Date: March 3^rd, 2013

Sunrise: 6:30 am

Temp High: 41 Degrees

Sunset: 6:02 pm

Moon: Half Moon, Waning

Weather: Beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky

Pandora Station for the Day: Sean Hayes Radio

Books I’m Reading: John Smith’s Chesapeake Voyages 1607 – 1609 – Rountree, Clark and Mountford; Born to Run – Christopher McDougall.

Weight: 205 lbs.

“A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to set foot in it. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope; without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.”

-Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

My home on Presquile.

I first read Edward Abbey’s 1968 work, “Desert Solitaire,” during the summer of my junior year in college. At the time I was working for a nature conservancy outside of Blacksburg, living at the top of Mountain Lake in Giles County. I wasn’t living in solitaire like Abbey was in the book, there were people around all time, there was even a British version of “Dancing With The Stars” being filmed on site with special guest judge and American movie star Billy Zane running around.

The conservancy I worked for was part of Mountain Lake Resort, which served as the backdrop for the movie “Dirty Dancing.” Needless to say, this was a far cry from Abbey’s situation. But there was a sense of isolation living on top of a mountain, with one road in and out. There were also plenty of chances to escape society, with the Appalachian Trail running directly through our property (not that the AT is isolated these days). In any case, I was captivated by Abbey’s lifestyle and disdainful view of the world. The fact that I was studying outdoor recreation and Abbey was working as a park guide in Moab, Utah, where the book takes place, maybe I was hoping my life was headed in a similar direction. In any event, I finished the book, the summer ended and eventually graduated from college.

I spent the next couple of years falling in love with traveling, whitewater kayaking, food, beer and a woman. I bounced around for a while, working for a whitewater adventure company in Georgia; settling down in Richmond for a year; working in a restaurant and living with my then-girlfriend. I eventually ended up in California for a year and a half, working for an inclusive outdoor adventure company, (if you happen to be a college student reading this or a soon to be high school grad, the best advice I can give you is to travel. The growth, maturity and humbling element that is found in traveling is unmatched anywhere else).

The time finally came when living 3,000 miles away from family, friends, an ailing grandfather and that daggone woman (again) became too much. I decided it was time to head back to the East Coast, having no idea what I was going to do next. Luckily when I got back, I was able to find some part-time work with a new brewing company in town — Hardywood Park. I was still very interested in pursuing a job in the outdoor-recreation field, with my mind starting to shift more to the education side with some emphasis on adventure. The months went by without any luck finding a job in the field that I desired. So I did what any former raft guide would do…I was going to become an insurance salesman. My mom has been in insurance for over 30 years and this seemed like a pretty easy transition. With my dreams of the outdoor education life here in Richmond looking dim, I decided to bite the bullet and took the Virginia insurance exam (more than once) and passed. My foreseeable future was full of 9-5 days, Starbucks on the way to work and cold calls. It seemed my degree in Outdoor Education had run its course.

Big old black rat snake.

Where in the world would I find a job in Richmond that focused on outdoor adventure with a focus on science-based education!? A chance meeting over a beer would answer that question for me. While pulling one of my last shifts at Hardywood before stepping into the world of insurance sales, I ran into Ryan Corrigan, who worked for The James River Association. We chatted over a beer about my education, work experience and plans now that I was back in Richmond. Toward the end of our conversation he mentioned to me that The James River Association was creating a new position within their Education department and that the job had yet to be posted. I sent my resume over to the JRA before the end of the night.

The next few weeks exchanging emails e-mails with the JRA, getting my references together and preparing for a formal interview. The position I was applying for was unique in one very distinct way, part of the job description indicated I would spend 10 months as the sole resident of an island in the middle of the James River. And not just any island — Presquile, a National Wildlife Refuge

The day of the interview came and went. Then it was a waiting game to hear if I had gotten the job or not (if not, my knowledge of property and casualty insurance was about to get a whole lot stronger). I got a call from the Education Manager letting me know that I got the job, and I would be expected to move to the island the morning of March 4^th.

And that is exactly where I find myself at this very moment, with the sun already set, preparing to spend my first night, alone on a 1,300 acre island 20 miles southeast of Richmond on this Island Solitaire…

Also, if you ran last year’s Filthy 5K mud run, you may have noticed a lot of emergency services personnel running around on Tredegar Street and the Belle Isle footbridge toward the end of the race. Two runners, one 12 years old, went into cardiac arrest within 2 minutes of each other. Click here for my story from A1.

• yogaROCK
  • A 1 hour yoga class on Brown’s Island on Saturday, May 18 at 11:00 a.m.
  • Participants will get a T-shirt, goody bag, and drink ticket – just like all other event participants
  • We have partnered with Project Yoga Richmond to put on this event

              Instagram Contest

• • We’ve partnered with Virginia Tourism Corporation (Virginia is for Lovers) to host the first annual Instagram contest
  • http://www.dominionriverrock.com/event/instagram-contest/
• Bouldering Speed Comp
  • http://www.dominionriverrock.com/event/speed-comp/
• Group Hikes presented by Central Virginia Trailblazers
  • Offer 30-40 minute group hikes around Belle Isle during the festival
  • The group hikes will start each hour, on the hour beginning at 12:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday
  • Ralph White will be coming out of retirement to lead the hikes on Saturday, May 18
• Mountain Bike Skills Course Tours hosted by Richmond MORE
  • Three tours throughout the weekend:
  • Saturday, May 18^th at 1 p.m.
    • Saturday, May 18^th 3 p.m.
    • Sunday, May 19^th at 2 p.m.
• Mountain Bike Excursions hosted by Riverside Outfitters
  • Riverside Outfitters will supply you with a bike, helmet, and guide to take you on  a 40-minute guided mountain biking excursion from Brown’s Island over to       the Belle Isle trails and back
  • Excursions will leave about every 30 minutes from the Riverside Outfitters ”farm house booth” on Brown’s Island
  • Must be at least 12 years old and know how to ride a bike confidently
• James River Cleanup led by James River Association
  • JRA is hosting a public river clean up after the festival on Sunday, May 19 from 3:00-5:00 pm.
  • Meet at the vehicle access bridge to Brown’s Island and disperse from there
  • Trash bags, grabbers, and gloves will be provided
• Bike Valet
  • We will be offering a FREE bike valet service for anyone that doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of parking. They can ride their bike down to the festival and park it for free in the Bike Valet lot, located behind the Belle Isle parking lot.
  • *Note: We had over 300 bikes at the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, our first time offering bike valet. We are expecting more than 1,000 bikes over the course of the Dominion Riverrock festival.

Steve Fisher, iconic kayaker and director of the film gives a glimpse of his journey to tackle the Inga Rapids with his brave team of paddlers. This deadly stretch of whitewater covers 50 miles in the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The crew has quite a journey through the massive whirlpools and waves. The documentary shows the team exploring past attempts to conquer the Congo as they train and prepare for their first successful mission.

http://ingaproject.com/

About the Congo: The Grand Inga Project 

The Grand Inga Project follows four of the world’s most successful and fearless paddlers; Tyler Bradt, Steve Fisher, Ben Marr and Rush Sturges, as they attempt the first descent in kayaks through the world’s biggest rapids on the Congo River.

Dominion Riverrock is open to the public and is free to all spectators. For event registration and further information about Dominion Riverrock 2013, please visit .

Dominion Riverrock also features live concerts throughout the weekend, an interactive village, and sporting events including the Miller Lite Filthy 5k, James River Scramble 10k Trail Run, Urban Assault mountain bike race, Boulder Bash, Slacklining, and more.  For event registration and further information about Dominion Riverrock 2013, go to www.dominionriverrock.com.

Schedule of Events:

Thursday, May 16

 Friday, May 17

 Saturday, May 18

 Sunday, May 19

“The streets that have bike lanes are few and far between,” states the report by Richmond Sports Backers, which documented 18.25 miles of bike lanes in the city and counties of Chesterfield and Hanover. “This random use of bike lanes has had little impact on bike usage due to the lack of a network connecting bike lanes and trails to allow for continuous safe riding conditions.”

Sports Backers says what is missing is a master plan for the city and surrounding counties to build the infrastructure of bike lanes, paved and unpaved off-road trails, neighborhood byways, and marked “sharrow” lanes to make cycling a reliable and safe transportation alternative.

“It has to be a coordinated effort,” said Max Hepp-Buchanan, who was hired last month as director of Sports Backers’ Bike Walk RVA advocacy program. “You don’t want a bike lane that just drops off when it hits the county limits.”

Steve Knox with his James River striper

And the story gets better. I spoke with Gary Martel, one of the top fisheries biologists at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and he cleared up some confusion I had with the fish when I wrote the story. The angler, Steve Knox, thought the fish, which he weighed on his boat at somewhere between 74-75 pounds, wouldn’t count as a state record striped bass (the current record is 74 pounds). He was right, but not because of where he caught it. Regulations state that when Virginia’s trophy striped bass season begins on May 1, anglers may keep one fish larger than 32 inches outside of the spawning reaches of the Chesapeake Bay’s tributary rivers. For the James, Martel explained, the upstream end of the spawning area is City Point in Hopewell.

Since Knox caught his fish near Rocketts Landing, he was outside of the spawning reach and could have kept the fish. That also means he could have gone through the process to have it certified as a state record — having it weighed at a certified location, witnessed by specific officials, taken certain measurements, etc. — if, and here’s the rub, he had caught it one day later. Knox caught his fish on April 30th, and the Trophy striper season began on May 1st.

It boils down to this: If Knox had caught his fish one day later, he would be the owner of the Virginia record striped bass.

According to the DCR release: Participants will experience one of Virginia’s most significant natural areas through a guided hike and natural history interpretation. The field day is free to attend, but reservations are required. Participants should wear casual clothes and comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk up to four miles. The event will take place rain or shine. Reservations can be made by calling 804-786-7951. Registration is limited to 80 people.

Crow’s Nest became a natural area preserve in 2009. The property is a peninsula between Accokeek and Potomac creeks. At 2,872 acres, Crow’s Nest contains mature hardwood forest and some of the best examples of diverse, intact wetlands in the Potomac River drainage basin. The property supports habitat for a variety of species, including bald eagles, migratory birds, the federally listed short-nosed sturgeon and 22 plant species important to Virginia’s Coastal Plain. In addition to its ecological value, the property has played a significant role in Native American, Colonial and Civil War histories. 

Credit: storefrontrichmond.org

I interviewed Nathan Burrell, the new manager of the James River Park System, for my column in today’s T-D. We talked about following Ralph White in what has become a very high-profile job, the challenges the park faces and his vision for its future. All that is in the column, but there was plenty more we talked about that there wasn’t room for. Here are a few highlights.

On replacing the environmental educator position lost when Lorne Field left three years ago:

NB: That is a priority of mine as well. Not only having a programmatic person here at the park but having someone who can coordinate with our schools and after-school programs and truly be able to get, especially our inner city youth, down into the park. Most of the park users are from the counties. It’s not even people who pay for the park that are here using it. We need to figure ways to encourage and get folks here from the city to the park to enjoy it because it’s their park.

It’s vital. There’s only so much that me as parks superintendent would be able to do working with schools and getting school groups out there running programs. That’s a full-time job…especially being able to do that year-round because as you know the park is very different at different times of year. There’s diff activities you can do and diff programs you’d do throughout the year. You’ve got to have somebody here focused on that.

On the role of volunteers in the park:

NB: This park has been truly built and maintained by citizens, volunteers. Volunteers are truly the way this park thrives. In my past role as trails manager, without volunteers, we couldn’t have done the things we did. They are the cornerstone to this park. That aspect of the JRP will never change as far as I’m concerned — volunteers’ roles, how volunteers function in the park.

Ultimately, for many people, knowing that they had a hand in making it what it is…because many of the volunteers are users, they come back to the park time and time again. They can always point and say, ‘We did that.’ And also volunteers really become our eyes and ears. The volunteer that was picking up trash the week before comes back and sees a kid throwing trash on the ground, they’re the first ones to say, ‘What are you doing? Pick up that trash.’ That’s what we need.

On the park system’s needs, short- and long-term:

NB: Many are areas of just deferred maintenance. Most of them are just because we traditionally haven’t had the funding. But a lot of that is changing. We have funding. We have staffing. We can do a lot of this deferred maintenance. 22 Street is a case in point. The 22nd street tower should not look like that. You have an eroded hillside that leads you down to a tower where the drains are clogged because of all the erosion. Appearancewise, it’s not attractive, and its not on par with the rest of the JRPS. Those are simple, small things. Some of the bigger initiatives — think about the Pump House, get that up and running.

A lot of them are smaller issues, connectivity issues. Northbank Park, you need to be able to get down to the tower easily. You need a couple sets of steps to do that. Pump House, the isolation of it lends itself to a lot of the issues that we currently see there. The break-ins and some of the other activities that take place there. A lot of those issues are solved with connectivity. Bring the positive users in, run the negative users out. Once we’ve changed the population that’s using the Pump House then we can start looking at the actual structure itself. Then we can start thinking about programming so it can start bringing in a little money for itself and the park.

A lot of them are smaller issues, connectivity issues. Northbank Park, you need to be able to get down to the tower easily. You need a couple sets of steps to do that. Pump House, the isolation of it lends itself to a lot of the issues that we currently see there. The break-ins and some of the other activities that take place there. A lot of those issues are solved with connectivity. Bring the positive users in, run the negative users out. Once we’ve changed the population that’s using the Pump House then we can start looking at the actual structure itself. Then we can start thinking about programming so it can start bringing in a little money for itself and the park.

On Ralph White’s future role with the park:

NB: I want to work with Ralph to create an endowment, money for the Pump House to develop it into what we think it should be or what the community would like to see. Who else can do that in this city? Ralph White can. It’s really giving Ralph direction. For so long the park has been his purpose. Raising funds for the park to keep the park moving forward and maintained properly.”

I recently spoke with Warren Foster, a river lover and board member for the Friends of the James River Park. Foster is the brains behind what is turning out to be a really good idea for the river and the James River Park. Maybe you’ve seen them around, the JRPS license plates? They’re very cool. (If you haven’t, there’s bound to be one or two in the Reedy Creek parking lot anytime you go.)

Foster floated the idea of a JRPS license plate about five years ago. It’s a process that requires General Assembly approval, and in the first year Foster failed to get the 350 commitments necessary move to the next step. The following year he did, and the plates were approved. In 2010 they went on sale, like other specialty plates, for $25. Foster told me that until 1,000 plates are sold, the DMV keeps all that money. But after 1,000, the non-profit organization on the plates gets $15 of the $25. Since right now there are about 1,400 plates out on the streets, the Friends stand to take in about $6,000. The check — their first one — should go out in the next couple of months.

And it gets better: From here on out, as long as there more than 1,000 plates out there, the Friends will get that $15 for EVERY plate registered. So let’s say between now and March 31 (the cutoff) of next year, there have been 2,000 plates registered, the Friends would take in $30,000.

“It’s going to be huge money,” Foster said. “There’s no reason we can’t get to $30,000. That is a gigantic amount of money. That’s more than we’ve ever had.”

Warren Foster on Williams Island

For years, funds from groups like the Friends, JROC and Richmond MORE have helped augment the paltry $35,000 operating budget given to the JRPS. Needless to say, these additional funds will be a very large shot in the arm for the park.

Click here to learn more about the plates and to sign up for one