DANELLE HAAKE and CINDY DUHIGG
The River Des Peres Watershed Coalition in the St. Louis area would not be the same without the active participation of these two dynamos. Their ambition is to save the River Des Peres in St. Louis from further degradation and to turn the area along its banks into a fine natural and recreational resource.
Danelle Haake says, “The River Des Peres and its tributary streams compose one of the few remaining bits of urban lanscape that connect us all… in the St. Louis area.”
Cindy Duhigg says, “If we can revitalize the river, I feel we can bring back our whole city and be proud… I think we can make it aesthetically pleasing as a greenway and recreation area. Other cities have done it. Why not us?”
For more information on the River Des Peres Watershed Coalition, visit their website: www.thegreencenter.org/rdp/
Cindy Duhigg, Danelle Haake, and Howard Webb of the Coalition were interviewed and photographed by Don Corrigan and Diana Linsley of the Times for their April 18, 2008 edition. Those articles and images may be found by visiting the Webster-Kirkwood Times and South County Times (note: different images are available for the two different articles).
What do you think? Do you think that the River Des Peres has the potential to be a great St. Louis greenway and recreational site? Feel free to share your comments.
Next week: Your River Des Peres Stories
My dad has taken me biking this past week at Cliff Cave
Park, Route 66 State Park and at the Jefferson Barracks
Park. He has not taken me yet to the Des Peres Greenway
Trail.
I would like to know whether it is a good trail and whether you have to have a mountain bike, because I heard it is rough and you also have to get out on the street sometimes.
So, can anybody give me a review of the trail?
Where is the best place to park and get on it? What interesting places are there to stop and to sight see or to get some ice cream or a soda?
I love the title. It reminds me of Baruch Benedict de Spinoza’s latin distinction of Natura Naturans and Natura Naturata: Nature nurturing and nature nurtured. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natura_naturans )
It takes many generations for nature to evolve someone who can care about the River des Peres. The EPA, in their 2007 suit against MSD said “upwards of an estimated 226 million gallons of untreated sewage are being discharged into receiving waters from an estimated 2,772 discharge events” annually.
With so much fertilizer, there is no surprise that nature wants to turn the downstream portions of RdP into a verdant delta.
Sounds like a good idea to try restoration. However, I find public land in the area that isn’t well policed tends to end up with lots of unleashed dogs (sometimes biting hikers and bikers) and beer bottles tossed off the side of the trail.