By Bill Archer
CAMP CREEK — About 15 years ago — long before he threw his hat into the political ring — Mercer County Commissioner Jay Mills lamented the fact that his uncle had to hang up his fly rod when he got too old to make it to his favorite trout stream.
“Trout fishing was important to my Uncle B.D. Mills and I hated it when he had to give it up,” Mills said. “After he retired in 1965, he had a cabin up in Pocahontas County where he would go trout fishing for a week every year. He would clean and filet the trout he caught and bring them back to people who couldn’t go out and fish. He died about three years ago, but he was confined to a wheelchair a lot longer than that.”
Mills spent time thinking about his uncle’s love of trout fishing and the barriers people who have to use wheelchairs to get around face. He was aware of how his uncle’s handicap prevented him from something he truly enjoyed. “I knew that Mercer County had to have some spots that could be developed to give handicapped people access to trout fishing, but I didn’t know the right people to ask,” Mills said.
Handicap-accessible trout fishing wasn’t necessarily a campaign issue for Mills when he ran for the county commission in 2006. However, like any good trout angler, he continued working his line until — with the help of his local delegates and senators — he caught the attention of two individuals with the state Division of Natural Resources, Dennis Kinzer and Curtis Taylor. He found the DNR to be willing allies in his personal quest.
“Once I talked with them back in April, everything started moving pretty quickly,” Mills said. Mills expressed his thanks to Delegates Mike Porter, R-Mercer, John Frazier, D-Mercer and John Shott, R-Mercer, as well as State Senators Don Caruth R-Mercer and H. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo for putting him in contact with the right people.
When he knew his dream was about to become a reality, Mills was naturally excited about it. For the past few days, he has been in contact with the DNR, waiting for work to begin. Contract crews working for Oscar Vecellio arrived at the site near the Marsh Creek Falls in Camp Creek State Park Tuesday morning and started work as Mills, Kinzer, Taylor and Delegate Frazier looked on.
“Jay deserves a lot of credit for this,” Frazier said. “We brought the DNR people here to Camp Creek State Park in April to look at it, but Jay has been working on it for a long time. There is a small parking area and a paved walkway to the deck. It looks like there is room enough for about 4 wheelchairs on the pier. It’s really very nice.”
Frazier said that the particular spot will likely be limited to anglers that hold a Class Q license. “It’s a beautiful site, but Camp Creek State Park is beautiful in itself. It’s a hidden gem, and travelers are starting to get to know about it a little.” Camp Creek State Park is open year round except for Christmas Day.
Mike Shingleton , assistant chief for the DNR’s cold water fisheries in Elkins said the DNR has made a concentrated effort to develop handicap-accessible fishing sites on lakes, large reservoirs, small impoundments and large rivers including the Ohio, Kanawha and Monongahela, but he only knows of two other trout fishing sites that have been developed for use by handicapped anglers — both of them are on the Blackwater River.
“The DNR worked with Canaan Valley to put a stream-access pier on the Blackwater River about five or six years ago,” Shingleton said. “It’s difficult to put handicap-accessible fishing piers on streams because of the flooding potential. The city of Davis put another one on the Blackwater River, but other than those two, I don’t know of any others.”
Mills was thrilled by the response and excited about the opportunities opening up for handicapped anglers. “This is going to be a first class facility,” Mills said. “I’m just thankful for all of the people who worked to make this happen.”
– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com
