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Recent Entries

• IMBA epic rides
• Skishing: fishing for swimmers…and crazy people
• Sweating the small stuff
• ESPN to sell B.A.S.S.
• More on Jarred VandeMark’s national parks journey

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The International Mountain Bike Association maintains a list of “Epic Rides,” which they define rather widely.

From the IMBA website: Many Epics are remote backcountry journeys that feature adventurous riding and incredible vistas. We also spotlight riding opportunities that break the mold and deliver innovative solutions, like Ray’s Indoor Bike Park. The essential components of great trails include engaged land managers, skilled trailbuilders, community involvement and dedicated volunteers, so many Epics feature engaging backstories that highlight these elements.

Did you catch the last part of that, the part about skilled trailbuilders and community involvement? We definitely have that here in Richmond, especially in the James River Park System. What we also have down there is one of the best urban tracks in America. Seriously. So click here to vote for the Butterbank Loop (Buttermilk and North Bank together) as an IMBA Epic Ride.

I read about skishing for the first time in a book about striper fishing I just finished: On the Run: An Angler’s Journey Down the Striper Coast by David DiBenedetto. For the uninitiated, the idea behind skishing, as the Outdoorpressroom.com reports, is to “get in the water with [a] rod and reel wearing a wetsuit and flippers…hook a big fish and get towed through the water.”

Click here for the Wall Street Journal article about it.

The Virginia Capital Trail near Shockoe Bottom.

Beth Weisbrod, head of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, has an interesting piece at Richmondbizsense.com about the small changes we can make to move Richmond toward a more bike and pedestrian friendly future. Ten- and 20-year plans are important, she argues, but there’s lots of low-hanging fruit we could be picking right now—more bike racks, picnic tables and benches, bike lanes, etc.

Click here to check it out.

This news broke a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been meaning to pass it on. Apparently the new owners have said the B.A.S.S. tournaments will continue to be shown on ESPN. I’ve talked to a number of pro anglers, all of whom complain about the payouts at Elite Series events and the amount of money given to anglers vs. how much ESPN kept. It’ll be interesting to see if/how that changes under new ownership.

Click here for the story.

Here is the list, in order, of Jarred VandeMark’s four month journey to see most of America’s western national parks. Below the list I’ve included four of his favorite pictures.

Smoky Mountains NP, TN
Big Bend NP, TX
Guadalupe Mountains NP, TX
Carlsbad Caverns NP, NM
Mesa Verde NP, CO
Arches NP, UT
Canyonlands NP, UT
Capitol Reef NP, UT
Bryce Canyon NP, UT
Zion NP, UT
Grand Canyon NP, AZ
Petrified Forest NP, AZ
Saguaro NP, AZ
Death Valley NP, CA & NV
Yosemite NP, CA
Kings Canyon & Sequoia NP, CA
Lassen Volcanic NP, CA
Redwood NP, CA
Crater Lake NP, OR
Mount Rainier NP, WA
Olympic NP, WA
North Cascades NP, WA
Glacier Bay NP, AK
Wrangell-St. Elias NP, AK
Kenai Fjords NP, AK
Denali NP, AK
Glacier NP, MT
Yellowstone NP, WY MT ID
Grand Teton NP, WY
Wind Cave NP, SD
Badlands NP, SD

A road through Death Valley.

Juneau, Alaska above the Mendenhall glacier.

The Grand Tetons in Wyoming.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska.

 

If you like hiking and want to stay local, this has the potential to be a lot of fun.

Saturday, August 21 •
Summer Sizzler Hike through the James River Park System
It’s back! This popular long distance hike on the renowned wilderness
trails of the James River Park will reveal points of natural and historic
importance. The hike will showcase additional improvements on
the trail system. 9+ miles; be prepared for hot weather and a moderate
to strenuous excursion. Bring water. Participants must be able to
hop rocks and climb ladders. Meet at the Belle Isle parking lot on
Tredegar St. 
9 a.m.-4 p.m. 
Fee: $5.00 donation to the James River Park Fund
Sponsored by the City of Richmond Parks and Recreation and Friends of James River Park.
Please register at by calling 804-748-1920.

These pictures didn’t reach me in time to make the paper with Friday’s column, but I thought I’d pass them along here. This is local boater Cooper Sallade running the second rapid on Reedy Creek. If you missed Friday’s column about the sometimes ragin’ Reedy, click here to catch up.

I saw this article/video on CNN.com this morning and thought it was worth passing on.

It took this guy two years to hike along the entire length of the Amazon River, something that had never been done before. Pretty amazing.

If you’re a catfisherman, you probably already know what noodling is. If you don’t know, you need to and this is a great way to find out.

ESPN E:60 Presents: Emmy Award Winning Feature on Noodling

On Tuesday, Aug 3, at 7 p.m. ET, ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning, primetime newsmagazine E:60 will reair its Sports Emmy-Award winning feature of Noodling, the art of holding your breath and diving down into a murky river or lake to catch giant catfish with razor your bare hands.
E:60 reporter Wright Thompson takes viewers into the water with some of the country’s best noodlers, and provides a rare look at a sport that has just as much to do with culture as it does the thrill. Illegal in most of the United States, E:60 shows how these noodlers are trying to protect their tradition.

Click here for a clip from the show.

The female red-cockaded woodpecker.

Today’s column was about the 4,400-acre Big Woods property in Sussex County recently purchased by the game department and the forestry department. It sits next to the Piney Grove Preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy. That’s where Virginia’s 50 red-cockaded woodpeckers currently live.

Piney Grove Preserve in Sussex County. (Credit: The Nature Conservancy)

Here’s the press release from the DOF and DGIF about the new WMA and state forest.

Unique Partnership between Agencies Conserves Wildlife Habitat and Forestlands

In a unique partnership for the Commonwealth, the Department of Forestry (DOF) and Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) have acquired 4,400 acres of pine forest in Sussex County creating a new State Forest and Wildlife Management Area (WMA) that will be managed cooperatively. The acquisition creates the DOF’s first State Forest in southeastern Virginia, and 21st statewide, and DGIF’s 38th WMA statewide. The agencies acquired the property, commonly known as Big Woods, from The Nature Conservancy.

Details on usage, public access, permit requirements, and land management strategies are still being developed as DOF and DGIF collaborate on a detailed management plan for the site. Extensive work will need to be done to develop habitat and to build appropriate infrastructure for public access and land management.

Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore said, “The DOF will actively manage its portion – the 2,200-acre Big Woods State Forest – for sustainable forestry, economic development and landowner education.  Keeping working forests as working forests is vital to both the economic and environmental health of Virginia.  We’re very excited to be able to add this important piece of land to our State Forest system.” 

DGIF will manage the 2,208-acre Big Woods WMA for conservation and management of the red-cockaded woodpecker, as well as bobwhite quail, Bachman’s sparrow, southeastern fox squirrel, and other species. It is anticipated that the Big Woods State Forest and Big Woods WMA will offer wildlife watching, as well as deer, turkey, quail and other hunting opportunities.

Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech expressed enthusiasm for future public use of the property.  “For the more than 1.5 million Virginians who live within a 45-mile radius, Big Woods State Forest and Big Woods WMA will protect the tradition of hunting for this region.”

State Forester Carl Garrison said, “This property is an excellent example of a large pine savanna ecosystem. Acquisition of Big Woods State Forest will provide tremendous opportunities for us to plant and to grow longleaf pine, a now diminished species that once covered more than a million acres in Virginia.”

DGIF Executive Director Bob Duncan noted, “As a comprehensive wildlife agency, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries seeks opportunities to conserve not only wildlife and important habitat, but also to offer a variety of recreational opportunities. These include hunting, fishing, boating and wildlife watching – activities that connect the public with the outdoors, making all of us better stewards of our natural resources.”

In addition to the many wildlife habitat benefits associated with this forested land, Big Woods straddles both the Nottoway and Blackwater River watersheds – the primary source of drinking water for more than 700,000 residents in southeastern Virginia. Conserving this property protects those watersheds and helps reduce the frequency of flood events.

The acquisition of the property had been in the works for some time and has already been counted in land conservation goals. In an effort to protect the land from development, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) had the foresight to purchase the land from International Paper in 2006. What makes this land so significant is that it is considered to be one of the best locations in eastern Virginia to restore a functional pine savanna system capable of supporting a wide diversity of plant and animal life, including red-cockaded woodpeckers.

The red-cockaded woodpecker is a federally endangered species found only in pine savanna forests of the southeastern United States. It’s known from only one location in Virginia, the 3,200-acre Piney Grove Preserve owned by TNC. Piney Grove is home to approximately 50 red-cockaded woodpeckers and is adjacent to the Big Woods property.

Michael Lipford, director of The Nature Conservancy in Virginia, said, “For hundreds of years the longleaf pine forests of Big Woods provided the timber that literally helped build Tidewater, so we are honored to be able to play a role today in conserving this piece of the Commonwealth’s outstanding natural and cultural heritage. The Nature Conservancy’s success in recovering one of Virginia’s rarest species, the red-cockaded woodpecker, has set the stage for expanding populations of other animals, such as bobwhite quail, in this rare pine savanna ecosystem.  The scale of our cooperative efforts with the Departments of Forestry and Game and Inland Fisheries is one of the most ambitious and exciting forestland conservation projects in the state.”

DGIF Executive Director Bob Duncan acknowledges the important role TNC played in the acquisition stating, “We are indebted to The Nature Conservancy for its vision and commitment to this project.  It helped make the acquisition a reality by holding the land and facilitating a very complex acquisition process.”

Funding for the $6.4 million acquisition came from a variety of sources, including a Virginia land conservation bond ($4.1 million). Grants were awarded through the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program ($900,000); the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Land Acquisition Grant Program ($550,000), and the Virginia Land Conservation Fund ($850,000).