Working toward accessible fishing
Volunteers from Marianna Outdoorsmen Association cleared the brush and wooded area by Ten Mile Creek to create a handicap-accessible path.
Tim Thompson, a South Fayette resident and member of the Western Pa. Wounded Warriors, catches a fish at Ten Mile Creek in Marianna in mid-November.
Volunteers from Marianna Outdoorsmen Association cleared the brush and wooded area by Ten Mile Creek to create a handicap-accessible path.
Dave White, a volunteer from Marianna Outdoorsmen Association, donated his time and equipment to spread the gravel for the ramp and parking lot at Ten Mile Creek.
Tim Thompson lives in South Fayette Township but drives 80 miles round-trip to go fishing in Marianna. The reason is simple: He can get to Ten Mile Creek easily with his walking cane.
“I like fishing so much that I am willing to do that because I know I can get down to where the trout are safely,” Thompson said.
Thompson, a member of Western Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors, is just one outdoorsman with a disability who laments the lack of handicap-accessible recreation spots in the region. But local nonprofit organizations are angling for a change.
Marianna Outdoorsmen Association constructed two paths leading to Ten Mile Creek in the borough, and a third path will be put in place next year.
In Greene County, Izaak Walton League is working with its local Council of Governments to build four handicap-accessible kayak launching areas along the southern branch of Ten Mile from Waynesburg to Jefferson Township.
“Between what our two organizations are doing, we’re going to have more handicap-accessible points along the two branches of Ten Mile than what’s in the entire Southwest region,” said Jason White, president of MOA.
In addition, kayak and canoe launches – also accessible – will be constructed along the Monongahela River in Fredericktown, Charleroi and Monongahela through the use of grant dollars.
Another was constructed this year in Greensboro Borough in Greene County, but the borough is still finishing the parking lot.
The state Fish and Boat Commission occasionally partners with organizations working on stream accessibility projects, but there are no guarantees. There is a high demand for project assistance and not enough funding or manpower at the Fish and Boat Commission, according to Dennis Tubbs, director of outreach in the Southwest region.
“The problem with that is our staff is very limited, and (we) are turning down some projects,” Tubbs said. “It could be a long waiting period, and it could be no help at all.”
Joe Snyder of Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living said Pennsylvania is still lacking when it comes to accessible areas, but is slowly improving.
“I think (the problem) is pretty much all over the nation, really. Pennsylvania is hard because of all the hills and the weather conditions, so things tend to be more costly,” he said.
The Greene County chapter of the Izaak Walton League is working with both the Fish and Boat Commission and local governments to build kayak launches along the creek at Crawford Park and Route 188 Park in Franklin Township, off Beagle Club Road in Morgan Township and off Chartiers Road in Jefferson Township.
“We have been very supportive of this kayak trail and waterways trail, and very supportive of the (Americans with Disabilities Act) facilities because the only place we really had ADA facilities was Ryerson Park,” said Ken Dufalla, president of the local Izaak Walton League.
Each access area costs about $100,000, and the group received grants from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Dufalla said recreation, as opposed to other industries, will leave a lasting legacy.
“We feel this will help to diversify the economy and bring recreational dollars into the area, and recreational dollars are good, clean dollars,” Dufalla said.
The Marianna club completed the first phases of its access project using materials and park benches donated by local businesses, and members and local residents donated their time to help out. They plan to cement all three paths next year.
For these groups, increasing access to streams and rivers is just one part of a larger vision. Dennis Slagle, president of Maxwell Basin Recreation Area, said Washington County has the potential to be “Laurel Highlands – but here.”
“The bigger picture … we’re working together to create this as a recreation area, and it has to start somewhere,” Slagle said. “We’re not asking for money. We’re asking for recognition and help to make it work the way it should work.”
White described Ten Mile Creek as a “family-friendly and leisurely stream” and said it makes economic sense to develop the area as a recreational hot spot. The Fish and Boat Commission does not stock the creek, but MOA raised $27,000 over the past eight years to stock the waterway with trout. The group hosts a canoe race in Marianna every spring as its primary fundraiser. It will be held April 26 next year.
While the Marianna-based group has dozens of other goals, White said it is their duty to extend those opportunities to veterans and people with disabilities.
“Everybody recognizes that people with handicaps, and especially our veterans, haven’t gotten their due justice, especially in this area,” White said. “And if everybody realizes that, and here we are with a plan to not only achieve that, but to achieve prosperity on a very high level for all these local communities in the region, why would we not do it?”