Many paddlers would agree that the prettiest sections of the 200-mile-long Dan River are in Stokes County.
Those sections are also among the most difficult to access.
Dale Swanson hopes to change that.
Swanson was recently named the Stokes Program Coordinator for the Dan River Basin Association, a nonprofit organization based in Eden that has become a strong advocate for promoting and protecting the river. Some of the association's activities include organizing outings on the river, working with local governments and building trails.
The new office is in the same building as the Stokes County Arts Council in Danbury.
Katherine Mull, the executive director for the association, said it made sense to expand to Danbury.
"Stokes County is really a gem, and it is one of the most popular places to paddle because it is so beautiful and there are natural heritage sites," she said. "We needed to have an office there, so this is a dream come true for us."
Swanson and a few other Stokes County leaders approached Mull a few months ago about opening a Danbury office. The timing was right for Swanson. He had recently been laid off from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and was looking for something to do.
He also works as a guide for the Dan River Company, a local outfitter.
"I know the river from top to bottom," said Swanson, who is volunteering his time.
His first project is getting more public accesses to the river. The accesses in Francisco and at the Hemlock Golf Course in Walnut Cove were closed to the public a few years ago, leaving the county with just two public accesses -- one near Hanging Rock State Park and another at Moratock Park in Danbury. The owners of those other accesses did not renew leases with the county to keep them open, Swanson said.
"At the time, there was no real advocate locally pushing to work something out to retain those accesses," he said.
Those accesses are important economically because the river is a regional draw for paddlers and people who like to fish, Mull said. Once in the county, they look for places to buy gas and eat.
Alan Wood, the economic-development director for Stokes, said the association will help the county figure out ways to use its natural resources, such as the Dan, to fuel the economy.
"We have two main resources, tourism-wise, and that's Hanging Rock State Park and the Dan River. The Dan is a wonderful natural resource, and we have not done a very good job in developing it as an asset," Wood said. "They add legitimacy in promoting the Dan River and will be a huge ally," he said of the association.
The organization has also been successful at winning grants that are not available to municipalities, Mull said.
In addition to trying to reopen the two closed accesses, Swanson hopes to launch Trout in Classroom, a Trout Unlimited project that teaches schoolchildren about the importance of water and watersheds.
He also plans to look into routing a branch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the river and work with local landowners about how to build a proper river access.
He said there are a few improperly built private accesses that have eroded, causing sediment to fall into the river.
The community will play an important role in all of the organization's projects, Mull said.
"We're not coming in with preconceived notions about what Stokes County needs," she said. "It's all going to come from the community."
lodonnell@wsjournal.com
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