# Boggs Creek



## Dan the Man

Well they finally opened Boggs Creek after a year and a half of logging salvage efforts.

They opened it up a month or so a go to "Day Use" traffic only. No camping. There is a gate about 1/2 way back that closes access to the entire second 1/2 of the Boggs Creek recreation area. So really only 1/2 of the park is open.

And I must say, the place is practically unrecognizable! Looks like a warzone.

Even with the logging effort, there are still downed limbs and wood debris piled up next to the road everywhere.  and the creek is at the lowest flow I've ever seen it. There are downed trees and limbs hanging over the creek in just about every area that was formerly a "fishable hole".

I walked back beyond the gate a bit to see what the second half of the area looked like and it's even worse. Entire mountain sides just cleared out and naked to the sun all day.  So much of the stream is now completely exposed to the sun with no cover from the banks. This will heat up the stream and make the water unsustainable for trout.

And as for the logging effort. I assumed it was to clear out the downed trees and generally try to prepare the place for recreational use again.  Wow was I wrong!  They apparently went in, dragged a bunch of new trails with the trucks, took out the valuable timber they were interested in and left everything else as it was, they also piled up huge stacks of limbs and debris near the roads and between the roads and the creek bank which makes access to the creek almost impossible in places.  I can only hope that there are further efforts in the planning to finish the clean up and make the place a camping/fishing destination again?

Such a shame. This place will never be the same.  I would estimate it will be 5 years before the area recovers enough to make the creek a legitimate trout fishing destination again.


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## Stumper

Hate to hear this, I used to enjoy fishing Boggs.


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## tad1

Disappointing to hear that. I've caught trout there and my family used to camp there frequently.


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## natureman

When I visited last year they had not opened the gate to the back half of the area.  Anyone have more recent info?


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## futbolwest

It was still closed in late June of this year.


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## natureman

Thanks for the update.


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## Killer Kyle

The NF isn't only managed for trout. It is managed for ALL species of wildlife, and for many various types of users. Hunters, fishermen, campers, hikers, OHV trails, horse trails, birdwatchers, foragers, bike riders, leaf lookers. The tornado did it's damage. The USFS let timber companies come in and collect the merchantable timber for a fee. This made the USFS a little $, and served as FREE wildlife management. It opened the canopy, set back succession, and created OUTSTANDING habitat for deer, turkey, grouse, and songbirds. The limb piles along the road and in/around the creek created "snags" for rabbits, varmints, and trout habitat. All these processes were allowed by the USFS for a reason. They may be inconvenient to us as people, but they helped create extraordinary habitat for our wildlife. We should be glad for this slight inconvenience. It means lasting habitat to critical mountain species. I would welcome twenty more tornados across the NE corner of the state if they made more quality habitat like the ones several years ago. Those tornados did out forest and immeasurable favor!


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## The mtn man

I agree with Kyle, the fact that hem locks are dying has caused water Temps to rise, well that's one reason.  It's not unusual for trout to move up and down stream according to season.


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## natureman

Hiked back past the gate today.  I wanted to see how the area had changed after 5 years of closure.  It really looked good.  I kind of hope they keep the gate permanently closed.


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## Miguel Cervantes

Personally I'd like to see the NFS do away with all of the cross tie & timber campsites and the concrete bathrooms and let it go back to primitive camping like it was prior to Bill & Al's not so great adventure destroyed it all by giving access to every idiot on the face of the earth.


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## Rebel's Dad

Killer Kyle said:


> The NF isn't only managed for trout. It is managed for ALL species of wildlife, and for many various types of users. Hunters, fishermen, campers, hikers, OHV trails, horse trails, birdwatchers, foragers, bike riders, leaf lookers. The tornado did it's damage. The USFS let timber companies come in and collect the merchantable timber for a fee. This made the USFS a little $, and served as FREE wildlife management. It opened the canopy, set back succession, and created OUTSTANDING habitat for deer, turkey, grouse, and songbirds. The limb piles along the road and in/around the creek created "snags" for rabbits, varmints, and trout habitat. All these processes were allowed by the USFS for a reason. They may be inconvenient to us as people, but they helped create extraordinary habitat for our wildlife. We should be glad for this slight inconvenience. It means lasting habitat to critical mountain species. I would welcome twenty more tornados across the NE corner of the state if they made more quality habitat like the ones several years ago. Those tornados did out forest and immeasurable favor!



Excellent!

Give this man a cigar!!

It's just too bad that we have to rely on tornadoes to get any habitat work done and anything resembling early succession on the Forest.


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## Killer Kyle

Make it a Rocky Patel 1990 Box Pressed maduro, please!  Haha! 
I concur with you man. It'd be nice if the USFS could take a more active management approach. Unfortunately, it's all about the $, and that makes true, hands on management move at a snail's pace. For those of you mountain deer hunters here, I'd be looking at maps of where the tornados blew through (hint, hint).


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## northgeorgiasportsman

The forest fires last fall did many thousand acres worth of forest management in north Ga and western NC.


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## NCHillbilly

Miguel Cervantes said:


> Personally I'd like to see the NFS do away with all of the cross tie & timber campsites and the concrete bathrooms and let it go back to primitive camping like it was prior to Bill & Al's not so great adventure destroyed it all by giving access to every idiot on the face of the earth.



Yes. I'll include the National parks, also.


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