Volunteers will clean up rivers again
One stream yielded a waffle iron during last year’s Great Sierra River Cleanup. Volunteers found a boxing glove in another spot and a chandelier in still another.
Even stranger finds could await Saturday at cleanup sites around Northern California, including four along the lower Stanislaus River and two in Tuolumne County.
The seventh annual event will take place along dozens of streams that arise in the Sierra Nevada and flow across the Central Valley. They supply water to vast expanses of farms and cities. They support fish and many other creatures. And they have an irresistible appeal to people who prefer not to use landfills.
Volunteers of all ages can take part in the cleanups. The effort is led by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state agency, and coincides with California Coastal Cleanup Day.
River Journey Adventures, a rafting company, will get people onto the water at Knights Ferry for what it calls the Stanislaus Scrub.
“We will be providing the rafts and we just need people to supply the manpower,” owner David Voortman said by email. “Bring your trash grabbers, gloves and even wetsuits to help us clean the top, bottom and sides of the Stanislaus River.”
The East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District will host three cleanups on the same river – at Oakdale, Riverbank and Ripon. Volunteers are urged to bring gloves and reusable containers for holding trash, or they can use bags and disposable gloves provided by the district, Administrative Manager Jamie Meek said.
The Tuolumne River near downtown Modesto also is part of the effort, but the cleanup took place last Saturday. The Tuolumne River Trust did it with a group called Operation 9-2-99, which has monthly workdays on the especially messy stretch from Ninth Street to Highway 99.
Last year’s Great Sierra River Cleanup saw the participation of 5,650 volunteers at 176 sites along 567 stream miles, organizers said. They plucked 108,408 pounds of trash and recycled 15,273 of them.
John Holland: 209-578-2385
Take part Saturday
Knights Ferry: River Journey Adventures will lead a cleanup of the Stanislaus River starting at 10 a.m. More information is at info@riverjourney.com or 900-292-2938.
Oakdale: 9 a.m. to noon at the Highway 120 bridge near Cost Less Food Co. More information is at the East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, 209-491-9320.
Riverbank: 9 a.m. to noon at Jacob Myers Park, also hosted by the district.
Ripon: 9 a.m. to noon at the bicycle bridge just east of Highway 99, also hosted by the district.
Twain Harte: Volunteers will meet at Eproson Park at 9 a.m. and clean up Twain Harte Creek until noon. More information is at the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District, www.tcrcd.org or 209-984-0500.
Pinecrest: The Pinecrest Lake Trail Bears will host a cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon at this reservoir on the south fork of the Stanislaus. More information is at 209-206-1980.
Mariposa: The Mariposa County Office of Economic Development and Public Works Department will have a cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon at Mariposa County Arts Park. More information is at 209-742-1214.
General information: www.sierranevada.ca.gov
Lose something?
Some of the items removed during last year’s Great Sierra River Cleanup around Northern California:
- A bowling ball
- A samurai sword
- A horse hitching post
- A master cylinder for a 1933 truck
- A boogie board
- A bed and mattress
- A chandelier
- A statue of Ganesh, a Hindu god
- A lava lamp
- A boxing glove
- A waffle iron
- 50 pounds of lead bars
- A Monopoly set
- A rubber ducky dressed as a hockey player
Source: Sierra Nevada Conservancy
This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Volunteers will clean up rivers again."