Adopt a Duck Blind

By Craig Metcalfe, Lower James RiverRat, James City County

As a JRA RiverRat out on my Powhatan Creek and James River patrols, I have seen

numerous abandoned duck blinds. It has always bothered me that material from these blinds ends up in our waterways.  During the first Saturday in June, I support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s annual Clean the Bay Day, and along with other boaters, I help by collecting debris from the creek and river. A majority of the debris we collect is from duck blinds that are in disrepair. 

For years, I have been trying to find a way to track and report abandoned blinds. The problem is large enough in Virginia that in 2013, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law which stipulates that “those licensing stationary blinds in the public waters shall remove the blind when the licenses expire or when they no longer intend to use them, whichever occurs first.” This is step a in the right direction, but doesn’t address the issue of old unlicensed or abandoned blinds.

This fall I made contact with Sergeant Randy Hickman at the VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF). After a brainstorming session, we proposed and settled on the following reporting system:

• Find out of date or unlicensed blinds
• Identify the body of water
• Note the GPS coordinates
• Take a picture of the blind
• Record the date and time

Finally I sent the information to Sergeant Hickman, who ran a check on who owned the blinds.  Out of the five Powhatan Creek blinds reported, three were abandoned. The other two had renewed for the 2015 season and posted their licenses by November 1^st, as required by law.

Knowing that we now have a process in place, I met with Jamie Brunkow, Lower James Riverkeeper.  We came to the conclusion that with the support from VA DGIF,  fellow Rats could follow the same process simply by including duck blind information in their patrol logs.

Now the interesting part, Jamie and I thought about removing the abandoned blinds, however, that would be very time consuming and a hassle to take the debris to a dump site.  We came up with the idea to reuse the abandoned blinds by posting a sign, created by the JRA RiverRats, giving information on how to “adopt” the blind.  This is a wonderful incentive to duck hunters looking for a place to hunt as they would only need to fix-up existing blinds, saving both time and money. The adoption and maintenance of existing blinds would cut down on the number of new blinds and prevent the risks of debris to boaters and improve the viewshed.

RiverRats looking for an Action Project may take part in the “Adpot a Blind” project by following Craig’s lead. Get more information from Jamie Brunkow, Lower James Riverkeeper (jbrunkow@jrava.org), or if you’re interested in becoming a RiverRat signup for one of JRA’s upcoming trainings.