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Great New Books on Organizing:

A Virginia family honored the memory of their mother by granting one of her final requests, to help restore the Tye River in Nelson County. In the 1950’s, Elizabeth “Bess” Quinn inherited a dilapidated former mill dam on the river from her father, William Knight Smiley of Lynchburg. The dam was abandoned for many years and damaged by hurricane Camille.

Several years ago Quinn thought the river could be improved if the dam was removed. By August 15, after contractors with Atkins Excavating finished removing the rock and mortar structure, more than 20 miles of the river ran free for the first time in roughly 100 years.

“I’m certain, that somewhere Bess is smiling today,” said Rebecca Quinn, daughter of the late Bess Quinn and, with her sister and two brothers, are the current owners of the dam.

The Tye River is home to dozens of species of fish and other aquatic life, including American eels, small and largemouth bass, and native mussels. American eels are catadromous, meaning they live as adults in freshwater, return to the Sargasso Sea to spawn, and the juveniles ascend freshwater rivers such as the James and Tye to grow out to adults and perpetuate the species.

“Removing the dam will increase the passage possibilities, and hopefully the populations of all these species. It will also allow for increased access for anglers, paddlers and boaters,” said Alan Weaver, fish passage coordinator with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and one of the leaders of the removal effort. The DGIF is conducting a before and after fish population monitoring project to document the effects of dam removal, which are anticipated to be positive.

The multi-year project is a partnership of many organizations. American Rivers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Natural Resource Conservation Service, VA DGIF, and the Virginia Organizing Project all teamed up to accomplish this task.

“Removing this dam will give the Tye River a much needed shot in the arm,” said Jason Halbert, volunteer coordinator of the project. “This really was a team effort and I especially want to thank Ben and Lisa Barber of Madison Heights. They are the adjacent property owners and they have been most cooperative in allowing the heavy equipment to access the dam through their property.”

The project made use of a grant from American Rivers and federal funding from the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP). The dam was located just east of the Route 29 bridge at the Amherst-Nelson County line.

Virginia is actively working to meet the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement by removing obstructions in rivers where appropriate and feasible. This removal creates one of the longest free-flowing rivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and future generations of humans, fish, birds and other animals will all benefit.

For additional information, contact Jason Halbert at jasonhalbert@wildvirginia.org.