Lake Cumberland debris being cleared for prestigous fishing tourney

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The “Pride of the Cumberland” is a boat operated by the Corps of Engineers designed to collect debris from Lake Cumberland and clean the surface of the water.

March 24, 2008

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By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Mon Mar 24, 2008, 07:25 AM EDT

The Burnside community wants to put on its best face for a national fishing tournament making its way to Lake Cumberland in early April.

The only problem: There’s already plenty of objects floating on the lake’s surface.

Dona Howard of the Burnside Tourism Commission, which helped lure the prestigious Fishers of Men National Championship Series to Pulaski County this year, was concerned about the amount of floating debris on the lake. She reported having received several complaints from boaters about floating pieces of driftwood.

“I just have concerns about the impression the lake is going to make,” said Howard, regarding the expected influx of anglers. Between 170-190 boats are projected to be on the lake for the fishing tournament, operated by “a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry whose mission is to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to fishermen and their families through competitive and professionally-ran fishing tournaments,” according to the Web site, www.fomntt.com.

According to Tom Hale, operations manager for eastern Kentucky with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there’s actually less debris on the lake than is common for this time of year because of the lower lake elevation, taken down to ease pressure on the vulnerable Wolf Creek Dam. The lake isn’t high enough to pick up all the debris collected on the shoreline and carry it out into the water as it is most seasons when the lake begins to rise, said Hale.

But Howard believes the area’s recent rainy weather has created a problem nonetheless.

“I have gone to Conley Bottom (a marina in Wayne County) to launch because there’s so much debris in and around the whole Burnside area of the lake,” she said. “When you have a season like most everyone has had here, with the perception that the lake is down and there’s a huge problem, it really isn’t going to make a good impression. People are going to try to be fishing and will be like, ‘The lake is a mess.’”

Thus efforts are underway to get things cleaned up in time for the tournament, which will be held April 3-5. The tournament boats will launch from General Burnside Island.

Hale said that Howard called and asked if the Corps could use the “Pride of the Cumberland” boat to clean up the area around the ramp. The vessel, designed to collect lake debris and run it through a wood chipper, either to spit back out onto the shore or to put back into the lake, runs regularly anyway, but with the tournament coming up, the duties of the “Pride of the Cumberland” become even more crucial.

“If we can help in any way, we’re glad to. We want to support the community,” said Hale. “We try to get the worst spots around public use areas where (debris) might interfere with boat launching, and once those are taken care of, we get out and look at other parts of lake.”

The Corps has used the “Pride of the Cumberland” since 2005 to assist in lake maintenance efforts. Hale said his group uses the boat usually four days a week, starting once debris begins to become a problem and keeping the vessel’s ventures going until the threat is gone.

Though the chipped wood decomposes quickly on the shore, Hale said, it can also be used to add biomass to the lake.

“Lake Cumberland is a pretty clean lake,” said Hale. “When they were working to fill it up, it took all the vegetation out, so (adding biomass) is good for the fish habitat. We didn’t have a whole lot because of the conditions.”

This year, the Corps is applying instruments on the boat designed to pick up debris on the shoreline before it gets floated back out in the water. He said this is a lake-wide effort, not just focused in Burnside.

The Fishers of Men Tournament draws anglers from 55 divisions spread out over 27 states. Awards include a $100,000 total purse and a 2008 Triton TR-20X fishing boat for First Place. The tournament is the championship event for this series.

Howard says things are going well leading up to the tournament from a preparation and promotion standpoint, and that “everything is in place.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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