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Get Out! Dan River group looks to the future
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Published: April 24, 2009
EDEN - The Dan River Basin Association started as a small group of people in Rockingham County. They were concerned that development would soon encroach upon their beloved river, which weaves in and out of North Carolina and Virginia.
"We realized that the river hadn't much changed in our lifetime," said Lindley Butler, who grew up fishing and paddling along the river. "Although the Dan is very close to the Triad, this river has wilderness sections where for 10 to 15 miles, you don't see anything but woods and fields and wildlife. It's as if there is a wilderness park right here in the middle of this large populated area, and it's been that way a long time. But considering the pressures of development, we felt that this wasn't going to stay that way much longer."
Founders envisioned the Dan could become a "string of pearls," linked by parks and trails, Butler said.
"We would become an outdoor recreation Mecca in a way," he said.
Full stream ahead
From those early conversations, the DRBA has blossomed into a nonprofit organization with offices in two states. It played a crucial role in the development of the new Mayo River State Park and pushed the state of Virginia to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a park on its side of the border that would connect with the Mayo River park in North Carolina.
It also helped develop the Gravely Nature Preserve, a 75-acre park in Henry County, Va., that backs up against the Smith River. The Smith joins the Dan in Eden. The park includes four trails that, taken together, add up to about three miles. And DRBA played a hand in a biking and walking trail in Fieldale that is also near the Smith.
Katherine Mull, the executive director of DRBA, said that the group hopes to see a network of trails linking communities in the 16-county Dan River basin area.
"We want to see regional connections," Mull said.
DRBA leaders hope that protecting and promoting the area's natural resources will boost the economy.
Many of the towns along the Smith and Dan have taken a major financial hit as textile companies such as Pillowtex packed up, leaving thousands unemployed.
Mull said that investing in tourism can lead to a growth in "river businesses," such as outfitters and restaurants. In Eden, Three River Outfitters rents canoes and kayaks and guides historical trips down the Dan.
"We saw outdoor recreation as something that would generate some economic activity," said Butler, who is a professor emeritus of history at Rockingham Community College.
"I remember talking to the county commissioners and telling them that rivers can't be exported out of the U.S. They can't go overseas like so many of our industries have. If you base our economic development on resources that are here, you're not going to have the things that have happened over the last decade or so."
As a product, the Dan is hard to beat. It's a wonderfully scenic river that starts with a bang in the Kibler Valley in Virginia, then lazily winds past Hanging Rock State Park and close to Walnut Cove before bending north toward Madison and back into Virginia.
Beyond its beauty, the river played a significant role in the region's development. In the 19th century, it served as the area's highway, Butler said. To better navigate their long, flat-bottom boats (called batteaux) across rapids and rocky sections of the river, settlers built a series of sluices and other types of navigational structures. Twenty-three of these structures still remain on 31 miles of the river in Rockingham County.
These structures and the rivers' beauty attract people from all over the state on the first Saturday of each month when the DRBA sponsors a hike or paddling trip showcasing the Dan or Smith. The trips are free and open to the public.
Butler said that on a pretty day, there might be 50 boats in the water for an outing.
"No way could we have envisioned what has happened with this organization," he said.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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