Sunday, Aug. 02, 2009

Rantin: Gills Creek spiffed up

The buzzing of chain saws and cracking of tree branches signaled a path to clearer shores along Gills Creek.

About 50 volunteers took to the waterway where the creek crosses Shop and Bluff roads Saturday to make the area more accessible for kayak and canoe travel.

“We want it to be a place where people can come down and boat on the creek,” said Jessica Artz, program coordinator for the Gills Creek Watershed Association, which coordinated the morning cleanup along with Congaree Riverkeeper Alan Mehzad.

Saturday’s work followed a similar effort several weeks ago but was more extensive as volunteers spent hours clearing log jams, woody debris, low-hanging branches and trash in a stretch of the creek between Shop and Beckman Swamp roads. The creek extends past Midlands Technical College and through Forest Acres and Arcadia Lakes.

“It really helps to get people out here to see what we have here,” Mehzad said, adding the hope is to make the waters more inviting to avid and potential boaters. “We’re blessed (to have the creeks), so we really need to take care of them.”

Many of Saturday’s volunteers are regular boaters themselves. And while their labors will enhance their future experiences on the water, many said they hoped they also would make the area more inviting to others.

“We’d like it more accessible from here down (toward the Congaree River),” said Matt Urbiss, an avid kayaker who was also part of the previous cleanup.

Urbiss said he was encouraged by the much larger turnout this time.

“I expected a couple of people,” he said. “It’s good to see some diehards.”

Among Saturday’s newcomers was Sarah Langston, who has taken up kayaking in recent months. Several others brought along their own kayaks and supplies, including bow rakes, clippers, loopers, handsaws and chain saws.

“I’m one of those people who can’t do a dirty job without getting dirty,” said Liz Eberts, who quickly found her shoes covered in mud as she stepped off the banks and into her kayak.

After cutting and removing the debris along the pathways below the bridges, volunteers transported the foliage back to the riverbank, where a human chain was formed to remove the greenery from the water. From there, it was taken up to the highway and loaded onto trucks to be transported to the area composting facility.

Artz said additional cleanups likely will be held until the entire area is cleared.

The Gills Creek Watershed Association is a partnership of federal, state, local and private entities and individuals dedicated to restoring and protecting the Gills Creek Watershed.

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