Blog contributed by Hartwell Carson, RiverLink's RiverKeeper

Paddling down the Nolichucky with Davy Crocket is pretty cool. Davy and I paddled around the bend and the shot of his musket signaled the start of the RiverFest 2009. Davy was a pretty good paddler, but that is not surprising, since he is the king of the wild frontier. The RiverFest was at Davy Crocket Birthplace State Park, so Davy was on hand for the day.

Soon the guys from the TN Wildlife Resources Commission were pulling huge fish out the river. They caught more fish in 2 minutes than we had caught all week. They did have the help of an electro shocker. There boat has a devise that runs electricity into the water and stuns the fish. They are momentarily paralyzed and scooped into the boat. This allow them to take fish surveys along the river, but today it was used to educate everyone about the 40-50 species of fish in the Nolichucky River. The kids had a ball touching the fish and throwing them back in the water and watching them swim away. We also built rain barrels, learned about rain gardens, and ate some delicious BBQ.
Tuesday, June 2 we will be in Greenville, TN leading a rain barrel construction workshop, where you can build you own rain barrel. For $60 you will get instruction and take your own barrel home. The workshop is at Ace Hardware in Greenville and if you want to come contact Carrie Allen at carrie@riverlink.org or call 828-252-8474.