Chasing The Dragon - A Chesapeake Estuarine Treasure

By Roy Meyer - From the September/October 1999 issue of Chesapeake Life

There's a dragon among us, roaming wild through the farmland of Virginia's Northern Neck.

Unlike the man-eating, fire-breathing monsters of England's Middle Ages, Virginia's dragon possesses a placid nature, living peacefully in its aquatic lair shaded by canopies of majestic bald cypress, tupelo, river birch, and dogwood trees. Because of its affable nature, the dragon happily shares its dominion with hosts of other animals like muskrats, beavers, otters, snapping turtles, and white tail deer. Heron and hawks, neo-tropical songbirds, and bald eagles nest along the banks of its swampy hideaway blanketed with violets, mountain laurel, wild iris, and pickerel weed.

This hydra of the south is more commonly known as Dragon Run, a 35-mile-long body of water that is part swamp, creek, and tidal marsh. The Dragon flows through rural Essex County, Virginia, and serpentines southeastward through Gloucester and Middlesex counties, where it forms the sparkling Piankatank River. The Piankatank spills into the Chesapeake Bay near Deltaville, Virginia, 15 miles downstream.

Dragon Run's unique environmental significance sets it apart from the other countless fingers of water that carve their way through Virginia's Chesapeake-bordering countryside.

In May 1974 the Smithsonian Institution conducted a survey that found the Dragon to have the second highest ecological value in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The survey, headed by Dr. Dale W. Jenkins, Ph. D, entitled "Natural Areas of the Chesapeake Bay Region: Ecological Priorities" named the Dragon as having the second highest priority for preservation action, procurement, and other protective measures on the basis of its unique flora, fauna, and biotic ecosystem. (Zekiah Swamp in Maryland's Charles County was the only watershed that was more ecologically significant than the Dragon because of its aquatic wildlife.) The study raised concern that uncontrolled developments near the Dragon's territory posed a major environmental hazard and urged that appropriate preservation and conservation steps be taken to protect the area.

Estie Thomas, natural resource planner with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia explains, "The Dragon holds a special place in the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem--it's a unique freshwater swamp that is part of the drainage basin of four counties. Its wetlands perform water quality functions that are invaluable to the bay. Not only do the wetlands trap sediment that makes bay water murky, but its wetlands absorb food nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous that are bad for the bay. By straining these harmful nutrients, the wetlands help give the bay a higher water quality. The Dragon also supports a tremendous variety of plants and animal species."

In 1982, several "Dragon conscious" residents pooled their money and purchased some property along the estuary. The residents dubbed themselves the "Friends of Dragon Run", declaring their mission to preserve the Dragon's natural beauty and ensure the protection of the wilderness surrounding the watershed. Since it was awarded its charter as a non-profit conservation group in 1986, the "Friends" have acquired more than 200 acres of the Dragon's freshwater swamp, adjoining land and a small island, called "Big Island." Since its inception, the organization has attracted more than 250 members.

S. Davis "Dave" Rhodes, a native of Tidewater Virginia who has been exploring the Dragon for nearly 40 years, is the current chairman of the Friends of Dragon Run. "The goal," says Rhodes, "is to appreciate the Dragon for what it was and to preserve it rather than have it developed. People who have visited the Dragon over the years describe how wonderful it is to see something so unspoiled," explains Rhodes. "They use words like 'beautiful, magnificent, and breathtaking'. It is indeed unique and irreplaceable, and it must be preserved."

Supported by state officials and conservation organizations like the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the "Friends" are working to obtain conservation easements from private landowners along the swamp.

There is still much to be learned about this unique waterway, and a Natural Heritage Inventory is currently underway in the Dragon. The study will determine where the special natural areas are within the Dragon that contain rare plant and animal life. Study director Tom Smith explains, "Identifying the location of these exemplary communities will help set conservation priorities in Dragon Run--that is, where to start the conservation effort in the Dragon and what special management considerations are needed for nearby landowners and vegetation within the Dragon."

According to Allen Belden, field botanist with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Division of Natural Heritage, who is currently working on the inventory, several rare species of plants have been found along the Dragon. These finds include the state's largest population of Featherfoil. A member of the Primrose family, the Featherfoil's white flower is held above the surface by its unique stem that inflates with air. Belden has also discovered a population of Red Turtle Head plants that are members of the Snap Dragon family. A rare population of the aquatic Yellow Water Crowfoot has also been discovered. This plant looks very similar to the common Buttercup but has a different type of leaf, the shape of which depends on the water level. State-rare animals that have been discovered in the area include several invertebrates like the Cyprus Sphinx moth and a rare type of dragonfly.

Field zoologist Chris Hobson has found three state-rare dragon flies in the Dragon including the Cypress Sphinx, only the second time this rare specie has been found in Virginia; Seyls' Sunfly; and the Robust Basket Tail.

"This is the first time that a comprehensive inventory of the flora and fauna on the Dragon has been done," says Rhodes. When the study is released this fall, it will be possible to determine exactly what the Dragon contains. It's believed the inventory will reveal some heretofore-unknown types of endangered wildlife and vegetation.

Unlike many conservation groups, the Friends of Dragon Run are not trying to keep the swamp off-limits to outsiders. In fact, the group strives to make the Dragon available for others to enjoy its primeval charms. The Dragon's "Friends" lead canoeing, kayaking, and camping trips deep into the bowels of the Dragon. Half a dozen excursions are sponsored by the organization each year, and special efforts are made to attract scouting groups and school kids. While there are also many individual canoe trips, there are some restrictions. Since most of the property along the Dragon is owned by private landowners, access to the water is limited. For that reason, the club makes it its business to help people get onto and out of the Dragon safely.

On a recent excursion on the Dragon, club members and first-time Dragon explorers, 23 in all, ranging in age from 10 to 65, slipped into more than a dozen kayaks and canoes and poked their way down five miles of the Dragon's "tail," (the lower, Southern end of the swamp). The upper portion, which contains a wider assortment of wildlife and vegetation, is larger and more scenic but was not accessible during this expedition due to low water caused by a lack of rainfall.

What the boaters experienced was an exciting and inspiring voyage, sometimes having to crawl over and around beaver dams and downed trees with their grotesquely sculpted and gnarled "knees" clustered together, rising mysteriously out of the water. Kayaker Teta Kain, of Gloucester, Virginia, an association member for seven years, is an expert bird watcher who has counted more than 100 kinds of birds in the swamp--the most abundant being the prothonotary warbler. So to keep the "non-birders" aware of sightings, Kain enthusiastically called out the names of various birds, identifying each by its plaintive sound. "Their sound is different in the fall than in the spring," she says, "because they are no longer using mating calls."

Young Dimetria Christo, 14, of Gloucester, and her best friend, 13-year-old Brittany Farrell of Gloucester Point, canoed together. "It's nice to be away from civilization," said Dimetria. It's nature and you can see the wildlife; we saw a snake drop into the water.' Both agreed that they really didn't miss television--or school.

Brittany's mother, Kathleen Farrell, an environmental geologist, canoed with Steve Christo. "I like to go to these natural places," she notes. She points out the Dragon is really a valley being flooded by tidal and fresh water rivers as sea levels rise. She says, "This landscape took millions of years to evolve and man can wipe it out in three or four weeks if he wants to. Right now, this is the best place around to go canoeing."

Dimetria's father, Steve Christo, a new member of the association, summarized the trip this way: "There are fewer and fewer places for our kids to experience this kind of natural environment. You think about pollution, and a big part of pollution is light and noise, which is something they have never been able in their life to get away from. It's like a dream for someone who has never seen it before."

Christo also had praise for those who sponsored the trip. "I'm really impressed with the people who maintain this area and the ones who organized this," he adds. He singles out David Clements, 49, a Gloucester native who supplied many of the canoes for the visitors. Clements is a friendly, unassuming, likable host and guide. He loves the Dragon and has been sharing his affection for the swamp with others since he was a boy, growing up in the Tidewater area. He says he gets "personal satisfaction" from seeing other people enjoying the Dragon. Clements knows it takes a lot of work to preserve the Dragon. That's why he and fellow club members are continuing their efforts to acquire property and conservation easements.

Putting aside his paddle and canoe for a lunch break, Rhodes looked around at the quiet, peaceful setting and observed: "You see things on the Dragon you never see anywhere else. You're likely to see and hear just about anything. It is in our interest that we just stop for a moment and recognize that the Dragon is something special and absolutely must be preserved."

Posted: 7-24-2000