Jul. 11—FRIENDSVILLE, Md. — Since the Youghiogheny River came to life in Garrett County, probably at least 780,000 years ago, it has escaped plans for development geared to generate money.

The latest venture allocated $4.7 million for trails in protected areas of the river, which advocates say would create revenue from visitors.

Opponents of the trails say changes to the wild river would be illegal and immoral.

A new proposal, however, aims to stop trail development by starting a mandated process.

Money before details

Senate Bill 291, signed by Gov. Larry Hogan in May, included a $700,000 grant to the Garrett County Board of Commissioners "for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, site improvement, and capital equipping of capital improvements at Sang Run State Park at Youghiogheny River Trail Section 2 from Swallow Falls to Sang Run, including maintenance and repair projects."

The bill, supported by Del. Wendell Beitzel and Sen. George Edwards, also allocated $4 million for the Youghiogheny River Trail Section 3 from Sang Run to the Kendell trail in Garrett County.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has control over the money.

Last month, DNR Media Relations Manager Gregg Bortz said any of the department's significant expenditures would be publicly reviewed for approval by the Board of the Public Works, which includes the governor and the state's comptroller and treasurer.

The board met Wednesday, at which time DNR Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio requested seven items for approval. None were related to the Yough's proposed trails.

"There are no items to present to the board, nor do we have a time frame for when there might be," Bortz said of the Yough issue via email after the meeting Wednesday.

Years of protections

For more than 50 years, regulations have been created to outline protections for the Yough.

Maryland created the Scenic and Wild Rivers System by an Act of the General Assembly in 1968.

According to the Georgetown University Law Library, the Code of Maryland Regulations first appeared in 1977 and was completed in 1981.

COMAR, which may be periodically updated, addresses protections for the Yough, and states "the purpose of these regulations is to implement the intent of the Scenic and Wild Rivers Act for that portion of the Youghiogheny River which has been designated a wild river."

'Take a hike'

In 1996, Paul Durham helped design "Maryland Scenic and Wild Rivers: The Youghiogheny."

The plan states it is intended to preserve and protect the river resources through a cooperative program between the state, Garrett County and local citizens.

"The purpose of the plan is not to limit all development or use of the Youghiogheny River, but to guide and direct activities to river areas which are appropriate for a particular use," it states. "It is the expressed intent of this plan to not expand the lawfully defined corridor of the 'Wild' segment of the Youghiogheny River as set forth in subsection 8-408 of the Maryland Scenic and Wild Rivers Act."

Groups that worked on the document included the Youghiogheny River Local Advisory Board, citizens, government officials and professionals from state and federal agencies.

"We took these plans seriously," Durham said. "This is the guiding document."

He administered management of the river corridor for the Maryland Park Service prior to his retirement in 2004.

"The longterm goal was to keep the lands primitive and in their wild state," Durham said.

The wild river corridor "belongs to the people," and the public should have input into any plans for development, he said.

"This is Maryland's only wild river ... the only place in Maryland where you can go and experience what 'wild' means," Durham said and added that folks who want to encounter that environment can simply "go take a hike."

'The original intent'

Steve Storck hiked the trail Thursday, at which time he photographed the primitive footpath along the Wild Youghiogheny.

Storck owns land in the Youghiogheny Wild River Corridor, and has worked in the outdoor recreation industry across the country for more than 30 years.

Last week, Storck said he submitted to DNR a proposal for a Youghiogheny Wild River Trail from Sang Run to Kendall that Edwards, Beitzel and Garrett Trails have described.

For eight years, Storck has researched the idea, and said the trail would significantly change and fragment the protected Youghiogheny Wild River Scenic Corridor.

He said he submitted the proposal to prevent wasteful spending of public funds and allow citizens to review the proposal.

"They have begun reviewing it," Storck said and added he also shared the proposal with Garrett Trails, Beitzel, Edwards, Garrett County commissioners and the Friendsville mayor.

"Since no proposal was submitted with the funding I felt obligated to share what information I had," Storck said. "I feel DNR now has enough information to conduct the legislatively required policy and environmental review before spending thousands on an engineering report. Ultimately I want DNR to live up to their promise ... that they support the Scenic and Wild Rivers Act and the original intent of the Wild Youghiogheny designation."

'Preserve and protect'

In 2014, Joseph Gill, DNR's secretary at the time, responded to a letter from Beitzel and Edwards that asked for development of a segment of the Eastern Continental Divide Loop Trail through the Youghiogheny Scenic Corridor.

"The policy of the state is to preserve and protect the natural values of these rivers, enhance their water quality, and fulfill vital conservation purposes by wise use of resources within their surrounding environment," Gill said. "We are unable to approve development of this area for numerous reasons."

Those grounds included reconstruction of an old rail line that would involve replacement of several bridges, environmental regulations that would preclude such construction and flooding along the river.

The Yough's history

Several years ago, Chris Preperato, a multimedia developer, documented stories about the river for "A History of the Upper Yough," which includes more than 20 video interviews, archival research, and written narrative.

The project covers the Yough's longtime kayaking community, as well as threats to the river over the years including planned dams and acid mine drainage.

"The boaters and townspeople that worked to save the river and make it a destination," the website for the project states. "It's also about a region that has always turned to Garrett County for its resources, and so rarely thought about the consequences of those actions."

Preperato is also a whitewater kayaker and has "boated the upper Yough probably 100 times," he said.

He talked of the $4.7 million, which was allocated for the trail project without any details.

"I'd like to actually see a plan," Preperato said. "It's incredible to have millions of dollars set aside for a thing that nobody knows what it is."

Teresa McMinn is the Digital Editor for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.