New River cleanup results are offered

A total of 124 volunteers in Ashe and Alleghany counties cleaned trash and other rubbish from more than 25 miles of the New River on Saturday.

The cleanup effort was spearheaded National Committee for the New River and was held in conjunction with North Carolina Big Sweep, said Courtney Wait, volunteer coordinator with NCNR.

In Alleghany County, a group of Appalachian State University Students, led by Wayne Williams, director of the recreation management program at ASU. A total of 15 of the students started at the confluence of the north and south forks of the river and cleaned a stretch reaching to the U.S. 221 access to New River State Park. The ASU students pulled out a total of 68 tires, which Wait said was the most of any group by far. "The group pulling out the second most tires only retrieved about 10," said Wait. "They did a really great job. It's really hard work to pull out that many tires."

Tires are very plentiful in that stretch of the river, said Wait. Another large item pulled out of the river was a foam mattress. In addition, a total of 102 beverage bottles and other assorted trash were removed from the river here.

A second group that had planned to clean in Alleghany, lead by Donna Link, was not able to turn out in force due in part to committments by the stundents to the Mountain Heritage Festival in Sparta.

Those interested in getting involved in helping clean up New River at any time of year, may call Wait at 846-4871. Information is also available on the Internet at www.ncnr.org.

"We would like to see more of the New River and its tributaries get cleaned in the future," Wait said. "We also have a number of other volunteer efforts under way and we're always looking for new people."

History

The N.C. Big Sweep began as an international beach cleanup effort in 1987 called 'Beach Sweep.' The state moved later moved its focus to all inland waterways. The effort to clean New River began in this area in 1998, which also includes the river's tributaries. In 2002, the focus again changed from litter free waters to litter free environments to help the whole state participate.

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