In 2013, RiverRestoration.org laid forth a plan to help restore and revitalize the Helper River, a mainstay in the Carbon County Area which serves as the backdrop for the Helper River Walkway, with its iconic suspension bridge and beautiful city views. This plan was divided into phases to make it easier to manage, with the first phase being completed in the fall of 2014.

Because of this, Castle Country Radio invited Helper Mayor Lenise Peterman to talk about the project and get a closer look into the river revitalization.

Opening our discussion, Mayor Peterman gave a brief overview of what the project entails,” Back in 2013, river restoration. org developed a conceptual plan for the Price River as it runs through Helper. They created six phases where we could begin to recover an endangered species, fish, the bluehead sucker, and also to allow for human passage. So it was a win-win.”

After this, we discussed the larger implications of the project that push past Helper and into Carbon County as a whole. “I think it’s all about creating that carbon corridor. So attracting people to Helper will bring people to Price to Wellington and East Carbon. And so, you know, it’s another. Tool in our economic tool kits, so to speak.”

Peterman continued by saying,” That benefits all of the county. So, you know, that’s my hope is people will come and tube the river, but then maybe they’ll go into Price and grab a bite to eat and check out some trails up at Woodhead, that type of thing.”

“The work isn’t finished. I mean, initially, we were removing cars and railroad ties and things of that nature.” Peterman stated, looking toward the future of the project,” So now, we’re really in a position to revisit the entire river span and determine, “Hey, we really should clean up.” So I’ve asked RiverRestoration.org to help create that plan.”

Mayor Peterman shared a simple message to close out our chat,” Just get out, enjoy the river. It’s there. You have ingress and egress, you can fish, you can tube, you can swim in some of the swimming pockets we’ve developed, so just enjoy it.”

More information on the Helper River Revitalization project can be found here. If you want to read more Castle Country Focus Interviews like this one, you can click here.

*Photo Courtesy of RiverRestoration.org