Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 09:09:12 -0800
From: Rich Shipley <rship@oro.net>
Subject: FYI: Another update on SFA closure

I spoke with the Office of Emergency Services in El Dorado County
(Placerville) today (Tues.) at about 3 pm. The word on the river closure
is this:

The So. Fork American from Chili Bar to Salmon Falls is still closed and
will remain so until at least next weekend. Today (Tues.) the water is
being tested again for coliform bacteria (sewage). If the water tests ok
at this time, then a visual inspection will be made Wednesday and/or
Thursday from all access points along the river, where  will be
looking for serious snags, strainers, as well as dead animals. If the
inspection from the banks goes ok, then there will be a crew that will
run the river on Friday the 10th, again looking for serious snags, etc.
If all goes well with these inspections, the river will be reopened this
weekend or just after.

Now some personal observations. I went to Chili Bar, Coloma, and Lotus
today for my first look. One word comes to mind - devastation! In some
areas it looks like a bomb went off. A BIG bomb.

Cindy Winslow's description of the lower parking area at Chili Bar was
just right. It ain't there folks. Not any of it. And the bank of the
upper parking area has some serious erosion. The Chili Bar Store and
trailer park were untouched. At the campground upstream from the bridge,
where the commercial trips put on, everything that I could see was
flattened. The concrete bath house looks like it was blown up.

Next stop was in Coloma. I walked out on the Old Coloma Bridge, and
looking upstream as far as I could see it looks like a different river.
It's going to be very interesting to see all of the new and changed river
features. We'll all have to really pay attention our first few runs.

At Marshall Gold Park, CDF and correctional crews were out and had already
done a huge amount of clean up of branches, logs, and whole trees that
were deposited throughout the entire area, including right up to the
road. Big piles being burned. Anybody need firewood?

A couple of the houses just below Gremlin had logs and branches piled up
6 or 8 feet deep on the upstream side. One house with a for sale sign had
a smaller sign attached that said "Too Late" it was already sold. I'm
guessing someone bought it just a few days too soon!

A stop at the 49 bridge to look at the "blue house". It's actually still
there. Couldn't tell how much damage, if any.

Lotus Park seemed to weather amazingly well. CCC crews were out doing an
incredible job of clean up. There's still a lawn. The bath houses are
still there.

Camp Lotus may not have fared so well. The gate was locked, but it was
easy to see through all of the stripped branches in the area immediately
upstream of the camp. Anything within 10 or 12 feet of normal river level
is devastated. Logs, branches, and whole trees piled 4 or 5 feet deep
everywhere. That one area seemed to catch a large amount of the junk that
was coming downriver.

All in all, the places we usually haunt are not a pretty sight. It looks
as though the public parks will be cleaned up by the various agencies.
Virtually all of the private parks and campgrounds that have provided us
with convenient river access for so many years are devastated. And It
will take a massive amount of work for these folks to get back to the
point where they can even think about opening to the public.

I hope that many of us can find a day or two to voluteer to help put
things back in order. If we all put in just a day or two it would make a
huge difference. And just think of all of the good river karma.

The cleanup will take months. Again, the River Store will attempt to
organize those who are  interested in working on cleanup projects for
local land and homeowners. If  you are interested, please leave your
name, address, and phone number at The River Store, (916) 626-3435.

I sure wish there were better news to report, but...

Happy boating anyway, and be safe out there.

Rich Shipley