Wildlife Photograph

18th River Rescue is Saturday, March 31

Saturday March 10, 2007
Volunteers clean area shorelines along Tennessee River

River Rescue is a community action event that has involved thousands of volunteers. The annual clean up covers miles of public-access shoreline on the Tennessee River in Knox and Blount Counties from Forks-of-the-River at Ijams to Fort Loudoun Dam. The clean up also works shorelines of the Clinch River around Melton Hill Dam in Anderson County.

 

This year, the 18th River Rescue will be held on Saturday, March 31, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

River Rescue is coordinated by Ijams Nature Center, but it’s a success because of many loyal volunteers that have served as zone captains for years.

 

Several of these long-time “River Rescuers” note that over the years things have improved. For one thing, the size of items removed and the amount of trash is noticeably smaller. We’re still finding too many automobile tires and an occasional refrigerator, but, at least, not as many as a few years ago.

 

In 2006, a total of 666 volunteers removed 12.5 tons of trash and 89 tires from 30 locations. In the past 17 years, 8,055 volunteers have removed 260 tons of debris and over 1853 used tires.

 

To volunteer call Alison at 577-4717, ext. 24. 

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