Connor Riley attaches the new sign to the downstream side of the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge.

Yesterday was an exciting day on the river for RichmondOutside.com.

For a couple of years now we’ve batted around the idea of putting a camera on an osprey or eagle nest somewhere in Richmond. Yesterday we got serious. Together with Dave Fary of Riverside Outfitters and local climber/data science entrepreneur Connor Riley, we headed out onto the James from Tredegar Beach with two missions: 1) Reinstall the sign under the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge that led boaters to the safest passage through the Vepco levee and 2) begin preparations for mounting an osprey cam on one of the old Richmond-Petersburg Railroad Railroad bridge pilings.

Both missions were huge successes. The second we think will allow us to show off not only downtown RVA’s abundant wildlife in an intimate way, but the abundant human activity taking place on that stretch of the river as well. In short, we think this osprey cam will be a one-of-a-kind addition to RVA’s river scene.

Riley rock climbs to the top of a Richmond-Petersburg Railroad Bridge piling in the James River.

For mission one, Fary guided our company raft through the Vepco levee underneath the T Pot and into an eddy below one of the bridge pilings. Dozens watched from the above as Riley, a former Navy demolitions expert and experienced rock climber, repelled from the bridge and hung a blue “Falls of the James” sign in place of the “Ashland” sign that had hung there for years.

To get to mission two, Fary navigated the boat through a few small rapids to the now-defunct Richmond-Petersburg Railroad Bridge piling that we’d been told has had an active osprey nest for the past few years. (If you’re standing on the T Pot, it’s the fourth stone piling from the north bank of the James). We’ll eventually need a camera, a solar panel and the battery that the panel charges up there, and the goal for the day was to secure a reliable route to bring the hardware up to the top of the piling.

First impression: this granite beast looks much taller when you’re standing at the base of it. It must have been close to 40 feet to the top. It was slow going, as we set a 27-foot ladder in place and Riley attached anchors to the granite wall. When he reached the top of the ladder, Fary belayed for Riley, who rock climbed the remaining 10-12 feet to the top. From there he could set anchors for the hardware we’ll install hopefully later this week. When we were done, we ran Pipeline Rapids to our takeout at 14th Street.

I’ll be writing more about the osprey cam as we get closer to the launch date. If you happen to be down on Brown’s Island or on the T Pot during the day on Friday, look for us out on the water. We’ll be the guys climbing a giant bridge piling trying to give all of us the best view of bird life — and river life — in Richmond.

The cargo raft on its way to the 14th St. takeout after a successful day on and above the water.

The James River Association periodically sends out emails on their advocacy efforts in the General Assembly, and considering we’re about halfway through the current session, I figured we’re past due for an update.

Priority One: Support Water Quality and Land Conservation Funding

Background: Virginia has made significant investments in water quality and land conservation over the last two decades resulting in major pollution reductions and improvements to local water quality. In order to keep Virginia on track with meeting our restoration goals, continued investment is necessary.

Update: The House and Senate released their versions of the budget over the weekend. While we are disappointed that neither provided Stormwater funding and that very limited Land Conservation funding was included, we are happy to report that funding for Agricultural clean water practices was included by both. Over the next weeks, both the House and Senate will reach agreement on these two budgets. This funding helps determine whether the Commonwealth continues to make progress towards cleaner rivers and streams — or falls short on its goals.

Priority Two: Support Proper Coal Ash Pond Closure (Support Senate Bill 1398)

Background: The James River watershed is home to coal ash ponds capable of holding five billion gallons of coal ash. Each pond in the watershed is adjacent to the river or one of its tributaries. Coal ash, which is a waste product of the electricity generation process, contains arsenic, lead and mercury among other toxins. Virginia’s code does not require utilities to demonstrate that their coal ash ponds are not contaminating surface and groundwater prior to the issuance of solid waste permit for their closure. We must ensure that these ponds are properly evaluated and are not closed in the midst of on-going contamination.

Update: This bill spurred great conversation about the closure of coal ash ponds with Virginia legislators. We were successful in conveying the urgency of this subject to the Senate and the bill has now crossed over to the House.

Priority Three: Protecting Valuable Oyster Reefs (Oppose House Bill 1575)

Background: Did you know that oysters have been around for 15 million years? Oysters in the James River are rebounding due to restoration efforts and harvest restrictions to ensure the protection of vital stock. This bill proposes to allow dredging equipment to travel through oyster sanctuaries – a law that has been in place for decades. It is important to maintain current protections and ensure no backsliding occurs.

Update: Thanks to your help, we were successful in defeating this attempt. Rather than rolling back current protections in State Code, our oyster sanctuaries will continue to be protected from dredging equipment.

Just a friendly reminder, that this Saturday you can join hundreds of crazy people who will voluntarily jump into the James River on a day when the high temperature is 47. It’s part of Keep Virginia’s Beautiful’s Shiver in the River Winter Festival.

Events start at 10 a.m. with a community cleanup along the banks of the James, surrounding areas and neighborhoods, where participants will give an hour of their time to improve RVA’s communities. Following the cleanup, is a 5K at noon. All ages are invited to run or walk while enjoying the beauty of the river area.  This will be the first 5K in Richmond history to cross the new T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge. The event will continue with the James River Jump at 2 pm for those daring enough to enter the chilly river. But don’t worry, if swimming in 38-degree water isn’t for you, Shiver In The River attendees will celebrate in the Winter Festival with heated tents, food & beverage trucks, and entertainment in an environmentally friendly atmosphere. Registration and details can be found by clicking here.

(Credit for main photo is Chris Johnson — vintage_RVA on Instagram.)

If you missed it yesterday, the Times-Dispatch’s Ned Oliver reported that the new T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge saw huge visitation numbers in its first month being open — 35,000 visitors in December.

The T Pot at night. Credit: Chris Johnson

The statistics were part of a larger announcement of 2016 park visitation data released by Superintendent Nathan Burrell. “It’s a huge boon for the park and the city in general,” Burrell told the T-D of the T Pot bridge. “It’s a lot of people you don’t typically don’t see in the James River Park System are down exploring, so it’s great to see this new mix of people coming in and enjoying it.”

The Virginia State Capitol building. Credit: Ron Cogswell

The 2017 General Assembly Session kicked off last week, and our friends at the James River Association are hard at work speaking up for the James River and its watershed. I thought it was worth sharing their priorities for the session. If theirs match up with your priorities for the James, consider contacting your representative and making your voice heard. Or, better yet, if you’re inspired to come to the halls of the General Assembly yourself, you can join the JRA and other groups for Water Lobby Day, scheduled for February 9th. Click here to find out more and register.

Key Priorities

In order to reach the James River Association’s goals for a fully healthy James River and fulfill Virginia’s constitutional commitment to protect our waters, we urge your support of the following critical actions:

Support Water Quality and Land Conservation Funding

Virginia has made significant investments in water quality and land conservation over the last two decades resulting in major pollution reductions and improvements to local water quality. In order to keep Virginia on track with meeting our restoration goals, continued investment is necessary.

Support Proper Coal Ash Management

The James River watershed is home to coal ash ponds capable of holding five billion gallons of coal ash. Each pond in the watershed is adjacent to the river or one of its tributaries. Coal ash, which is a waste product of the electricity generation process, contains arsenic, lead and mercury among other toxics. Virginia’s code does not require utilities to demonstrate that their coal ash ponds are not contaminating surface and groundwater prior to the issuance of a solid waste permit for their closure. We must ensure that these ponds are properly evaluated and are not closed in the midst of ongoing contamination.

Protecting Our Valuable Oyster Reefs

Did you know that oysters have been around for 15 million years? Oysters in the James River are rebounding due to restoration efforts and harvest restrictions to ensure the protection of vital stock. In order to stay on this path, it is important to maintain current protections and ensure no backsliding occurs.

Yesterday around 10 a.m. local photographer Chris Johnson, whose work we’ve featured here often, headed out to Pony Pasture in search of wildlife. He was in luck.

About 40 yards upstream from the small, auxiliary parking lot west of the main lot, he found two bald eagles on a rock in the middle of the James chowing down. Johnson couldn’t tell at first what the eagles were eating, but it was too big for them to fly away with (as they would normally do) so the pictures he was able to capture were much closer than usual. Here are four of them. What do you think they’re eating? Canada goose, maybe? Beaver? Otter?

Virginia High School Mountain Biking event at Forest Hill Park, April 19, 2016.

Richmond offers plenty of recreational choices for anyone who wants to get outdoors. Its network of trails is extremely popular and has helped bring several beneficial economic events to Richmond, including Dominion Riverrock, XTERRA and more.

The oldest, the Buttermilk Trail, has been a part of the James River Park since the early 1980s. But the city did not commit to building trails that could officially accommodate mountain bikers until the late 1990s.

The popularity of those early trails prompted the JRPS to appoint its first trails manager in 2003 (Nathan Burrell). Citizens helped to push for more trails and volunteers did much of the work. But for all the people out riding trails in Richmond, park usage statistics show that mountain bikes are in the minority. According to numbers provided by the city’s parks department, walkers and runners outnumber mountain bikers three to one on the Buttermilk Trail. Only one in four users on North Bank is a biker.

“Everything we do is an effort to manage the growing number of people going out on the trails,” said Mike Burton, the city’s trails manager since 2013. “Even though they are the minority users, mountain bikes are always on our mind as we plan trail work.”

Burton said all of the JRPS and trail crew staffers are trail users and mountain bikers, which helps illustrate their dedication and determination to continue to maintain the popular trails network. He said the majority of the work they do is done to just keep the trails open.

The city maintains more than 42 miles of trail, including single track, connector roads, and trails entering parks. This includes more than 20 miles of trail in the James River Park at North Bank (opened 2005), Belle Isle (1999), Ancarrow’s Landing (Poop Loop trail, 2014), Pony Pasture, The Wetlands, and Huguenot Flatwater. The crew maintains trail in other city parks, including Forest Hill (rebuilt 2009), Byrd (Dogwood Dell, 2011), Powhite (1995-99), Larus (2005), and Bryan.

“We are known for having a challenging network of trails in the center of an urban area,” said Burrell, who is now the James River Park manager. “We offer a wide range of skill sets throughout the trail system.”

Burrell said building a facility like the skills park on Belle Isle (which opened in 2012) was an effort to offer a more beginner-friendly training area for new and young riders. The trail crew has also been working to introduce more trail that caters to different types of riders.

“You could spend your life building technical trails, but we only have a staff of two,” Burton said, referring to Andrew Alli, the other full time trail crew staffer. “Every time we add new trail, we also add more maintenance, and there is so much demand for the trails we have now.”

***

For those interested in learning more and giving their input about the trails network, the city will host a forum Wednesday, Feb. 1, from 7-8:30 p.m. at The Carillon in Byrd Park. Hosted by the City of Richmond and the James River Park trail crew, the event is expected to be an open discussion about the Richmond trails network.

Representatives from the mountain bike, trail runners, and hiking groups are scheduled to be on the panel. The forum will be moderated by Brantley Tyndall, community outreach coordinator for Richmond Sports Backers’ Bike Walk RVA. Topics will include:

• History, ownership, and roles of the city’s trails system
• Diversity of users, their needs, and park visitation volume
• Sustainability, maintenance and trail design

A Q&A session will allow the public to voice their ideas & concerns. In advance of the forum, submit your questions.

***

RVAMORE volunteers work at Poop Loop.

The trails crew is constantly looking for ways to add new trails, but as the network increases, maintenance also increases, which creates the need for more help from volunteer groups, like RVAMORE and the James River Hikers.

In 2016, the trail system received nearly 1,500 documented hours from volunteer groups, a figure that Burton said was very low because the hours for many projects were not tallied. Project managers occasionally forget to share signup sheets or volunteers forget to sign in, missing a chance to document their efforts.

Without volunteers, Burrell said Richmond’s trails network would not exist. For 2016, the parks department used $22 per hour to calculate the value of volunteer time (less than a national figure of $23.56). Often a volunteer project would include a member of the park staff and anywhere from five to 20 volunteers, depending on the work needed to accomplish.

Other projects earned more than 4,900 hours for park maintenance and another 2,850 from long-term volunteers and interns. All totaled, the park counted 9,270 volunteer hours, which equates to about 4.85 permanent employees (considering the average permanent employee works approximately 2,000 hours per year), according to parks department documentation.

“Our job is to be stewards of the land,” Burton said. “Most trail work includes preventing erosion and making it more sustainable.” Once the crew works on a section of trail, the hope is to avoid having to revisit the site to continue to make repairs.

Burrell said the three key factors to trail sustainability include: environmental (immediate and long-term impact to surroundings); economic (cost of the trail work); and social (which involves many factors, including removing poor sight lines, tight trail corridors, dangerous junctions — anywhere trail users could get hurt from collisions).

That often means that can’t justify building technical features and alternate expert trails in the city network because mountain bikes are still the minority users in the park. Where necessary, there are a few sections of trail where hikers and bikers are separated, such as in Buttermilk Heights (including the area near the stone porch switchback), the Netherwood Quarry (east of 42nd Street, includes a ramp for bikes or stairs for hikers), and another on the North Bank Trail.

Burrell said the crew tends to choose permanent materials when they do build new trail features. “We try use the existing materials within the park as much as we can. Rock features play into the natural features of an adventure recreation park. We have a finite amount of land to work with and we have to manage it as best we can.”

DISCLAIMER: Phil Riggan is a member of rvaMORE and other volunteer groups in the city.

The Intermediate Terminal on the tidal James. Credit: Justin Doyle

I’ve been out to the new T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge on at least a half dozen occasions since it opened in early December, and it’s been packed every time — even on cold, windy days. There’s something about the bike/pedestrian-only span that’s connecting with Richmonders. It’s only a month old, and it’s already a destination. An automatic counter set up by the James River Park System counted 35,000 visits between Dec. 2 and 31st

The T Pot is the most visible part of the Richmond Riverfront Plan currently, but I was reminded by an email this morning, that there is much more in the works. Some really exciting projects will come online — and need funding to do so — in the next few years that will shape Richmond’s riverfront for generations to come. And those projects will be shaped by public input, just as the T Pot was.

In that email, our friends at the James River Association encourage citizens to attend tonight’s public meeting to discuss upcoming sections of the plan. It’s scheduled for 6 pm in City Council Chambers at City Hall. Concepts for “Downriver,” the area of riverfront that includes the Intermediate Terminal, the old Lehigh Cement silos, and the Gillies Creek Greenway, will be presented and discussed at the meeting.

Justin Doyle has an informative piece on the JRA’s site about the planning for this “Downriver” section of the plan and what else is on the horizon.

Improvements to public spaces at Intermediate Terminal and the former site of the Lehigh Cement silos are in planning. Richmond continues to work with Hargreaves Associates to plan these public spaces that facilitate the Virginia Capital Trail and provide river access. Concepts for Downriver will be presented at a public meeting on January 11th at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at City Hall. Access the proposed Riverfront Plan amendment and design presentation via the following links: amendment and design presentation.

Click here to read what Doyle writes about the Gillies Creek Greenway, the Missing Link Trail and more Riverfront Plan priorities.