger to the small bridges downstream.

Having said that, it is important to note that the laws and rules of each jurisdiction must be followed when working there. The GBCC is completely supportive of the regulations put in place to preserve our parks and waterways - even when it makes the task of keeping them open for paddling a bit more challenging.

Several years ago, a strainer developed on the section of river we now call the Gunpowder Gorge. It happened during the warmer months when recreational use of the river is high. The water levels were a bit above average as well. The combination turned this spot into a terrible hazard as new and weaker paddlers and tubers were washed into the debris and several required difficult rescues from potentially life threatening entrapment.

As this was not the first time wood had been trapped at this location, a group of paddlers with previous experience at removing such hazards organized and subsequently cleared this debris and another river-wide strainer downstream. The work was observed by other park patrons (who felt the tree removal was damaging protected fish habitat) and subsequently reported to the park authorities.

This placed the park in the unenviable position of having to referee between two of their user communities even though they considered them both partners and valued the contributions of each. Unfortunately, the issue quickly spiraled out of control. Articles were published in many local papers, the message boards lit up with discussion and members were even requested to testify at State hearings in Annapolis on the topic. It was a mess.

Ultimately, the letter of the law was observed and those responsible for the work were cited for unauthorized cutting. The Park recognized that it needed to find a way to bring its many user communities together to find a way to manage these issues collaboratively and proactively. While some initial progress was made, I don't believe this group meets any longer.

If you have made it this far, here is the one thing you need to know:

    Never move ANY wood in the Gunpowder State Park system without the permission of the rangers.

[j cagg]

To Eric's defense, he did state he would get with his contact in the park service. Hopefully, this contact would be able to advise as to whether or not the strainer should be removed.

BD- Great job revisiting that polital explosion that occurred between the fishing and paddling communties a few years ago. Having read many different presentations on this incident before this string was posted, I realized one thing regarding Park lands and rivers: If it is on any Government maintained natural resource, leave it alone until you have gone through the proper chains for approval.

[Eric Ruhl]

Bill, I know quite well to contact to the park service, being up in the Hereford area my entire life we have a few family friends with connections through the park and I will probably even have one of the uniformed rangers helping out if I can get around to making the calls.

[j cagg]

I didn't see this strainer today, however, there ARE two others to be aware of. The first looks new (still has plenty of foliage, and the bark is still green where the water has started working on it) and is right at the put-in to the right. We went left on the trail to get above it for more room. It is passable toward river left at lower flow (1.6'/62cfs today). You are actually passing through a fork between branches on this one, so I can see it being a problem at good flow.

The other you can see from the bridge (just upstream). Not sure how this one will behave at flow, but it is in a shallow section so you just drag the boat over it and take out.

[lucky leprechaun]

Talked to DNR, NRP and GP state park today about the "new" strainers (below prettyboy to falls rd). Their policy is to determine if the strainer is a life threatening hazard, if it is not, and it is creating a beneficial fish habitat, it stays, it will not get removed. I was reminded that individuals may not do the work themselves or hire contractors to cut it out, this is considered "illegal", a fine-able offense. The person I spoke to was glad that it was called in, because they were unaware of any strainers on that stretch of river. It was explained to me that any stainer must go through an approval process before being removed. This will take some time, they may be there for a while, so be prepared.