The Cacapon River is an 81-mile scenic river meandering along forests, farms and cabins through Hardy, Hampshire and Morgan counties.
“It’s pretty clean,” said Jim Ott, sitting on his screened porch 59 steps above the Cacapon River. “I was out fishing yesterday for five hours, and I found three cans – that was it.”
Since 1994, Jim Ott and his wife Eva have owned their cabin on the banks of the Cacapon River, not far from Bubbling Spring. Jim’s mother owned it before him.
“We are lovers of the land, and I know the river pretty well. I have floated the river from Yellow Springs a bunch,” Jim explained.
There is one thing about the river that perplexes Jim. Tires.
“They are just an insult to the river,” Jim remarked. “I have noticed them for years.”
Two years ago, he decided to take action himself. He started his tire mania. In between fishing days, he worked on retrieving the tires.
That year he pulled 19 tires from the river using his small kayak. “It’s a really good thing.”
Jim returned to the river again this year to do a bit of fishing. “I took a kayak ride, and I saw a lot more tires,” Jim said with a bit of a sigh. He decided to focus on collecting the tires he spotted before any fishing.
“Every day, I would see people,” Jim said. “It’s a real community thing.” He became known on the river as “The guy with the tires.”
Jim asked people on the river to help with the big tires. “I saw a group of college students canoeing on the river, and I asked if they could get the big tire to the top of the stairs.” To the top, all 59 steps. They did.
“My part was to call the Friends of the Cacapon River to help haul the tires away,” Eva laughed. “Jim was the one on the river doing the hard work.”
“I hunted tires for a few weeks and collected 34 tires over a ¾-mile stretch,” Jim explains. “That strikes one as a lot of tires.” He was almost sure he had found every single one in that stretch.
Until he went fishing. There, across the river, he saw it in the sunlight. “Please don’t tell me that’s another tire.” But it was! One big old tire. That was his 35th tire.
“I call it my trophy tire,” Jim beamed. “I think it’s about 42 inches and seems to weigh as much as I do.”
Jim enjoys the community connections he finds in tire mania. “I talked to everyone. People are doing what they can to help keep the river clean.” He also thanks the Friends of the Cacapon River and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for coordinating the pick-up and disposal of the tires.
Jim plans to continue tire mania on the next stretch of the river. For now, he will enjoy some well-deserved fishing time along the Cacapon.
Peter Wood is a board member of the Friends of the Cacapon River with a mission to preserve, protect, and promote the environmental health and scenic character of the Cacapon River and its watershed.
Photo: Eva and Jim Ott with their “Trophy” tire fetched from the Cacapon River.