News and Information
Pere Marquette River Trip
April 22, 2022
You are invited on a 3-day, pre-meeting river float on the Pere Marquette National Scenic River that provides a rich opportunity to develop strong near-peer connections within a natural, discipline-relevant setting. By creating a distraction-free environment in which you can focus entirely on each other, rather than the busy scheduling of the SFS Annual Meeting/JASM, the annual river float will set the stage for a richer Annual Meeting experience and promote the formation of interpersonal relationships that will be sustained beyond the Annual Meeting.
You will be trained in river safety, led by trained staff members from the Outdoor Adventure Program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
After this trip, you can expect to be trained in the following:
- ACA L2 Swiftwater Safety Skills Course
- Leave-No-Trace Course
- ACA L2 Canoe Skills Course
- Camp Craft
Our trip leaders will teach you about topics that may include local hydrology and biota, using USGS gauge data, tutorials on local natural history, and lessons on benthic macroinvertebrate and fish sampling.
Itinerary (see our trip map for details):
- Day 1 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022): Drive from the airport to a campsite in Baldwin, MI
- Day 2 (Thursday, May 12, 2022): Launch day; paddle from The Forks boat launch to Bowman Bridge Campground
- Day 3 (Friday, May 13, 2022): Paddle from Bowman Bridge Campground to Elk Canoe Campground
- Day 4 (Saturday, May 14, 2022): Takeout day; paddle from Elk Canoe Campground to Walhalla Bridge boat launch
Please reach out to Breanna at [email protected] with any questions and if you are interested in joining.