NEWS
Nathaniel Axtell Times-News Staff Writer
Boaters, anglers and other users could get a new public access on the French Broad River if Henderson County commissioners agree Wednesday to take on a new donated river access point in Etowah.
The county's Parks and Recreation Department has been working with partners such as Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., nonprofits and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission since 2012, exploring ways to improve access to the French Broad through boat ramps and greenways.
One of those partners, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, secured ownership of 1.69 acres across from the intersection of Highway 64 and Cummings Road in Etowah that the land trust wants to donate to the county for a river access park.
The Wildlife Resources Commission has agreed to design and construct the Etowah river access, creating a concrete boat ramp and parking area similar to those at Westfeldt Park in Fletcher and at Penrose and Hap Simpson Park in Transylvania County.
If commissioners accept the CMLC donation Wednesday, river users could put in or take out boats in Etowah by mid-summer 2015.
“The idea is we'll have those really state-of-the-art access facilities for our muskie anglers and other river users roughly 10 miles apart on the river,” said Scott Loftis, the commission's watershed enhancement coordinator.
Currently, Henderson County has only two formal boat access points on the river: at Blantyre on the Transylvania County line and 18 miles downriver at Westfeldt Park. The Blantyre put-in is more suited for canoes and kayaks, Loftis said, “so guys that want to trailer jon boats or drift boats, it's a lot of work.”
A new boat ramp built by the Wildlife Resources Commission upstream in Penrose last year will allow muskie or bass anglers, duck hunters, canoeists, kayakers and fishing guides with drift boats to float roughly 10 miles to Etowah, or about the same distance from Etowah to Westfeldt's ramp.
“That's a good solid float if you're fishing out of a jon boat with a small motor or just paddling,” Loftis said. “We're lucky to have partners such as Henderson County Parks and Rec at Blantyre, and now with this Highway 64 site, so folks can benefit from having these amenities spaced out along the river.”
Tim Hopkin, Henderson County's director of parks and recreation, said the new boat ramp will be a “win-win for everybody. The land is being donated, the construction is being done by the Wildlife Commission, and the management and upkeep is basically a partnership between wildlife resources and the county.”
Hopkin said his staff has to drive right by the Highway 64 river access on their way to Etowah Park, which was donated to the county by the Etowah Lions Club in 1995, “so it's not that hard for them to pull in and check on it, maybe empty some trash cans.”
Land for the Etowah access was given to CMLC by turf-growing company Super Sod this year. Super Sod had placed 343 acres of its Horse Shoe Farm under a conservation easement with CMLC in 2003 to preserve the land for agriculture, but left the 1.69-acre chunk out of that contract.
“Maybe they had to foresight to see its potential use as a river access one day,” surmised CMLC Executive Director Kieran Roe. “We very much appreciate that gift and we're planning to convey it to the county for this riverfront park.”
CMLC and the county have been working for two years with Sierra Nevada, the Western North Carolina Alliance, ECO, RiverLink, the N.C. Department of Transportation and state wildlife officials as part of a collaborative group interested in improving access along the French Broad.
“I think we, along with the other groups working on this, see the French Broad River as a great amenity for the county and the region that up to now, perhaps, has been underutilized,” Roe said.
RiverLink and CMLC helped Henderson County apply for and win two state grants, totaling $235,000, to pay for development of a loop trail and first phase of greenway at Westfeldt Park. Hopkin said the long-term goal is for the greenway to head north along the river to Sierra Nevada's property, perhaps eventually connecting with river parks in Buncombe County.
The loop trail and .33 miles of greenway at Westfeldt are still being designed by landscape architect Luther Smith, Hopkin said, but he predicted the county will bid out the project this winter in time for construction to start next spring.
Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or [email protected].