Rodricks: Leave the Yock, Maryland’s officially ‘wild’ river, alone

The Youghiogheny River, in Western Maryland, is considered a Scenic and Wild River by the Department of Natural Resources. A few years ago, I hiked along four tough miles of the river and learned firsthand to appreciate what that special designation means. The Youghiogheny, or the Yock, flows for miles through Garrett County into Pennsylvania. The Maryland section, upstream of the town of Oakland to the town of Friendsville, is well known to white-water kayakers and rafters, visitors to Swallow Falls State Park and people who fish the Yock’s long pools and riffles.