Kevin Brandt, left, superintendent of the C&O Canal Historic Park and Greg Kniesler, chief of maintenance, open the meeting at National Park Service headquarters in Washington.
The National Park Service is “totally committed to providing access at Fletcher’s Cove” to anglers for the spring run of shad, said Kevin Brandt, superintendent of the C&O Canal National Historic Park, as he opened a Wednesday evening meeting in front of a standing room only crowd of anglers and concerned citizens on the agency’s plan to reopen the dock at Fletcher’s Cove on the Potomac River in Washington by March 1, 2015.
The walkway to the dock at Fletcher’s Cove was closed in October after it was deemed unsafe by the National Park Service. Increased siltation and debris from storms and high water twisted the structure out of alignment.
Greg Kniesler, chief of maintenance, narrated a program outlining five possible areas where the dock might be relocated so it could open in time for the 2015 shad season as well as a brief talk about how several construction projects in the 1960’s contributed to the existing siltation problem at the cove.
One audience member spoke up to remind officials that “there are only 70 days” before the start of the shad season so there cannot be any delay in deciding on a plan of action. And Bryan King, associate director of the DC Fisheries and Wildlife Division, said “Fletcher’s sells 60 percent of the District’s fishing licenses” and the money it generates from those sales are an integral part of the operating budget of the fish and wildlife division. “If we don’t have the income from those licenses, fish and wildlife doesn’t exist,” he said. “We need Fletcher’s to be open for business in 2015.”
Bryan King, associate director of the DC Fisheries and Wildlife Division, speaks to people at the meeting.
King will be meeting with representatives of the DC government to consider whether the park service, and the concession it runs at Fletcher’s Cove, “is a non-commercial entity.” If they rule that it is not a commercial business, then the District is free to spend hundreds of thousands of Federal grant dollars to help it deal with the siltation problem at the cove.
Brandt said that whatever they decide to do, the “process has to be simple and direct enough where you do not have to deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and permits.” The short term solutions are simple and can be completed by March 1, 2015.
Kniesler proposed five possible relocation points for the dock. The first would keep the dock in its current location and try to repair the damaged walkway. A person pointed out that if the walkway was built higher, it would allow clearance for the debris and the dock would not have to be moved. Brandt said, “If it’s fixing the walkway, we have the funds to do that. Beyond that we wold have to look at funding the project.”
Possible relocation areas for the dock at Fletcher’s Cove.
However it was not known at the time if this repair would fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, forcing the park service to turn to one of the other four options.
The second and third options move the dock upstream, to two locations about 50 to 60 yards away from its current mooring area. Park service officials solicited comments from the audience on these proposed moves and one of the main concerns was the difficulty of transporting fishing equipment to and from the dock.
Option four involved moving the dock further out of the cove, but people pointed out that this would expose the dock to strong currents during high water events and storms.
The fifth option is to move the dock downstream to the area where private boats and kayaks launch. The park service proposal places the dock offshore or utilize a simple boat launch trolley or rollers. Several people pointed out that this area tends to collect a large amount of logs and driftwood during storms and floods and would expose the dock and boats to possible damage or loss from sudden high water events after heavy rain.
Kniesler also outlined the organization’s mid-term plans for Fletcher’s Cove. The multi-year plans would tackle the problem of siltation and possible solutions, such as working with universities, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the C&O Canal Trust to study ways to mitigate siltation or a Department of the Interior-National Park Service effort to improve the cove.
CONTACTS
Department of the Interior-National Park Service
Steve LeBel
Deputy Associate Regional Director
Steve_LeBel@nps.org
Kevin Brandt
Superintendant C&O Canal National Historic Park
Kevin_Brandt@nps.org
Gregory Kniesler
Chief of Maintenance
Gregory_Kniesler@nps.org
DC Fisheries and Wildlife Division
Bryan King
Associate Director, Fisheries and Wildlife Division
bryan.king@dc.gov
Concerned anglers and citizens begin to arrive at the meeting at National Park Service headquarters in Washington. By the time the meeting started, all the seats were filled and folks were standing along the wall.