密歇根新闻广播 密歇根林务局打算修复松河的"派对场所"

The Pine River is one of the fastest flowing rivers in Lower Michigan and one of the most popular. But its popularity created a problem the U.S. Forest Service wants to fix.

The project would mean the end of a sandy bank, about 160 feet high, that attracts crowds of paddlers.

The issue pits people's enjoyment¹ of the river against the river's health and even public safety.

The Party Spot

Many paddlers who go down the Pine River finish at Low Bridge, about 20 miles east of Manistee.

Toward the end of this trip, they come to a steep bank that is almost pure sand from top to bottom.

Jim Thompson, a district ranger² in the Huron-Manistee National Forest, says it has a few names.

"Sand Hill, Canoe Slide, the Big Hill, The Party Spot," he says.

Thompson says on weekends in the summer you can find more than 100 people pulled over here.

"It's a slower spot in the river so it's a good place to stop," he says. "There's access there, so they raft up their canoes and then it's a nice place to stop and play around on the sand hill."

Why the spot is problematic

Plants don't grow where people play, especially when it's sandy. So there's nothing to stop sand from washing off the bank and into the river.

And sand can be a problem in a trout³ stream like the Pine. For example, it covers rocks that would otherwise be used by fish to spawn⁴.

And there is another problem.

People slide their canoes down the sand hill.

Some of them are drunk when they do it, and in 2012, a man died when he flew out of his canoe.

"It was definitely a tragic⁵ accident," Thompson says. "But that type of running up the slope and either running down it, cartwheeling down it, doing somersaults down it or riding watercraft, be it either a kayak or a canoe, are not that uncommon⁶ at that site."

A proposed solution

For these reasons, the Forest Service has proposed using a helicopter to fly in as many as 100 trees.

These would stabilize⁷ the bank, along with some filter cloth, so plants could grow.

But some, like Mark Miltner, don't think that is a great idea. Miltner owns Pine River Paddlesports and rents canoes and kayaks.

"It's neither serving the people that they're charged with serving nor is it serving the resource, to get this thing to completely vegetate⁸ again," Miltner says.

Sand is a natural part of the river, he says, and it's also natural for riverbanks to erode⁹.

He says this is one of the few sandy bends left on the Pine that offers paddlers a place to play.

And he says the view from the top, 160 feet above the water, is one of the most spectacular in the river valley.

"If you took a vote of every person that stops to enjoy either the view of that bank or enjoy the climb to the top of it and the view from the top, and ask them if they wanted to have that taken away from them, or want it left alone, they'd all say they want it left alone," Miltner says. "And so I'm going to suggest that's how you serve the people, you just leave it alone, okay? And let them enjoy the magic that's there and again, increasingly difficult to come by."

District Ranger Jim Thompson says the hill would not be closed.

It would just be less inviting¹⁰ if it was covered with trees and plants.

He says it is true riverbanks erode, but he says they usually heal in time.

"On this site, it is expanded because of the use and then it just hasn't had the opportunity to heal or start re-vegetating just because of that continual use," Thompson says.

The Forest Service is taking public comment about the proposal.

If they go ahead, the work on Pine River would be done in 2017.

1 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

2 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

3 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

4 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

7 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 vegetate   

v.无所事事地过活

参考例句：

• After a hard day's work,I vegetate in front of the television.经过一整天劳累，我瘫在电视机前一动不动。
• He spends all his free time at home vegetating in front of the TV.他一有空闲时间就窝在家里看电视。

9 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

10 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。