Canoe the Clarion with WPC

The first weekend of June is sure to be filled with adventure and excitement if spent on the Clarion River with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. On Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, WPC is hosting its annual river sojourn along the designated Wild and Scenic Clarion River. Get a scientific perspective of the area around the Clarion River, fish, experience a birds of prey demonstration, and get on the water and paddle.

The Clarion River is a gentle, welcoming waterbody, friendly to all levels of boaters. The float will begin in Halton, Pa.and go to Clear Creek State Park, then leave Clear Creek and end in Cooksburg the second day. Participants are welcome to attend either day individually, or the two days as a package.

Participant cost is $45 per individual per day, or both days at $75. Registration fees include meals, canoe rental and hauling, and educational programs.

A planned itinerary and registration form are found at www.paconserve.org/sojourn-05.htm. Registration deadline is Monday, May 16th.

To review the course of the sojourn, and view a map of the Clarion River, go to http://www.paconserve.org/rc/cr-wtm.html.

When WPC began its work to protect the Clarion River in 1977, it was a hidden treasure. A report written in 1909 by Dr. Arnold E. Ortman, an aquatic biologist working for Carnegie Institute, found the Clarion to be opaque, and believed it to be the most polluted river in the Commonwealth. Since tanneries and paper mills on the Clarion closed in the 1960s, and serious government and private attention has been paid to the clean up of acid mine drainage, water quality has improved dramatically.

Education about, and interaction with, the natural outdoor places of Pennsylvania helps remind people why it is so important to conserve and protect our resources. The Clarion River Sojourn is one of the many ways WPC enacts its mission of saving the places we care about by connecting people to the natural world.

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