By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLERAIN TWP. - Every morning, Colerain Township Trustee Bernie Fiedeldey awakens to a cup of coffee, a Lucky Strike cigarette and a view of the Great Miami River flowing just past his back yard.

The river doesn't have the best reputation in Greater Cincinnati. It's known as a gravel-mining river that floods.

Michelle Brotherton, an education assistant with Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation, and Brian Bohl, steam specialist (also with the District) canoe near the Dravo Park in Colerain Twp. (Craig Ruttle photo)

But that reputation, Fiedeldey and other township residents say, is undeserved. The river is the greatest untapped resource of western Hamilton County, they say, and an effort is now afloat to make the rest of the state aware of its beauty, its many recreation opportunities and its value to the community.

Fiedeldey and fellow trustee Keith Corman voted last week to request the Ohio Department of Natural Resources conduct a scenic river study on the Hamilton County section to determine if it's worthy of state scenic river status. Such status could help bring millions of state and federal dollars to help protect the river and also could boost property values and recreational opportunities.

If other Hamilton County townships bordering the river - such as Crosby, Whitewater and Miami - approve similar resolutions, the state will determine if scenic river status is warranted.

"If we don't get this, the money is going to go to Montgomery County or someone else," Fiedeldey said. "Why not fight to bring it back here?"

State officials hope a majority of the communities along the Great Miami River take Colerain's lead and embrace the study.

Many in Colerain Township, Ohio's largest in both population and land area, believe achieving scenic river status is essential to keeping the rural-suburban quality of life along the township's western border.

A case study in how scenic river status can help rejuvenate rivers is the Little Miami River on the eastern side of Hamilton County.

The Little Miami, named the first scenic river in the state in 1968, has blossomed into one of the prime recreation spots in the county. About $4.4 million in state money has been pumped into the area since then, according to Rivers Unlimited, an Ohio protection and preservation group.

"It's become a very, very desirable place to live," said Mike Fremont, president of Rivers Unlimited. "People pay a lot more for houses close to a protected river and close to a bikeway."

Bob Gable, manager of the scenic river program for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said scenic river status benefits a community in more ways than just receiving public funding. For private landowners, the state would offer technical advice on how to stop bank erosion and would help find funding for bank stabilization.

Communities also become eligible for low-interest loans to upgrade wastewater treatment.

Trustee Diana Rielage voted against the scenic river study, saying she sees benefit to scenic river status, but doesn't want the state to interfere in township affairs.

"I, for one, do not wish to stifle the decisions of future trustees by handcuffing them to a state agency," Rielage said. "I would rather continue to have spirited discussions on local issues in these chambers than have to drive to Columbus to try to persuade a nameless bureaucrat."

With scenic river status, the township would be unable to build anything within 1,000 feet of the river, Rielage said. But Fiedeldey pointed out that federal regulations don't allow building in a flood plain anyway.

Fiedeldey said the only interference the township would receive from the state is monitoring river pollution. The state says it works alongside local communities' riverside projects.

Those who are against seeking scenic river status just don't understand the importance of it, Fremont said.

Private land owners, he said, "have every right to be worried because the government is a very cruel master. But that's not true with the state scenic river system. They can only profit with this."

Fremont said scenic river status directly benefits the area surrounding it.

If people living along the Great Miami "knew what would befall them if they got state scenic river status, they'd do it in a minute," he said.

Ohio's scenic rivers

The 701 miles in Ohio's scenic river system includes part or all of the following 11 river systems in 29 counties:

• Little Miami River

• Sandusky River

• Olentangy River

• Little Beaver Creek

• Grand River

• Upper Cuyahoga River

• Maumee River

• Stillwater River/Greenville Creek system

• Chagrin River

• Big and Little Darby creeks

• Kokosing River

River facts

The Great Miami:

• is 155 miles long.

• stretches from Indian Lake in Logan County to the Ohio River in Hamilton County.

• Watershed encompasses much of Southwest Ohio with a drainage basin of nearly 6,000 square miles, stretching into Indiana. Eighty percent of the land is used for agriculture.

The Little Miami:

• has some 150,000 to 175,000 visitors annually for the bike trails, liveries and fishing.

• helps bring at least $3 million in economic activity to the east side of town via recreation, according to Rivers Unlimited.

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E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com