Clean the Cumberland

Posted 29 August 2011 - 09:50 AM

I wanted to post another river clean-up event that I will be participating in in a few weeks. I will again be setting up a tank to show off some native fish. I know there are not a lot of member's in that area, but if anyone is interested, let me know. I will be going down the day before to collect fish for the tank. Also, I am thinking about setting up a tri-fold poster and putting photos of some of the T&E & other rare fish from the Cumberland Drainage. If anyone has any high quality photos that I could use, that would be helpful. I'm looking for photos of the Blackside Dace, Blotched Chub, Ashy Darter, Cumberland Arrow Darter, Duskytail Darter, Palezone Shiner, Sawfin Shiner, Stargazing Minnow, and others if anyone can think of any. What kind of information should I add with the photos? Does anybody have a short summary of the threats to these fish (ie. mining, logging, etc...)?


Here is the info from the Kentuck Waterways Alliance



We are going to be cleaning out the headwaters of Cumberland River with our friends from the Paddle Sports Committee of the Harlan County Recreation Board Authority!

Harlan County won the KWA cleanup contest submitted by Cathryn Forester and now we are planning a cleanup together. There will be a kayak giveaway, complimentary food and drinks, water bottles, a photo contest, and music! If you have been to one of KWA's cleanups before you know how much fun they are. If you have been to one of Harlan County's cleanups then you know how serious this community is about getting their river cleaned up. We plan to meet at the Harlan County Campground & RV Park at 9:00 AM.

Please join us as we work or contact together to keep our waters clean! Stay tuned for more details as they unfold. Find out more about the area here. Please RSVP on our Facebook event page.

Or contact KWA Membership Coordinator, Kelly Cook: kelly@kwalliance.org 502-589-8008.

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Posted 29 August 2011 - 10:29 AM

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Posted 29 August 2011 - 05:17 PM

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 07:31 AM

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 07:34 AM

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 09:31 AM

Thanks for the details. Certainly close enough and several NANFA members are around the area, though most are not active on the forum.
Ed, Ranger Bob, Bryce come to mind quick... and some new members. CFI would be close too.
This date falls on my 3 day snorkel guide on the Conasauga. I will be camping overnight and doing another round of night snorkels. BIG catfish a couple nights ago!
Im glad you are involved with this effort Jblaylock, Josh. Folks will always like to see the fish they are helping protect. Take plenty of pics.

We could probably get a small group of NANFans together for a 2 day trip up your way this spring. Pick a good area and streamside camp location. Think about it.

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 06:48 PM

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Posted 11 September 2011 - 09:07 PM

Clean the Cumberland - Headwaters Hullabaloo

The clean up went on as scheduled on Saturday. This even was sponsored by the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, along with many other sponsors. Here is a brief summary. There were 10 clean-up sites. I think 4 of them were areas to paddle. The other sites were known river-side dumps. The area had between 7-10 inches of rain this past week, and this mountain river fills up quick. Luckily the water level was back down by the time of the event. However, the water level limited paddlers.

Harlan County Campground


Poor Fork of the Cumberland River


I worked in Site 9. This was a large river-side dump. There was so much trash along the riverside. We even found a can/bottle pit where we unearthed bottles from the 40-50's. A local boyscout troup was also working here.







The Boyscouts were the first to jump in. They worked really hard. It was great to see this group of young-men out helping.




Just a small bit of the trash from our site. The Harlan County DOT was running 3 dumptrucks from site to site. We filled up 2 trucks full and then a backhoe was brought in to also help, I think it filled 2 truck-loads




Site 9 after the cleanup

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Posted 11 September 2011 - 09:13 PM

Back at the tents I had my tank setup. First, I was hoping for a better showing of fish, large male Rainbow, Greenside, Stripetail, and Emerald Darters along with Rosyface Shiners, Blacknose Dace, etc... However, all the rain really kept me from getting the river, I had to stick to small streams. I did have some Rainbows, Greensides, Stripetails, Stonerollers, and blacknose dace. However, the setup turned out nice as a game wardon for the KDFWR was there and brought a lot of handouts and had a large foldout board of fish setup. I set my tank up with his material, it made for a great showing. I later found the fish board belonged to the local fish biologist but he couldn't make it.













Here's some of the fish, photos aren't great
1 nice Rainbow looking at me


Here's a nice Blacknose Dace. There are a lot of records just recently from Harlan County of there being Longnose Dace present, I think they are mis-identified Blacknose Dace as their noses are quite long.




After the cleanup, everyone was treated to a freshly cooked pig with all the fixin's, prize giveaways (including a kayak that my old spanish teacher won) and some of the best bluegrass music you'll ever here by a local Harlan County band, aptly named Cumberland River. This band has been featured 5-6 times on the T.V. show Justified, which is a show centered around Harlan County KY.


This was a great event, that I hope happens yearly. What we removed in a few hours is just the tip of the iceburg. More photos can be found HERE.

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 10:30 AM

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 12:49 PM

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 03:23 PM

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 04:06 PM

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 05:22 PM

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 12:16 PM

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Posted 13 September 2011 - 02:01 PM

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Posted 26 September 2011 - 03:12 PM

We had a bit of activity last weekend here along the Tennessee River. The first annual Future River Fest. I was asked to help out so i set up a bit of NANFA propaganda. It was a nice day, i got to see a lot of folks i have not seen in awhile, listened to several interesting bands and rallying speakers and drank homemade rootbeer. A nice parade of people and dogs passed throughout the day and into the evening. It was mostly anti TVA, nuke and coal activists harkening back to the 60s with 2011 dancing post happy hippy folk. This crowd was not interested in native fish but a few stopped to look at the colorful natives while i urged them to see what lives beneath the surface. I think i got a few converts especially from a canoing group.
It was put on in association with the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance which is why i ended up there. I didnt sell any NANFA shirts but i bet the lady across the way sold 25 NO NUKES shirts during the day.

Next Saturday is the Tennessee River Cleanup but that day i will be staying at a streamside cabin and doing my last guided snorkel trip of the season on the Citico. However next month a party will be given for the sponsors and leaders and i have been asked to put a fishy slide show together, so much to do...

Pictured is Sandy, the head of SCCGA. She wanted me to talk about fish and show folks the different parts of a fish and its anatomy. She supplied me a fresh red snapper, a smelly critter, to poke and prod and hover over. I chose Leo's Tangerine Darter as my display model which did not stink, nor attract flies and was much more appropiate Tennessee riverside. There aint no Red Snapper's in landlocked Tennessee!
I displayed the Tangerine and ate the snapper.

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Posted 26 September 2011 - 07:44 PM

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Posted 26 September 2011 - 09:16 PM

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Posted 27 September 2011 - 07:31 AM

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