Shiawassee River Trail gets longer

A big thank you goes out to all the volunteers who helped cleaning out the river in Fenton. Debbie (our organizer), Tom, Dave, Willi, Sharon, Pete, Jimmy, Sara, Andy, Maggie (our car spotter) and I got wet and had fun. At 6:00 we started in Bush park in Fenton and went up stream toSilver Lake Road. There were 3 major log jams and several smaller blockages to remove as well as a couple of bags of garbage, plus a chair, a bike, a municipal garbage can... Working near the park had it's advantages. We just had to bag the garbage and put it up on the bank in the park. The city of Fenton will pick the garbage up. By 8:30 we had made it back to our starting point. Several people had to head home at this point. Five of us continued on down stream to our trucks about half way to us 23. This portion had a cleanup a month ago. We still found a bag of garbage and a few trees to trim back. The river is surprisingly scenic for being in the city. There are only a few lawns in view considering we are in the heart of the city. Aside from the seasonably low water this will be a fun segment. There is a fairly brisk current moving you along. It was 9:30 by then and time to call it a day. Now the bad news. There is more work to be done. As near as I can figure we have 8 more blockages to clear on the way to Lake Ponemah. One of which is fairly substantial. The date picked to finish this off is Sunday August 3rd. More details to follow. Once again thanks for your support. We are within striking distance of having a 20 mile stretch of scenic river in paddling shape.

Doug Lanyk - HeadWatersTrails__Vice-President

Outdoor Life Magazine

Hi, Willi,

We’re writing to let you know that your project has been chosen as one of this year’s Outdoor Life Save-a-Stream projects. We are excited to help you get your work started and to hear of your progress over the summer.A kit will be going out to you this week, containing stream restoration materials to help you in your efforts. It includes contact information as well, should you need to talk to someone about the project. You can also e-mail me if you have any questions.

Thanks for all the work you do to keep our streams and rivers clean! We look forward to seeing photos or video of your results and to sharing reports of your progress with our readers.

Sincerely,
Camille Rankin
Managing Editor
Outdoor Life