Alert issued for Boardman River

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Related Photos

A log jam and a damaged dock lie Tuesday on the Boardman River in East Bay Township. High water levels and strong currents, from heavy snowfall, combined with fallen trees and log jams along the river have resulted in dangerous conditions for activities such as canoeing and kayaking. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Charlie Frye, left, of East Bay Township, and Steve Largent, Boardman River program coordinator with the Grand Traverse Conservation District, stand near Frye's home Tuesday as they discuss the conditions on the Boardman River that make it dangerous for activities such as canoeing and kayaking. Record-Eagle/Keith King

March 21, 2012

Alert issued for Boardman River

By LORAINE ANDERSON landerson@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Wed Mar 21, 2012, 07:33 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — A high and fast-running Boardman River aided by downed trees and unseasonably warm weather led to a rare paddlers alert to stay off the stream until waters recede and volunteers can clear the debris.

Steve Largent, Boardman River program coordinator for the Grand Traverse Soil Conservation District, issued the warning Tuesday after receiving reports from residents along the river and experienced father-son paddlers Norman and David Fred, who paddled the waters Monday to inspect damage left by the region's heavy snowstrom in early March.

The Freds put in at Brown Bridge Pond about 11 a.m. The river was up about 12 to 18 inches until they got to the bridge at Garfield Road, a distance of about a quarter of a mile, Norman Fred said. They encountered a tree underwater there and got through, but it will be an obstacle as the water recedes.

They paddled two more miles to the first bridge at River Road, where they found three more trees in the water. One completely blocked the river and they had to portage to continue.

"The next three spots were worse," Fred said.

They managed to paddle the next three-quarters of a mile to the railroad bridge, the second bridge on River Road from Garfield Road, and took out there.

Fred is a long-time member of the Traverse Area Paddlers Club and runs the annual Boardman River Clean Sweep program and for other rivers. He and his son have paddled together for 25 years. He said the trip was part post-storm reconnaissance mission, and they were able to get GPS coordinates for the first three trouble spots.

"The last two, we were paddling for our lives," he said. "People who are not highly skilled should not go on that river. None of the trees we saw were visible from the road."

Fred said he's heard from paddle club members that other river sections also are impassable.

He said fallen trees in high, fast waters are dangerous because they create what paddlers call underwater invisible "strainer" or "sweeper trees" with visible limbs that operate like a colander.

"Water goes through but people don't," he said.

The situation creates a dangerous condition because a paddler sits high and stops because of the tree, but the boat keeps going. The current pushes it sideways into the tree, dragging the paddler, while the open side tips and fills with water. The canoe or kayak can capsize on top of a paddler and trap him underneath because of the heavy weight of the water-filled boat.

"It all happens so fast and it doesn't matter if you're in shallow water or wearing a life vest," Fred said.

Largent said volunteers experienced with removing log jams and downed trees hope to clear the three to four miles from the Forks to Ranch Rudolph by this weekend. But it may take two weeks or more to clear debris from other parts of the river, depending on weather.

He doesn't recommend inexperienced people try to clear debris on their own because of currents and high water. He said the river level was up about a foot Tuesday and is going down. The water levels are not abnormal for spring runoff, he said .

Largent said the ongoing dam removal project and partial pond drawdowns aren't related to the high water levels which are a result of this month's major snowstorm and unseasonable warm weather that followed.