Big Darby on Google Earth

One of my favorite ways to study Darby is using the software Google Earth.

Google Earth is like flying in a spaceship. You start out viewing the earth from space, and then you can swoop down to view any place on the planet from a bird's eye view--usually to a height of a few hundred feet, depending on the resolution of the satellite photos the software taps for any given spot.

At right is a photo of the confluence of Big Darby and Little Darby at Georgesville in western Franklin County. It shows a rural mosaic of land uses, from the small town of Georgesville to woods and fields surrounding the creeks. Most of the land in view is part of Battelle-Darby Metro Park.

I can use the software to zoom in on any area of the watershed I want to see. This has allowed me to scout out promising areas to explore. It also gives me a great view of development as it spreads throughtout the area.

To sign up, just go to the Google home page and search "Google Earth." The first hit is where you sign up. This software free!

Where is Darby?

Here's a map showing the location of the Big Darby Creek watershed, in case you don't know where it is. As you can see, it is just to the west of the Columbus metropolitan area.

It's proximity to a large urban center is surprising to many, as human development almost always destroys the streams around it. In fact, Darby is the only National Scenic River that flows partly through an urban area. Fortunately, Darby is just far enough away--at least to date--that it has escaped major impacts from Columbus and its suburbs.

However, development has been creeping westward for years, and biologists believe Darby is at its tipping point. So does the national river organization American Rivers, which named Darby one of the Ten Most Endangered Rivers in 2004.

Since then, the communities in Franklin County (the county with Columbus and suburbs such as Hilliard) have agreed to an historic plan to limit development in the watershed and purchase large tracts of open space in the most sensitive areas on Darby and its tributaries. If it can be achieved, the Darby Accord will serve as a model for other communities trying to balance development with healthy streams.

This plan, the Darby Accord, can be found at this website:

http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/bigdarbyaccord/

Second Post--What's So Special About Darby?

Back in the early 90's, I came back to Columbus after graduating from Penn State. The change in scenery from the green hills of central Pennsylvania to the corn fields and strip malls of central Ohio coulnd not have been more stark. Although I loved Columbus--it was home, after all, to nearly every one of my friends--I was feeling depressed about the landscape I had returned to.

About this time I heard that the Nature Conservancy had christened a stream in Franklin County one of the Western Hemisphere's "Last Great Places," along with other places like the Everglades and South American rain forests. This announcement seemed about as unlikely as finding an ancient city or a dinosaur skeleton in my backyard. How could there be one of the hemisphere's greatest natural features hiding in dingy old central Ohio?

The natural feature was of course Big Darby Creek, and my interest (soon to be passion) was irrevocably hooked. In future posts I'll begin to uncover exactly what the Nature Conservancy knew when it singled out Darby.

Here's a taste of what's to come: this photo at the right is of one of the rarest animals in the world, the clubshell mussel. Once common, this animal now is limited in range to a few select streams throughout the central U.S. Pollution and loss of habitat have led to its demise almost everywhere. But it still thrives in the clean waters of the Big Darby watershed.

The clubshell is but one of many strange and exotic lifeforms that can still be found in the Darby Valley. Like an Ark, Darby serves as a sanctuary for these creatures. When I found out about it, it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to spend much of my time learning about this mysterious place.

First Post--What am I doing?

I wish I could say that this blog is the creation of a technology early adopter. It isn't. Rather it is the result of an assignment at work. All Columbus Metropolitan Library employees have been "encouraged" to set up their own blog as part of an initiative to teach staff how to use new technology.

The initiative is called "Learn and Play," and the place I play (and learn) the most is Big Darby Creek. Thus the title of my blog.

So come along with me as I play in Big Darby and learn some things about digital and web technology along the way.