Volunteers sort and dispose of trash collected during a previous South Yuba River Cleanup. Registration for this year's Sept. 19 event is free at yubariver.org. Photo by Trenton Branson

 

NEVADA CITY, CA (MPG) - Volunteers from across the region are invited to help remove trash from the Yuba River watershed during the South Yuba River Citizens League's 29th Annual Yuba River Cleanup on Saturday, Sept. 19.

The free event runs from 9 a.m. to noon at cleanup sites throughout the watershed, from the Sierra Nevada headwaters to the lower Yuba. Participants are encouraged to register at yubariver.org. After the cleanup, volunteers are invited to a free appreciation meal and community celebration beginning at noon at Condon Park in Grass Valley.

"There is something powerful about hundreds of people coming together to care for a place they love," said Dr. Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League.

"This year, as we celebrate 25 years of Wild & Scenic designation for the South Yuba River, the Cleanup is a reminder that civic engagement does not have to be complicated. Showing up on September 19, filling a bag, walking a riverbank, spending a morning with your community, is an act of stewardship whose reach extends from the Sierra Nevada all the way to the Pacific Ocean."

Volunteers gather with buckets of collected trash during a previous South Yuba River Cleanup. SYRCL's 29th Annual cleanup is scheduled for Sept. 19. Photo by Trenton Branson

The annual event is part of California Coastal Cleanup Day, which connects volunteer efforts from inland watersheds to the Pacific coast. Organizers said litter left along the Yuba River can be carried downstream into the Sacramento River and eventually reach the ocean.

SYRCL officials said heavy summer visitation has increased the amount of trash left at popular recreation sites. Earlier this summer, volunteers removed about 50 pounds of trash from the Oregon Creek Recreation Area during a June 7 cleanup. On July 12, another group collected more than 160 pounds of litter in less than two hours at Bridgeport. Combined, the two volunteer efforts removed more than 210 pounds of waste from the watershed.

Last year's Yuba River Cleanup drew 657 volunteers, who removed more than 8,000 pounds of trash and recycling from 25 locations throughout the watershed, including thousands of pieces of micro-trash. Organizers hope to build on that effort this year.

"The amount of trash we remove from this watershed every September is a testament to how much a single community can accomplish when it decides to do it together," Zettler-Mann said.

"The Yuba River has always been at its best when the people who love it show up for it."

Founded in 1983, the South Yuba River Citizens League works to protect and restore the Yuba River watershed. The organization traces its roots to a grassroots campaign that helped preserve 39 miles of the South Yuba River through California's Wild and Scenic Rivers program.

For more information or to register, visit www.yubariver.org.