CLEAR May 2020

clear@lists.cheatlakeclear.org

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4 discussions

COVID-19 Testing of CHEAT LAKE & MON RIVER Requested
by Duane Nichols 31 May '20

31 May '20

TO: John Welch, et. al., MON COUNTY HEALTH DEPT. CLEAR requests that the water in Cheat Lake be tested at least once each week for the COVID-19 Virus. We have studied this issue and believe there is amble justification since various forms of wastewater enter the Lake. A similar case can be made for the Monongahela River. We know that there are residual suspended solids in both streams. These solids carry adsorbed and absorbed materials including active species. It is therefore in the public interest that both water bodies be sampled and tested on a weekly basis. We wish to protect the public health as swimming and other water sports are quite popular in both water bodies. Thank you for your help at this time. Duane Nichols, President, Cheat Lake Environment & Recreation Association and Co-coordinator, Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact, May 29, 2020

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88 Garlow Drive- Cheat Lake, W.V. - YouTube
by Duane Nichols 26 May '20

26 May '20

John Garlow continues his major contributions. Did you ever walk a picket line with him? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAQdelf8s9M

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WVU researcher works to strengthen research and management of public lands recreation | Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design | West Virginia University
by Duane Nichols 26 May '20

26 May '20

https://www.davis.wvu.edu/news/2020/05/21/wvu-researcher-works-to-strengthe… WVU researcher works to strengthen research and management of public lands recreation Thursday, May 21, 2020 DAVIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES AND DESIGN If the novel coronavirus crisis has taught us nothing else, it’s the value of public lands and outdoor recreation opportunities. Seeking the balm of the great outdoors, the American people are spilling out onto public roads, trails, forests and parks in great numbers while trying to maintain social distance. According to a West Virginia University researcher, however, national parks and forests are consistently challenged to provide sustainable recreation experiences while adapting to increased public demand. “Outdoor recreation is the most immediate way people connect with public lands; it is so important,” said Steve Selin, professor of recreation, parks and tourism resources in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. “Societal trends and new technologies have changed how people interact with public lands; however, public land management has not kept up with the rapid social change.” A leader on a national initiative to strengthen public lands recreation research and management, Selin is editor of a timely publication that takes an expansive look at current recreation issues and outlines research opportunities that could help managers better connect users to meaningful outdoor experiences. “Igniting the Science of Outdoor Recreation is a challenge, a provocation and suggested direction for all those who want to advance the science and art of sustainable outdoor recreation and tourism on our public lands,” he said. “It amounts to a collective national vision for outdoor recreation management and research.” Published by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Station, the report offers a set of 17 papers addressing how changing demands are straining recreation infrastructure, access and resources. The publication and collaborative process that led to it will help federal agencies like the Forest Service and National Park Service with relevant science direction and best management practices to help them keep pace with social changes. “The kinds of recreation the public wants are more diverse than when previous recreation strategies were developed,” Selin said. “By improving understanding of changing public needs, we can be more relevant. And the American public will benefit as these federal agencies prioritize managed outdoor recreation settings and experiences.” To read the publication, download it from the U.S. Forest Service website.

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Thank you for your (LiDAR) Service - Inside Unmanned Systems
by Duane Nichols 24 May '20

24 May '20

https://insideunmannedsystems.com/thank-you-for-your-lidar-service-a-mounta… Thank you for your (LiDAR) Service May 25, 2020 By Abe Peck A Mountain State academic, a retired Marine Corps general and RedTail LiDAR Systems ease the waterway for a wounded warrior retreat RTL-400 point cloud of cabins and Clover Run trout stream. Photo courtesy of RedTail LiDAR Systems. Over Memorial Day weekend, Paul Kinder, Jr., was fishing for walleye on Lake Erie. But our conversation concentrated on other bodies of water and a sanctuary for those who’ve earned special access to enjoy the outdoors. Nestled on 500 acres of private land close by the greenery and mountains of the Monongahela National Forest, the non-profit Patriots 4 (P4) Outdoor Resort in St. George, West Virginia, offers respite to wounded veterans and their families. While other service members and civilians are welcome at the non-profit haven, the resort offers Purple Heart vets free short-term stays in four handicapped-accessible cabins, a tracked wheelchair and a solar-charged, hydraulic-actuated hunting platform. With the assistance of trained guides, differently abled visitors can hunt, and gain easy access to the Clover Run trout stream, as well as to frontage on the Cheat River for kayaking, tubing and the like. Dr. Kinder himself is not a veteran, but as director of the Natural Resource Analysis Center and manager of the Geospatial Analytics Program at West Virginia University he is something of a “connector” for this project. He’s on the board of Patriots 4. He’s used LiDAR for more than a decade. And he and his team of graduate students recently deployed a RedTail LiDAR Systems RTL-400 to aid in a stream bank restoration that improved and documented as-built conditions and ensured safe guest quarters. Trouble in Paradise Dr. Paul Kinder inspects a habitat-enhanced structure at the Patriots 4 facility. Photo courtesy of Paul Kinder/RedTail LiDAR Systems. Patriots4 is the vision of General Randall “Randy” L. West (Ret.), a decorated Marine who is now at once a national security consultant and an ordained lay minister. Kinder: “He said, ‘all those years of combat and never got hurt.’ This was his way to give back.’” The Clover Run trout stream is one of the site’s centerpieces. But over the years, human influence and heavy flooding had eroded its banks and led to severe habitat degradation. Safe access and even one of the cabins were threatened. To renew the site, Patriots 4 tapped a partnership between Kinder’s resource analysis center, the WV Division of Natural Resources and the USDA (the agriculture department) Natural Resource Conservation Service. Kinder’s credentials as a lab scientist, drone operator, and research professor in resource economics and management all fit the project’s profile. “Strangely enough, I got involved with General West and his crew through a congressman that I knew well, who knew that I knew how to hunt and fish,” Kinder recalled. “He asked me if I wanted to go and guide these guys.” Kinder and his family would take canoe trips down the river with wounded vets, but he’d also leverage his professional expertise. “It was serendipitous that I was working for our Department of Natural Resources doing stream restoration across the state. I talked them into going in with P4. It’s been a real win-win.” Cabin located on Clover Run trout stream. Photo courtesy of www.patriotsfour.org. Kinder’s first exposure to LiDAR dates to when he began teaching at West Virginia a dozen years ago. The school had purchased an OpTech back in 2004. “That was a million-dollar [LiDAR] sensor on an airplane. We mapped about 50 percent of West Virginia, the coal fields. It flew all over the country. But it cost us like $70,000 a year just for maintenance. We were like, ‘I can’t do this.’ We sold it, and I just got interested in drones.” In 2013, a Florida-based company helped Kinder put a FLIR camera on a DJI Phantom One. “I was trying to measure stream temperature with thermal imaging.” Send in the Drones Kinder connected with RedTail when the owner of parent company 4D Tech Solutions enlisted him to help commercialize technology licensed from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). “I’m not an engineer but I know what a good system looks like and what it has to do,” Kinder said. 4D Tech Solutions is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business, and RedTail president/CEO Brad DeRoos, a Naval Academy grad, was enthusiastic about using his LiDAR system to commemorate military sacrifice. “RedTail’s ability to generate highly accurate and high resolution point clouds…is a great example of the many uses for drone-based LiDAR,” DeRoos said. “We are thrilled to have been a part of this important project.” The Patriots 4 restoration began three years ago. Kinder and teams of his graduate students surveyed in the first year with an initial drone. “Last year we did construction on part of it, and then more surveying.” By August 2019, failing banks had been identified and restored, the jeopardized cabin stabilized, and 22 habitats enhanced with log-rock structures to maintain fish pools and prevent further erosion. This past December, the Clover Run corridor was flown to document the as-built conditions and monitor the stream’s long-term health. Kinder noted technical issues with the initial LiDAR system, so he and his team phased in RedTail’s RTL-400. “Superior, high performance and efficient” in Kinder’s words, the RedTail unit’s microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror-based laser scanner produces accuracy by evenly distributing laser points on the ground, moving side to side 400 times per second with a laser pulse rate of up to 400,000 per second and an optimized scan angle of 35 degrees. A single 20-minute flight at 262 feet and 18 miles per hour yielded an accurate, high resolution 3D map. Kinder ticked off the advantages brought by LiDAR, and by the RTL-400 in particular. “Oh, wow: speed, efficiency, accuracy, confidence. The work flow is incredible. We can pop it on a DJI Matrice 600 and in 15 minutes, we’re airborne. And the data processing is smooth.” The change from Kinder’s early days with LiDAR “is really mind-boggling,” he mused. “When we had the man-based airborne system, we were really happy if we could get a shot per square meter on the ground. That was incredible data. Now we’re getting 500.” Meanwhile, rehabilitation continues. “This year, we’re going to finish up the last half-mile of restoration. We’ll do, probably, another 20-some fish habitat enhancement this summer—starting in two weeks, actually.” Annual RedTail overflights will monitor and compare the health of the stream. “Overall,” Kinder concluded, “it’s a labor of love. I wasn’t military but I see a lot of hurt and damaged people come and enjoy the environment. To be able to use this technology to really do a good job, and then blend in young people, learning GPS, learning how to do automated flights with drones, learning how to process that data and analyze it and come up with a restoration plan—there’s just a lot of vectors going on there. It’s a very personal satisfaction.”

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CLEAR May 2020