Jared Free - "Jagged Creek Nature Reserve"

On warm days I like to go across the James river bridge to hike along the river through the wildlife reserve on Isle of Wight. There's about a quarter mile stone trail, a quarter mile of boardwalk, then you can jump over the rail and hike uninhibited along the James. Trips have to be planned carefully, to account for the rising and receding tides and once the pattern is learned there is a great sense of pride in having a more intimate relationship with the river. There are usually a-lot of fishermen along the banks of the river, and its usually pleasant to interact with them and share our experiences with each other. Many of them, however, do not seem to have any concern for the environment itself. It's disturbing to see the things they leave behind, in bulk no less. Yards and yards of fishing line, empty beverage containers, the charred wood and bones of the fires they build on site to grill their catch. The first several hundred yards of shoreline, the fishermen find it too cumbersome to venture too far off the boardwalk, have nearly been destroyed by their laziness and lack of concern of respect for the environment. It's very troubling that with so much discussion of environmental protection and preservation some people cannot be troubled to help in preserving our increasingly rare open landscapes.