So I guess I had to put my dumb hand back on the hot stove again. I have taken a year off from my rabid militancy - trying to get something done about the Denton Trinity Greenbelt mess. I guess I wasn't cured. It is just a mess, and has been for years. Where to start? I did a search through the TFF, and saw nothing pop on the search. Such a great stretch of paddling - now a continuing slow motion train wreck. I am looking for REAL activists and REAL organizers - interested in trying to get something happening here in 2024.
I have written a lot, and done a number of videos, but I am not about to pump links in here - to any of that - unless requested. What I will do, is show you a couple of images from the kayak launch ramp at the TPWD 380 Greenbelt Park. I shot these Saturday, December 2, 2023.


Below this are paved steps of what once was a great put-in for kayakers - leading down to the Elm Fork of the Trinity just off HWY380.

This is the Trinity River at the TPWD HWY380 Park - managed by TPWD.

This is the parking lot. It has only one working light, and will flood again when there is a downpour into the watershed below the Dam, OR when there is a major release from the Dam at Ray Roberts.

Any questions? Any young gladiators willing to take on multiple governmental agencies all at once? Trust me, it won't be a fair fight - ON THEIR PART.

So they dont maintain the ramp as it gets flooded every spring? Is the river itself navigable or is it jammed up too?

The Elm Fork of the Trinity River from Ray Roberts Dam to Lewisville Lake has been log jammed in several places along the stretch - for years. I plan on documenting the entire thing from the air this spring. This jam at the HWY380 Park has been sitting there for years. Changing the subject a little, I did get two written responses from two people contacted this morning. They are Robbie Merritt - TPWD Park Superintendent for Lake Ray Roberts and Gary Packan from City of Denton. All three, City of Denton, TPWD and USACE are part of this mess. Here are the responses today:

Robbie Merritt:
"Hope things are good in your world, (other than the river situation of course), and that South Texas treated you well. We made a lot of headway on trail enhancement projects this year, to improve access to the Greenbelt, despite the floods. Still plenty more of that to work towards in 2024. But, I know you don’t care about any of that and the log jams are still definitely a challenge.
I haven’t heard the status on the Denton/USACE CAP program in a while. But, partnering with our TPWD Inland Fisheries Division, we did have the opportunity to apply for a grant through the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program last winter. Unfortunately, it does not appear that the Elm Fork was selected for that round. I’m waiting to hear back from our biologists to get an update on whether that opportunity might be available to us again in 2024. That’s been the best opportunity we’ve found so far and definitely fits right in with your primary goal.
That’s all of the updates I have at this stage. But, always happy to chat if you’d like."
____________________

Gary Packan:
"Thank you for the email. The City had applied for Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) in 2021/22 but not selected for funding for this area.
The Cooper Creek flooding study that was submitted in 2015 did receive CAP assistance from USACE this year although this will not impact that area. Hopefully the project could be funded in the future although timing is unknown.
Ill see if I can track down contact information for the Colonel and send it over."
Gary

I can only imagine how bad it is... have seen the same thing on the Neches upstream from Lake Palestine in the springtime... got caught up in the river after a big rain further up the watershed the day before that was just reaching Chandler area where I was fishing... when I finally turned around to go back down river a couple of miles, the water was really pouring through and almost impossible to make 90 degree turn with current.. got stuck more than once and jammed kayak sideways against fallen timber.. I was skeered. Havent tried that river stuff since.

Shannon: Maybe someone, some night should put a sign out on the road that says: FREE FIREWOOD! IslandJim

or start a rumor about the great fishing

It is a complete lost cause unfortunately. The park was lucky to have funding to redo the bike trails. I started with contacting Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center and they were amazing to chat with and reached out to all their contacts all the way to Austin. The Govt spent millions to get that park repaired over 10 years ago just to have another major flood and wipe the whole thing out. The Govt will NOT do that again. The city wont touch it unless the logs touch the bottom of the bridge. Otherwise they don't give a hoot. A discussion was even brought up about using dynamite to blast through the log jams but then you got the tree hugging bird lovers that said no. You can't disrupt nature. The log jams are just as solid as a regular island. No flood will move them now. You would need a bulldozer and dynamite.

This stretch by 380 has a special place in my mind as it was the first place my daughter learned how to kayak and fish when she was 10.

Well, I guess I am here with the hope it is not a complete lost cause. But do I feel like it is? Heck yes. Here is the very quick response I got a couple days ago:
Howdy Shannon,

“Hope things are good in your world, (other than the river situation of course), and that South Texas treated you well. We made a lot of headway on trail enhancement projects this year, to improve access to the Greenbelt, despite the floods. Still plenty more of that to work towards in 2024. But, I know you don’t care about any of that and the log jams are still definitely a challenge.

I haven’t heard the status on the Denton/USACE CAP program in a while. But, partnering with our TPWD Inland Fisheries Division, we did have the opportunity to apply for a grant through the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program last winter. Unfortunately, it does not appear that the Elm Fork was selected for that round. I’m waiting to hear back from our biologists to get an update on whether that opportunity might be available to us again in 2024. That’s been the best opportunity we’ve found so far and definitely fits right in with your primary goal.

That’s all of the updates I have at this stage. But, always happy to chat if you’d like. Looks like I have some time next week on Monday or Wednesday.”

Many Thanks,

Robbie Merritt

Park Superintendent/Park Police
Ray Roberts Lake State Park Complex
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
940-300-4064

Shannon-

“Thank you for the email. The City had applied for Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) in 2021/22 but not selected for funding for this area.

The Cooper Creek flooding study that was submitted in 2015 did receive CAP assistance from USACE this year although this will not impact that area. Hopefully the project could be funded in the future although timing is unknown.

Ill see if I can track down contact information for the Colonel and send it over.”

Gary

Now, I have head worse responses over the many years, but I have not had any any better than this one. That says a lot actually. The missing link - The USACE Fort Worth Commander. I did not contact the new Colonel there, Colonel Calvin Kroeger. Link: Colonel Calvin Kroeger Commander USACE Fort Worth

I am a huge proponent of kid-dyno-mite. The reason is? It does not pollute or damage the surrounding banks like dozers and barge borne cranes would do. EACH dynamite hole, of what was once a solid fish dam? IT BECOMES a series of FISHING HOLES along the river! Way too logical for today's governments I am afraid.

TPWD has proven time and time again that they have very poor foresight and hire low quality third party contractors.
I won’t make a list of bad decisions going back to 1980 Conroe triploid grass carp that seem to live 40 years and/or actually reproduce or they got duped and purchased regular cheap grass carp to 2020 Fairfield passivity and will only elaborate on the downstream Trinity River launch area at Hebron. Same mistake over and over; must have spent millions building in an area that gets decimated by horrible flooding every 5-10 years and completely screw up the ramp location and design.

I honestly hate calling it a lost cause and that was prolly a poor choice of words. I love this stretch of the greenbelt especially south of the bridge. Multiple times I had kayaked from lake Lewisville all the way up to 380 catching so many varities of fish with my daughter.

@CCTX I agree with you on that kayak launch at Hebron. It was such a great idea, but poor planning on the location.

I guess I have to look forward more than backward. I took a year off from this gigantic mess, and am trying to do a better job of energizing the masses - because we know the masses are increasing in DFW every single day. Growth demands relief IMO, natural relief. Time to see if the frogs want to turn off the boiling water they find themselves in (DFW), and get away from this daily insanity we find ourselves in now.

I hear ya. In my opinion, they are only going to cater to the bikers and walkers and will not do anything with the water situation.

The ONLY situation that will help is Mother Nature. She will need to create a really good flood and Ray Roberts will need to release a lot of water. Then at some point the water needs to reach 380 or literally go over the bridge and shut down the highway. At that point, they will have no choice then to do something about the blockage. I was told by someone once that if the blockage ever created any danger on that bridge, everyone would get involved.

Not sure how it is lately but I can say that once upon a time there were a few UNT professors that would use that area for field trips/instruction/projects on freshwater related topics. I personally did my capstone thesis on zebra mussels moving down the Elm Fork below Ray Roberts and used that ramp many times to launch a canoe for sampling trips. Another guy I knew needed it for native mussel sampling. If I was wanting to organize some sort of cleanup I would start at the EESAT building at UNT and talk to some staff and maybe put up some flyers for student volunteers if they were cool with that.

A sad state of affairs on several fronts. The thought occurs.........this is the kind of thing communities used to do for themselves.

Texas Parks & Wildlife unfortunately will NOT allow for public intrusion. A group of us (kayakers) wanted to volunteer to get in their with chainsaws when the area first began getting blocked by driftwood. That got shot down as it could have caused stress on the wildlife in the area. Now it will literally take a backhoe and LOTS of government approvals to make anything happen down their now. This is what it looks like now. See any water?