NCJCS Delaware River Clean-Up 2016!

As I have stated in previous posts, the Northampton County Junior Conservation School is a one week residential summer camp for ages 14-17. The week includes a variety of programs which take the participants out into the field to learn about different conservation related topics of study. I was a student in 2000 and have been helping with the program for the past 16 years. The highlight for me is always the canoe trip and river clean-up. The past several years, during the week of camp, the conditions on the Delaware were unsafe, meaning the river was flowing too high and fast to safely navigate. Because of this we had to instead paddle either the Lehigh or Longpond. This year the conditions were perfect on the Delaware and we were able to return for a large clean-up. If you are familiar with the Delaware and are looking at the photo above you may be thinking... "that's not the river." and you would be correct. Before taking the students out on moving water the Conservation School first teaches boater water safety on a lake. 

This year the water safety was preformed on Lake Nockamixon in Nockamixon State Park. Here the students learned first through lectures on shore, then had to prove they could swim 300 yards while wearing a personal floatation device (PFD) and then had to demonstrate what they had learned in the lecture on the water. By the end the students showed they can enter and exit a canoe safely, were able to steer, follow paddle signals, follow whistle signals and preform a boat over boat rescue with canoes. In this photo Tyler Sacks is preforming a boat over boat rescue with one of the students. This year all of the students did an excellent job and showed they were ready for the river!

On the river the number one goal was that everyone navigates the river safely. If you look at the previous post Andrew Gaerthe and I ran the same stretch the week prior and had all of the channels mapped out. I took the lead for most of the trip and Andrew filled in when I needed a break. The second goal of the trip was to remove as much trash from the river and its banks as possible!

Along the river the education doesn't stop. Do you know what this building along the Delaware is? The students can tell you it is the Merrill Creek Pumping Station. It has the ability to discharge large volumes of water into the Delaware from the Merrill Creek Reservoir during times of extremely low water in the river. Why would this be needed you ask? There are two nuclear power facilities in Salem, New Jersey, both draw their coolant water from the Delaware. If the river is not high enough, there is not enough coolant for these facilities and that can lead to a substantial problem. Merrill Creek is just part of an array of reservoirs that can be utilized to raise the river levels to the needed depths for the coolant processes to continue at these facilities. This is something that every citizen of PA or NJ should know about, but few do. This photo was taken on the preliminary and not on the NCJCS trip. 

Throughout the two day trip the students stopped when they saw trash. There were a few sections where they were instructed to keep on paddling due to time or hazards, but other than those they did a great job of sticking to the second goal and removing the things that don't belong on our riverbank. 

There were four Cormorants on these rocks just above Phillipsburg on the New Jersey side of the river. These three stuck around as all of the canoes paddled by. Most of the time Cormorants fly when you get anywhere near them on the river. The three above must either be used to boats passing by or just like the real-estate enough that they didn't want to leave. 

Environmental educator Rick Wiltraut holds a Common Map Turtle. Rick and two other staff members from Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center were along for the trip. In addition to removing trash along with us, they pointed out and talked about wildlife as we came across it on the river. Special thanks to Rick, Andy and Cory for your help!

Nearing the boat launch in Easton for lunch. In the front of the boat is Cameron, a student and my canoe partner for the trip. He did a great job not only paddling, but picking up trash as well. 

After lunch it was only a short distance down river to the campsite for the night. On the way there I spotted this fawn on one of the pillars to the 78 bridge. Don't worry it could easily get up the bank on the other side and was not trapped. Just past the bridge we all secured our trash filled canoes on the riverbank and headed up to Wi-Hit-Tuk Park for the night.

At Wi-Hit-Tuk, Steven Kloiber stopped by to do an entomological presentation on moths. He brought with him a vast array of pinned specimens and set up a sheet with light to attract moths and other insects in the area. 

The sheet did not attract as much as we had hoped for being down by the river, still a variety of insect species came in, including moths and some aquatics like the Giant Stonefly on the left. 

Staff members playing calls were also able to bring in five Eastern Screech Owls to the camp site. They did not stick around in one place long and this was the only one I was able to photograph. 

Back on the water the next morning. I spotted two green pieces sticking up out of a small strainer near the end of the island near Wi-Hit-Tuk. To my surprise it was the largest turtle I have ever caught anywhere. It could also be filled with sand. It was missing its carapace though.

At another island we stopped for the next educational lesson. Rick and Andy from Jacobsburg gave a short lecture on macroinvertebrates and the students then waded into the river to find some. They were taught how macros are used to determine water quality and used an index to figure out how the water in the Delaware compared to a stream they had sampled earlier in the week. Once the macro program was over we were back on the water.

I spotted this on the preliminary run and head staff member Thomas Figel went along with me to try to get it on this trip. We thought it would be easy, but we quickly learned this slide was broken and filled with sediment. The two of us couldn't even lift it up onto the rock next to it. I have to say I was disappointed we couldn't get this off the river. 

Another staff member Ryan found this when going for other trash. I helped him dig it out only to find there were large roots growing through it. Ryan was able to cut the plastic shell and we did get it out of there. The parts may have not gone together originally, but I was leaving the river with a full sandbox turtle!

It was close enough to a match. 

Andrew had just about the most impressive rig on the river for this trip. He definitely had the most tires. 

At the end we had 32 tires and a lot of other trash. Educator Wiltraut was so happy about the amount of trash we took off the Delaware he came up with his own trash removal dance which he is demonstrating here. Thank you to all of the NCJCS Staff and Students who helped to make this clean-up a success! There is a lot more to do, but you helped to make a big difference. Thank you also to the Jacobsburg Staff that were along as well.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

The Northampton County Junior Conservation School

Today's post is a little bit different, but it has everything to do with the spirit of this blog. If you have a child, relative or know someone who does that is between the ages of 14 to 17, I ask you to read all the way through this post.

So, what is the Northampton County Junior Conservation School? NCJCS is a one week long residential summer camp for ages 14 through 17. The week is filled with field trips which include but are not limited to, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, learning canoeing skills on a lake with proper rescue techniques, canoeing down one of two large rivers in the area, touring a landfill and visiting a gun range where students learn to properly handle and shoot five types of fire arms. While out in the field there are a multitude of lectures that focus on hands on learning. The students don't just see photos in a book, they are taken to different environments and the components of which are explained. I was a student in 2000 and helped for over ten years as a volunteer. It truly is an amazing and fun program. This years session will be running from July 12th through the 19th (2015).

The hike on the Appalachian Trail takes the students into the heart of an area devastated years ago by the deposition of heavy metal, due to a zinc smelting operation. Not only do they learn about the problems that caused it, but also the solutions that are being carried out today.

A canoe over canoe rescue doesn't look easy, but all of the students get the hang of it in an afternoon.

Now not every student was able to hold this Luna Moth, but the year this was taken every one got to see one right there in front of them. There is generally a multitude of wildlife that is seen throughout the week and experts who know how to teach identification are always on hand.

This year the canoe trip was on the Delaware, sometimes it is on the Lehigh and some years like last the rivers are too high or low to be safe. So, the students still get time on the water, but a slow moving non-flooded or dried up body of water. The river trip is my favorite and it is the main aspect of this camp that fits in with my blog. On the average years when the rivers are able to be ran, students gather and remove over 2 tons of trash. The local landfill that is visited actually picks up the trash at the end point and lets the camp know how much in weight they collect. I will be on the river with them this year and you better believe I will be a top competitor against the students for the most trash taken off the river by one boat!

There are stops on the river like this one. Here the kids are learning about macroinvertebrates and soon after the educator was done speaking they were sent into the river with nets and other collecting devices to find and identify them.

So, this is a bad year, the rivers were deemed unsafe. A day on Long Pond instead. I kind of wish I was there right now actually.

If you have or know kids in the right age range, think about it. You can learn more or sign up a student at ncjcs.org. I would also like to add, the full cost of the week is only $250. If you are interested, but do not have the money to spend, contact NCJCS anyway, they will do their best to find the student a sponsor bringing the fee down to just $75. I am ending this post with a Common Map Turtle found during one of the years I was a volunteer.