Top 5 Ways to Celebrate the Arrival of Spring on the James

by Gabe Silver, JRA Education and Outreach Manager

A season of change blows in with the windy month of March. As the water and air temperature rise and the days get longer, animals stir with the ancient desire to migrate or find mates. It’s a great time to be a river-lover. Here are five ways to notice and celebrate spring on the James River this year:

1. Mark the arrival of the first osprey back on the James. They are expected to arrive here in mid-March.

2. Monitor the water temperature and go shad fishing when it reaches 50-550 F. You can also check out the Shad Cam at Bosher’s Dam just upriver of Richmond.

3. Pick a place in a nearby natural area you can walk to and visit it each week for the next two months. Keep a journal of the changes you see each week.

4. Follow the young-rearing efforts of a pair of bald eagles in Norfolk on this amazing web cam.

5. Get involved with the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program and help track the health of these important critters, like frogs, by learning to identify their calls and listening for them at night.

Photos courtesy of John Bragg.

Stay Safe on the River this Winter

 By Chuck Frederickson, Lower James RIVERKEEPER

 There was a sad story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about two young men who died on Monday in unrelated hunting accidents.  Both went into the water accidentally while waterfowling and it appears that both died from the effects of hypothermia.

On many occasions I have encouraged you to get out on the river during the fall and winter to enjoy this beautiful time of year but this story reinforces the necessity to be careful and be prepared when on the water.  The water temperatures now are in the mid 30’s.  At 32.5 to 40 degrees F, a person in the water will slip into exhaustion/unconsciousness within 15-30 minutes.  Expected maximum survival time is 30-90 minutes.  In many cases though, when moderate hypothermia sets in it becomes extremely hard to perform tasks such as reentering a boat or swimming to shore.

Please prepare carefully when going out this time of year.  Always wear a personal floatation device, float coat, or even better, floatation coveralls.  While these will not totally prevent hypothermia, they will offer more protection from the cold and aid in rescue efforts should you go into the water.  Lastly, be careful out there.  It’s never a good idea to take chances on the water but it’s even a worse idea this time of year.


Learn more about hypothermia:

http://www.natureskills.com/hypothermia_symptoms.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/hypocold.shtml

Sustainabilty Fun Facts

Here are a few great facts from Bronwyn Mitchell, Executive Director of Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education


• A 5-minute shower is equal to 20-35 gallons of water.

• A heavy coat of dust on a light bulb can block up to half of the light.

• When you turn on an incandescent light bulb, only 10% of the electricity used is turned into light. The other 90% is wasted as heat.

• The plastic used in one toner cartridge contains about a half quart of oil.

• An American family of four uses up to 260 gallons of water in the home per day.

• The average American throws away 3.5 pounds of trash per day.

• Americans use four million plastic bottles every hour, yet only one out of four is recycled.

• "Tin" cans (like those used for tuna and soup) are actually 99% steel. Americans throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America.

• In the US over 40% of municipal solid waste is paper

• 1 ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of 2,350 gallons of gasoline. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by the typical home over a period of 10 years!

• One ton of 100 percent recycled paper saves the equivalent of 4,100 kWh of energy, 7,000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air emissions and three cubic yards of landfill space.

• One ton of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7000 gallons of water, 4200 kWh (enough to heat a home for half a year), 390 gallons of oil, and prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants.

• Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent in energy of 10 gallons of oil. Recycling one ton of newspaper saves 15 trees.

• One gallon of oil, when reprocessed, can generate enough energy to meet the electricity needs of a home for half a day


The Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education is having their 26th Annual Conference, Educating for Sustainability, February 10-13, 2011 at the UMUC Marriott Inn and Conference Center in Hyattsville, Maryland.  For more information visit http://www.maeoe.org/conference/.

Top Ten Great Views of the James River

by Gabe Silver, JRA's Environmental Educator

Its impossible to measure the value of the beauty of the James River for all those who get to gaze upon it. The fall can be the best time to soak up a few great views of the James. Working our way downriver in no particular order of beauty, here are 10 memorable views of the James:

1. The Upper James in Buchanan, VA

2. Balcony Falls along Rt. 501; southeast of Glasgow, VA

3. Harry F. Byrd Bridge over the James (Blue Ridge Parkway); north of Big Island, VA

4. The Riverfront of Lynchburg, VA

5. The Rt. 15 Bridge at Bremo Bluff, VA

6. CSX Railroad Bridge in Richmond, VA

7. The Belle Isle Footbridge; Richmond, VA

8. Libby Hill Park, Church Hill Neighborhood; Richmond, VA

9. Dutch Gap and Henricus Historical Park; Chesterfield, VA

10. Jamestown Island, VA


What are your favorite places to view the James River?

Virginia’s James River Cleanup Plan

We are about to embark on a new chapter in the efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries like the James River. After 25 years of setting laudable goals, of making promises that have come up short, the state and federal governments are now under the gun. By the end of the year, a plan to cut enough pollution to meet the water quality standards for our tidal waters must be developed.

Visit our website to read more about Virginia's James River Cleanup Plan >>

The Coming Fall

By Chuck Frederickson

After a long, hot summer it’s starting to feel a little like fall. The water temperatures in the river are down to the low 80’s as are the air temps. This is better than the 90’s we had all summer. Sweet autumn clamatis is blooming, the yellow flowers are blooming in the marshes, fish are becoming more active and more and more butterflys are crossing the river—a great time to be on the river. A lot of the ospreys have left for the season. I’m always glad to see them come in the late winter and sad to see them go in the fall.

We have numerous Atlantic sturgeon in the river now in the area between Westover and Dutch Gap. Yesterday, eight fish were caught near our spawning reef site and all released in good shape after being measured, weighed and tagged. We also picked up several fish on our hydroacoustic receivers. I counted at least ten fish jumping. If you are out on the water in this area, keep your eyes open for jumping fish. It’s quite a sight to see a six foot long fish come completely out of the water!

Gathright Dam Releases

By Dave Sligh

Gathright Dam, which impounds Lake Moomaw, is located on the Jackson River, 43.4 miles upstream of its confluence with the Cowpasture River. This project is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and was authorized by Congress to regulate river flows in the Jackson and James Rivers reduce flood damage downstream, to increase low flows for water quality improvement, and to provide recreational opportunities.

The dam's operation has a heavy impact on the Jackson River and on the James River for many miles downstream of its formation, where the Jackson and Cowpasture join. The COE is currently conducting a study authorized under Section 216 of the Rivers and Harbors and Flood Control Act of 1970 - a process in which JRA will be actively participating and in which we encourage interested citizens and businesses to do so also.

As part of this study the COE made what was termed a "pulse release" from the dam on August 17th. An abrupt rise in dam releases took flow levels in the River below the dam from 280 cubic feet per second (cfs) at 6 a.m. on that day to 3,000 cfs by 9 a.m. After maintaining the 3,000 cfs flows for two hours, the COE decreased releases over the next two hours until they again reached 280 cfs.

This test was done in cooperation with the Virginia Departments of Environmental Quality and Game and Inland Fisheries and was intended to test whether such pulses are effective at removing algae and improving water quality by simulating late-summer and early-fall storm events, a natural variability that's been reduced by the operation of Gathright Dam.