What do you get when you combine over 500 people, a zillion trash bags, 2 beautiful rivers, and 2 lovely creeks? Well, if it is the 3rd Saturday in September, it could only be the perfect combination for the South Yuba River Citizens League’s (SYRCL) 10th Annual Great Yuba CleanUp. On Saturday, September 15, 2007, from 9am-12 noon, volunteers will work together in gathering trash throughout the Yuba River, Bear River, Wolf Creek, and Deer Creek watersheds. As the Nevada County representative for the California Coastal Commission statewide effort on the same day, other community, state, and national agencies, organizations and businesses to support the cleanup, will join SYRCL.
Sites will cover the entire watershed including the South, Middle, and North forks and the lower Yuba, as well as sites in the Deer Creek, Bear River, and Wolf Creek watersheds. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to participate in an on-going program of non-native plant removal at Bridgeport. In the past eight years approximately 2,800 volunteers have collected nearly 70,000 pounds (estimated) of trash and recyclables, including cars, scrap metal, a derelict cabin, and old mining equipment. All of the River CleanUp volunteers are also invited to a thank you celebration afterwards at Memorial Park in Grass Valley, 12:30-2:30pm. There will be free BBQ lunch and raffle; Paul Kamm, Tom McDonald and Mikail Graham will perform music during and after the luncheon in the park. Haute Trash, Nevada County’s recycled fashion group will also perform a 30 minute show modeling outfits they’ve made out of trash; one outfit will be a bathing suit made out of a lime green float tube found at Purdon Crossing last year.
“The Yuba CleanUp is a great opportunity for friends and families to do community service together helping out a river that they enjoy,” says Miriam Limov, SYRCL Volunteer Director and event coordinator.
On September 15, all over the state of California, the California Coastal Commission helps organize these river, creek, lake, and beach cleanups. Since the program started in 1985, nearly 750,000 Californians have removed more than 10½ million pounds of debris from our state's shorelines and watersheds. SYRCL has been the Coastal Commission’s Nevada County representative for the event since 2001. This year’s Cleanup marks the 23rd anniversary of the California Coastal Cleanup Day program, making this one of the longest running, and the largest, volunteer events in the state.
“The only way a program like this stays in business all these years is because the people of California love to participate,” says Eben Schwartz, Statewide Outreach Coordinator for the California Coastal Commission. “It’s more than a cleanup – it’s an event that helps bring every Californian together to set a benchmark for what environmental stewardship can mean. “
The South Yuba River Citizens League has been successfully protecting the Yuba Watershed for nearly 25 years. Since 1983, the group has helped to achieve state Wild and Scenic status on 39 miles of the South Yuba, defeat half a dozen proposed dams, reached thousands of students in their education program, created the largest environmental film festival in the Northern United States, founded a volunteer water quality monitoring program, advocated for higher water flows to protect endangered salmon and steelhead and helped create and expand the South Yuba State Park. Through these victories and unparalleled community support, SYRCL has become one of the nation’s most prominent rural community-based environmental organizations, with more than 5000 supporters, 500 supporting businesses and over 500 active volunteers.
The generous agency and organization sponsors include: California Coastal Commission, The County of Nevada, California State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, Waste Management of Nevada County, Army Corps of Engineers, Nevada Irrigation District, US Forest Service, CalTrans, Yuba County Water Agency, Wolf Creek Community Alliance, Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Friends of Deer Creek, Odwalla, Clif Bar, KVMR and the Union.
Join the effort this year!
ALL VOLUNTEERS MUST PRE-REGISTER!
If you are interested in becoming a River CleanUp volunteer, please contact:
Miriam Limov at (530)265-5961 x 201 or miriam@syrcl.org
CleanUp Sites
South Yuba River
Purdon Xing, Edwards Xing, Jones Bar, 49 Xing, Bridgeport, Lang’s Xing, Washington, Pierce Meadow
Lower Yuba
Parks Bar Area, Englebright Lake, Independence Trail
Middle Yuba
Colgate Area, Oregon Creek, Mushroom Hole
North Yuba
TBA
Deer Creek
Downtown Nevada City at Hwy 49, Pioneer Park, Willow Valley Road, Champion Rd
Bear River
Dog Bar Road, Hwy 174, Greenhorn Creek at Buckeye Rd, Greenhorn Creek at Red Dog Rd.
Wolf Creek
Wolf Creek near Safeway, Wolf Creek at NorthStar Mine
