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If you didn't already know, most of the
Bowater land that was on the ridge, that use to
give us great access when it was strictly
Bowater land was free and open , but later it
was locked up when Bowater began to lease land
to the deer hunters in region. Gates blocking
roads appeared from nowhere. Then later the
Bowater Corporation thru mergers was
bought/sold/merged. And with bad management
decisions they became strapped for cash. So they
began selling the land they had for generations.
Meanwhile, the state, stepped in and starting
acquiring the pockets of the wilderness
sections. This was great! One problem, they
couldn't grab all the land...the new state park
is a linear park. Walden's Ridge is long and
fairly wide and with a lot of acreage.
Meanwhile, we don't have a guaranteed access
put-in for
Cain Creek and one day that could go
away. Also
Little Possum and
Big Possum continue
to be an on-going issue on access.
So here is where the
Friends of the
Cumberland steps in. They help where the state
can't sometimes. By donating to the Friends you can
earmark money for the new proposed trailheads, trailheads
give us access to creeks . It's a win-win. Also
you will now have access to take your friends
and family and show them where you enjoy your
weekends. EVEN
IF...the proposals don't go through, there are
other places of the park that we enjoy that needs
our
help. And by freeing up funds, the money can go
to other areas that we enjoy. Like I said it's a
win-win in every sense of the word.
It only costs $ 5 bucks, and you get a
newsletter and bumper sticker .I gave a little
more...come on five bucks??!??!?!? You can't
can't buy a fast food meal for that...it's a
bargain to say the least.
From Tyler:
The state and it's park service need to
see kayakers as a important interest group and
they seem to be in certain areas. Organized
involvement and money are the things that gets
an elected official's attention the quickest and
Friends of the Cumberland seems to be a good
avenue for both. You can dedicate your
donation directly to fund "kayaker access". The
one on the table for me right now is
establishing an access point on state land for
Cain creek that feeds into North Chick so that
my children's children can enjoy it. Help if
you can, it will add up.
Tyler
Here
is the gate at the end of Barker Camp Road, by
joining the friends we could have a new trail
head to Cain Creek and the North Chick and
permanent boating access. Also we could have a
new day hike when the run is too dry to boat.
Here is the posted
sign...you can do the math........
Mail them a check with your name, address,
phone # and e-mail to following address.
Check payable to:
Friends of the Cumberland Trail , 220 Park
Road, Caryville, TN 37714
On-Line Payment:
You can go to their website and donate to
them via PayPal.
Meanwhile check out the website hyperlinked
above. They love the same things we love, they
hike the creeks ....we paddle the creeks. It's time
to combine resources and take care of business.
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