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LEFT: Michael Banks demonstrates a small winch powered by a 







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chainsaw motor, used to swing cut wood out of the channel 

 ABOVE: Connie Asero enjoys the sights along a section of the White 

 Oak that was inaccessible before the project. 



supervision, management, administrative 

 support and volunteer labor. 



The White Oak River cleanup was the 

 first small boat project funded under the general 

 navigation category. The division has since 

 backed a similar effort on the Newport River in 

 Carteret County. 



MINIMAL IMPACT, 

 MAXIMUM RETURNS 



The White Oak's own advocates also 

 signed off on the plan. The White Oak River 

 Watershed Advisory Board, formed in 1997, 

 was the pilot watershed planning group for N.C. 

 Cooperative Extension's Watershed Education 

 for Communities and Local Officials (WECO). 

 The program helps communities collaborate 

 to address water quality issues. WECO project 

 coordinator Patrick Beggs had previously 

 worked for DWR and suggested the grant 

 program. 



Beggs and WECO's program manager 

 Christy Perrin meet regularly with the White 

 Oak board. Perrin assembled a panel of 

 specialists from the state wildlife agency, North 

 Carolina State University, Duke University 

 Marine Laboratory, N.C. Division of Soil 

 and Water Conservation and local experts 

 on beaver dams and other issues. The panel 

 assured the proposal satisfied water quality and 

 conservation as well as recreational interests 



represented by board members. 



"It sounded like a good solution to the 

 problem everyone could agree on," says Perrin. 



Low impact also can mean lower costs. 

 The White Oak averaged under $3,000 per mile. 

 The more disruptive "snag and drag" approach 

 to remove all debris can cost twice as much. 



Jones County has tried both approaches. 

 County Manager Larry Meadows says 160 

 miles of county waterways were stripped of 

 wood debris bank-to-bank in 1999. 



"I like this program," he says of the DWR 

 grant. "It shows there are other ways to keep a 

 stream clean." 



Jones County officials are hopeful the 

 project will boost the number of paddlers 

 seeking out the White Oak, and therefore the 

 county's take in tourism dollars. In 2003, Jones 

 ranked 99th out of 100 counties in tourism, 

 according to state statistics. 



"We've got the natural resources to do 

 more," Meadows says. 



Asero wants to put the newly navigable 

 section on canoe and kayak trail maps so fellow 

 paddlers can enjoy its uncommon sights, such as 

 pitcher plants and diamond-back terrapins. She 

 has counted at least 100 enormous cypresses 

 — some reputed to be 1 ,000 years old. 



"There's a reason to go," she says. 

 "There's something to see." 



Paddlers, though, are well aware that 



nature could drop the curtain again on these 

 wonders of the White Oak. The project spent 

 $53,000 of the $70,000 in grants. 



"We're not giving the rest back," Asero 

 says, "until after the storm season this fall." □ 



For more information, go online to: 



• The N.C. Division of Water 

 Resources: www.ncwater.org 

 Watershed Education for 

 Communities and Local Officials: 

 www. ces. ncsu. edu/depts/agecon/ 

 WECO 



N.C. Dept. of Environment and 

 Natural Resources: www.enr.state. 

 nc.us 



• N.C. Wildlife Resources 

 Commission: www.wildlife.state. 

 nc.us 



N.C. Division of Water Quality, 

 White Oak River Basinwide Water 

 Quality Plan: http://dem.ehnr.state. 

 nc.us/basinwide/ 



• Stewards of the White Oak River 

 Basin: www.whiteoakstewards.org 

 Crystal Coast Canoe and Kayak 

 Club: www.ccckc.org/ 



N.C. Paddle Trails: www.ncsu. 

 edu/paddletrails 



COASTWATCH 29 



