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Forest Service improving sites on Rock Creek |
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Written by Greg Bird
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Friday, 24 July 2009 |
With the summer camping season in full swing, one of the county’s most beloved recreation areas is undergoing minor improvements.
With the summer camping season in full swing, one of the county’s most beloved recreation areas is undergoing minor improvements.
Stearns District Ranger Fred Noack said this week that U.S. Forest Service officials are working to improve three campsites near White Oak Junction along Rock Creek. The sites, all dispersed, have been utilized for years Noack said even though they were not officially designated as camping areas.
The lack of infrastructure at the sites have allowed for erosion and other environmental deterioration, federal officials hope to correct.
“We are doing the work in order to stabilize the stream banks and improve water quality,” Noack said. “Of course, our goal is to make these improvements so the sites can stay open for use by the public.”
Noack added that Rock Creek is part of a Kentucky Wild River basin, designated so because of its pristine water resources. Land managers, as well as those who utilize the water and surrounding area for recreation, are charged with protecting the watershed and the resources it encompasses.
Ranger Noack said work on the campsite began last week and should be completed over the next week. This work follows other campsite improvements to other dispersed sites along Rock Creek (near Great Meadow) and along Jellico Creek in recent years. All the campsites are established as primitive sites for tent camping and do not provide water or electricity.
“We are happy to do this type of work as our funding allows and continue toward our goal of creating family oriented recreation areas throughout the Stearns District,” Noack said.
Noack added that other work is currently in progress at areas throughout the Stearns District of the Daniel Boone National Forest. One major project, improvement at the Natural Arch Recreation Area is moving through Phase II Construction, he said.
Due to construction at the site, the area has been closed to the public. Noack said, he hopes work can be completed in the near future and the site reopened to the public within a month.
For more information on current projects and recreation opportunities in the Daniel Boone National Forest, please call (606) 376-5323 or visit www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone.
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