WATR gets $9,500 river cane grant from Cherokee

As clay is to the potter and stone is to the sculptor, river cane is the vital raw
material to the Cherokee basket maker. But it’s in short supply.
A Cherokee artisans group has provided a grant to WATR to locate cane stands along the river to provide a local supply for basketmakers.
With a revival of basketmaking in Cherokee, artisans are having to travel farther and farther from home to find cane suitable for their use, said David Cozzo,  director of RTCAR, for Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources.

David Cozzo talks about river cane

It wasn’t long ago, said Cozzo, that the art of basketmaking had gone into decline to the point that there were only two Cherokee artisans making double-weave baskets. Supply of cane wasn’t a problem.
Then the Chrokee Preservation Foundation stepped in and started basketweaving classes. A revival ensued. Now, the craft is even taught in the Cherokee High School.
“With the cultural revival, the need for river cane has increased,” said Cozzo. His group is planning a trip soon to Barbourville, Ky., to harvest cane from a “really nice stand” there. And it is working with Sumter National Forest in South Carolina to find cane there for harvesting.
Cozzo is convinced that there is river cane enough in Jackson and Swain counties to provide an adequate local source –it just needs to be located and the owners persuaded to allow the harvesting.
That’s where the grant to WATR comes in. The grant is for $9,500 for the project, which will run through September, 2012.
Roger Clapp, WATR director, has issued a call for volunteers to help with the river cane hunt.
“This would be ideal for people who like to wander the mountain backroads, enjoying the scenery and plant life,” he said.
Volunteers or  owners of rivercane stands who are interested should contact  the WATR office in Bryson City at 488-8418.
Those interested in the project are invited to travel to Murphy to visit another water cane project on the Nantahala watershed. A caravan will leave from the WATR office in Bryson City at 9 a.m. Tuesday, No. 16. Bring a lunch.
Volunteers for the rivercane project will take part in a training program to learn how to recognize the plant and how to map the site using GPS coordinates. The training zsessions will also be used to set up the driving routes to prevent overlap and to make sure the area is covered. Once the stands are found, owners will be approached to see if they will allow harvesting of the cane.
Cozzo said a selective harvesting method would be employed. Cane must be of a certain size to be useful, and less mature cane will be left alone so that it can grow.
Clapp said that cane stands should be preserved and  broadened for the environmental benefits to the river. Cane provides excellent buffer for sediment runoff and improve riparian wildlife habitat.
Cozzo said his agency  likes to work with conservation groups, such as WATR, “because we’re all on the same page” – that the ecological and cultural benefits of the cane resources got hand-in-hand.
Both Clapp and Cozzo said that rivercane landowners who permit a harvest will know that they are playing a role in preserving the heritage and culture of the Cherokees and the mountains.

WATR gets $9,500 river cane grant from Cherokee

As clay is to the potter and stone is to the sculptor, river cane is the vital raw
material to the Cherokee basket maker. But it’s in short supply.
A Cherokee artisans group has provided a grant to WATR to locate cane stands along the river to provide a local supply for basketmakers.
With a revival of basketmaking in Cherokee, artisans are having to travel farther and farther from home to find cane suitable for their use, said David Cozzo,  director of RTCAR, for Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources.

David Cozzo talks about river cane

It wasn’t long ago, said Cozzo, that the art of basketmaking had gone into decline to the point that there were only two Cherokee artisans making double-weave baskets. Supply of cane wasn’t a problem.
Then the Chrokee Preservation Foundation stepped in and started basketweaving classes. A revival ensued. Now, the craft is even taught in the Cherokee High School.
“With the cultural revival, the need for river cane has increased,” said Cozzo. His group is planning a trip soon to Barbourville, Ky., to harvest cane from a “really nice stand” there. And it is working with Sumter National Forest in South Carolina to find cane there for harvesting.
Cozzo is convinced that there is river cane enough in Jackson and Swain counties to provide an adequate local source –it just needs to be located and the owners persuaded to allow the harvesting.
That’s where the grant to WATR comes in. The grant is for $9,500 for the project, which will run through September, 2012.
Roger Clapp, WATR director, has issued a call for volunteers to help with the river cane hunt.
“This would be ideal for people who like to wander the mountain backroads, enjoying the scenery and plant life,” he said.
Volunteers or  owners of rivercane stands who are interested should contact  the WATR office in Bryson City at 488-8418.
Those interested in the project are invited to travel to Murphy to visit another water cane project on the Nantahala watershed. A caravan will leave from the WATR office in Bryson City at 9 a.m. Tuesday, No. 16. Bring a lunch.
Volunteers for the rivercane project will take part in a training program to learn how to recognize the plant and how to map the site using GPS coordinates. The training zsessions will also be used to set up the driving routes to prevent overlap and to make sure the area is covered. Once the stands are found, owners will be approached to see if they will allow harvesting of the cane.
Cozzo said a selective harvesting method would be employed. Cane must be of a certain size to be useful, and less mature cane will be left alone so that it can grow.
Clapp said that cane stands should be preserved and  broadened for the environmental benefits to the river. Cane provides excellent buffer for sediment runoff and improve riparian wildlife habitat.
Cozzo said his agency  likes to work with conservation groups, such as WATR, “because we’re all on the same page” – that the ecological and cultural benefits of the cane resources got hand-in-hand.
Both Clapp and Cozzo said that rivercane landowners who permit a harvest will know that they are playing a role in preserving the heritage and culture of the Cherokees and the mountains.

Homeowners win suit over shoddily built roads

Members of the Alarka Creek Properties Homeowners Association have won a $3 million lawsuit over roads that deteriorated in the subdivision. The court accepted the property owners’ claims that the roads were shoddily built on too-steep terrain and that the developer ignored appropriate erosion control measures.
Link to article

Swain High Students search for the endangered Appalachian Elktoe Mussel.

Cold water and the threat of rainfall did not stop the Swain High

Environmentally Aware Club from searching for the endangered Appalachian elktoe mussel in theTuckasegeeRiver.
On Tuesday, May 17, eleven members of the club traveled upstream of Dillsboro to start their search.  Under the guidance of Gary Peeples, outreachcoordinator for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, they used underwater view scopes to search the river bottom and try to locate the endangered animal.

The original plan was for the club to raft down the river and stop at various points to look for the mussel. With the bad weather, the group searched for mussels once and then rafted straight down to the take out point.
According to Roger Clapp, director of the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River, “Mussels belong to a group of animals called mollusks, and they look like salt-water clams.  They continuously filter stream water, and in the process they take out silts and clays and contaminants, thus improving water quality. Problems arise when there is too much silt and clay, and these sedentary animals get covered then smothered with sediments, and eventually they die.
The Appalachian elktoe mussel is found only in theTuckasegee River and about four other rivers in the region, according to Clapp. They are sensitive to pollution and habitat disruptions. “These particular mussels act like the ‘canary in the coal mine’, where declining Appalachian elktoe populations strongly suggest stream deterioration.”
Paige Tester, club president, said “I was surprised we found many more shells of the Asian clam than those of the Appalachian elktoe. The Asian clam is an invasive species that should not be here. So we have too many of the non-native kind of mussel and not enough of good mussel.”  She also commented on the bare-soil banks along the parts of the river which contribute unwanted sediment to the creek, probably being one cause of the decline of the Appalachian elktoe.
“There was also the problem of trash in the river; it was everywhere,” said Tester.
For many, the trip was a new adventure.  PJ Sweet said, “It was just fun getting into the fisherman’s waders and searching the river bottom with the view scopes.  We found many shells from the Asian Clam.” Tyler Willis found the lone example of the endangered mussel that day.
With cold weather, no one wanted to stop and do more exploring. Instead, the whole group rafted the two miles down to the waiting cars. The rafts were provided free of charge by Willdwater. Kevin Gibbs and Matt Cook, Wildwater guides, volunteered their time.
Monica Fortner said she enjoyed getting their raft stuck and then unstuck on the river rocks.  Many were amused when Clapp, the trip organizer, flipped his canoe.
Others in the group were Jonah Winchester, Morgan Green, Marley Simmons, Blair Allman, Athena Arkansas, George Helmer, and Kaitlin Roberts, and Ms. Anne Watkins, the club’s faculty advisor. Partway down the river, Dr. Karen Kandl, a Western Carolina University biology instructor joined the group.  She has extensive experience with freshwater mussels.
A chilled, but more ecologically informed group of students agreed that this hands-on search for an endangered animal was a worthwhile adventure. And they might like to extend the investigation next year.
There may be a real possibility for more involvement. WATR recently submitted a proposal to the NC Wildlife Resource Commission. Among several tasks, a start-up initiative in mussel monitoring, to be led by Dr. Kandl, is called for in the application.
If the proposal is accepted, students, as well as parents and other adults, could participate in science and help protect our aquatic resources.  Contact the WATR office at 828-488-8418 if you are interested. WATR’s involvement in the field trip was supported by a grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.