This project was a partnership between HRWA and REI customers and employees, the Parks Department of Fairview, local JROTC volunteers, The Friends of Bowie Nature Park and the Bowie Outdoor Club.

The goal of the project was to decrease the amount of soil coming from trails in Bowie Park into Little Turnbull Creek which flows into the Harpeth River. Mountain bikers, horseback riders and hikers who use the park would all benefit from improved trails and stream crossings and Little Turnbull Creek would benefit from improved water quality.

Funding:

REI gave the grant to help protect and restore the environment, increase access to outdoor activities, and encourage involvement in responsible outdoor recreation. With activities like this, REI is helping build a lasting legacy of trails, rivers, and wildlands for generations to come, supporting programs to help people of all ages and experiences participate.

The Project:

Three areas were identified as most in need of help in Bowie Park and work was divided into three project days. Water quality was assessed before and after the project by trained volunteers.

The site where the Perimeter Trail crosses Little Turnbull Creek was identified as most in need of work.

Here trail-goers had difficulty using the crossing due to steepness and because of the slippery bedrock on the bottom of the stream. Instead of using the trail crossing, park users would travel down the creekbank and cross at various points, damaging the streambank and vegetation and increasing the amount of soil entering the Little Turnbull.

HRWA’s Volunteer River Restoration Corps (VRRC) stabilized a trail/stream crossings along the Perimeter Trail. Despite the cold and rain that day, water bars were installed to redirect stream flow away from eroding areas along the trail and to create small jumps over the stream for bikers and hikers.

In an area the Park folks call Confusion Junction, several springs bubble out of the rocky soil and make their way toward Little Turnbull Creek, crossing a highly used section of trail. This section normally stays wet year round, creating a mess and making passage difficult for people, bicycles and horses.

Additionally, a section of the Perimeter Trail that runs about two hundred yards downhill toward Little Turnbull Creek was washing out, forming gullies in the path and contributing large amounts of soil to the creek.

Eighteen water bars were placed across fairly steep straight section of trail to divert run-off onto much flatter wooded areas where the sediment will be slowed and filtered by the forest floor before the water reaches the creek.

JROTC students from Fairview HS. 1 st Sergeant Larry Hill, upper left.

Several neighbors of Bowie Park showed up, including volunteer and seasoned biker Roger Brawner. Also in attendance were nine JROTC cadets from Fairview High School led by 1st Sergeant Larry Hill. Chuck Robinson, the Brentwood REI Manager and four of his employees who came to contribute to the effort as well.

Volunteer Margaret Chambers and cadets Ownby, and Ashley Adams conduct and record results of chemical analysis in Little Turnbull Creek.	The die hards who stayed till all was done

Assessment:

The last part of the project was to perform an evaluation of the stream, a monitoring event designed to demonstrate the effects of this trail repair over time. Several of the JROTC folks, Ashley Adams, Luke Ownby and Zackary Schutte, were very interested in this work, and spent more than an hour learning and helping in the evaluation process.

A huge Thank You to all our Volunteers: “They made this project happen,” said Mike Cain of HRWA.

Volunteers:

Our volunteers for this project were: REI: Chuck Robinson, Matt Waldron, Kara Rohaly, Jay Rohaly, and Eric Fisher; JROTC: 1 st Sergeant Larry Hill, Zackary Schutte, Ashley Adams, Bobby French, Scott Robinson, Aaron Gill, Luke Ownby, Paige Butler, Daniel Morgan and Colton Parr; and neighbors and other interested volunteers: Duncan Potter, Michael Baldwin, Roger Brawner, Cameron Critchfield, Ashland Marshall, Jerry Cary, Sharon Aizer, John Stark, Maxwell Cain and Margaret Chambers.

Special thanks also to Bowie Park Naturalist Melissa Bell and Park Ranger Keith Paisley for identifying areas that needed work, helping to organize the event, and for helping to get concerned neighbors involved.

The Volunteer River Restoration Corps (VRRC) is a diverse group of people who help improve long-term water quality by actively working to restore stream banks, plant stream corridors as buffers, educate local communities and provide materials on how to effectively protect and restore stream health. If you're interested in participating in river restoration work, please contact HRWA to join this fantastic group of people!

Watershed - the area of land that sheds water into a river system.