By Brent Lancaster
Times-News
An effort to develop a greenway along the Haw River that would offer
recreation for local residents and protection for the river will be
getting a boost from the National Park Service.
The park service has agreed to offer expertise to a local group
developing a series of trails and canoe access points along the Haw,
which runs through the heart of Alamance County. It’s one of five
projects in the Southeast chosen for help from the park service’s
Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program this year.
A park service official will work with the Haw River Land and Trail
Association on a model section of trail near Swepsonville. The park
service will be able to help with technical design, marketing and
applying for grants. No money will be given to the Haw River group,
however.
The group hopes to stitch together a series of donated and publicly
owned land along the river’s edge so residents can walk the banks or
have safe places to put a canoe on the water. Sam Powell, an Alamance
County commissioner and chairman of the group, said the hope is to use
existing resources like the Piedmont Land Trust to hold donated land.
Chris Abbett, head of the assistance program in the Southeast, said the
park service helps local groups bring its expertise to areas not served
by a national park. The park service liked the Haw River project because
it is trying to do more in North Carolina and the Haw is a great natural
resource. Plus, the project has a lot of local support from government,
business and private citizens, Abbett said.
“These things take a long time to complete, and if folks aren’t
excited about it in the beginning they certainly aren’t going to be
excited about it at the end,” he said.
Mike Holland, a local activist and vice president of environmental
education firm BioQuest, got the Haw River project started. He thinks
that getting people on the river will make them want to save it.
“If they’re not using it they’re not going to care if they lose
it,” Holland said.
Powell agrees, and believes progress has been made already.
State regulators say work on point sources, such as sewage pipes and
pollution from industry, has made some progress on the Haw. Non-point
sources such as suds from car washes washing off the streets and
fertilizer from suburban lawns is still a problem.
“As late as 10 or 15 years ago it had foam of different colors,”
Powell said of the Haw’s waters. “The river stank.”
The park service will start work on the Haw this month or in June and
should spend one or two years on the project, Abbett said.
Brent Lancaster can be reached at brent_lancaster@link.freedom.com
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