Canoeists clean up river
Volunteers remove assorted debris from the Des MoinesBy EMILIE NELSON, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
A full-size refrigerator, used tires, bed frames, mattresses, a microwave, children's bicycle, and a few air conditioners.
While these items sound like they belong in someone's garage sale, they were all found along the banks or retrieved from the Des Moines River near Fort Dodge Saturday morning by about 30 volunteers.
Webster County Conservation staff and the volunteer families and groups spent Saturday down the river and walking the banks from the boat ramp just east of the Great Western bridge downstream to Kalo, a trip of approximately six miles, in an effort to remove as much trash and debris as their canoes could hold.
"We do quite a few of these cleanups a year," said Erin Ford, a naturalist with Webster County Conservation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "This is the first one we have done from the little dam."
As the 14 canoes departed down the river, Jon and Matt Lundberg, of Fort Dodge, walked the banks near the dam picking up trash, including a deflated tractor tire inner tube and an old sleeping bag that had been buried in sand.
Ford said many of the items found along the bank had not been there long, but it was still enough trash to fill several bags.
"This is only about a month's worth of trash," she said. "We just had a cleanup walk along the banks."
Just downstream from where he started, John Thalacker stopped his canoe on a sandbar to load a full-sized refrigerator into it. With a little help from Clark Fletcher, the two were able to paddle it to the nearest collection point to be properly disposed of.
"Items like refrigerators and air conditioners are especially not good for a river," said Ford. "Fish can eat things they're not supposed to eat and items left on the land can be harmful to people."
Saturday morning's cleanup activity was a first for Carter Fluckinger, of Stratford. He and his mother, Julie Ehresmann, were part of a group of staff from Iowa Central Community College who came to assist in the river cleaning. It was also the 8-year-old's first time canoeing.
As soon as their canoe was on the bank, he rolled one of many old, mud filled tires up the hill to another pickup point along South River Road near the Fort Dodge wastewater treatment plant.
"I've found a lot of things out here today," he said. "I saw a dryer, and we've picked up a lot of tires."
"You don't think it looks like there is much to pick up out here," said Ehresmann. "But there really is a lot."
Following the trash pickup, all items were loaded in a dump truck to be sorted by conservation staff and properly disposed of. At the end of the trek, all participants were treated to lunch for their efforts.
"It's a great morning activity for a family," said Ford. "If they don't have a canoe, we can provide one, and they get lunch when they're finished. It's a little bit of work with quite a bit of reward."
Contact Emilie Nelson at (515)573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net
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Anderson
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08-31-09 12:16 PM
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Seems the public pays for disposal one way or the other. In MSP anything can be put on the curb and the city disposes of it as appropriate, e.g. workable computers are refurbished for sale, schools, etc. That way, everyone pays the cost, even would=be scofflaws. Just common sense?
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oildaddy
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08-30-09 1:37 AM
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The river is an asset for the city. NO EXCUSE FOR TRASHING WHAT COULD POTENTIALLY EARN THE CITY SOME REVENUE! A commendation for the canoeist is the very least that can be done!
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hybernation
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08-30-09 12:47 AM
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maybe instead of throwing the stuff in the river the rude low life people who dispose of their junk in the river could just throw it on the banks making it easier for the volunteers to clean up after them!
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hybernation
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08-30-09 12:41 AM
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more than likely this junk was thrown in the river because there is no where to get rid of the stuff for free, & they didn't want to pay a land fill to take them(if the landfill would take the tires? refrigerator? they would a mattress, & microwave i'm sure, but that's just stupid, & inconsiderate to throw trash in the river!
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