River cleanup in northeast Iowa a model for Raccoon River’s friends

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The Raccoon River is host to tons of trash, such as this sunken sedan from the 1950s. This year's Project AWARE in eastern Iowa removed 30 tons from the Wapsipinicon River between Independence and Olin. Photo courtesy Ray Harden

A jet ski was pulled from the Raccoon River during a Raccoon River Watershed Association cleanup. Photo courtesy ray Harden
A jet ski was pulled from the Raccoon River during a Raccoon River Watershed Association cleanup. Photo courtesy Ray Harden

WAPSIPINICON RIVER – In a project serving as a model for friends of the Raccoon River, eastern Iowa’s Wapsipinicon River is now 30 tons of trash lighter thanks to volunteer efforts over the month of July.

The 13th annual Project AWARE involved a record 433 volunteers traversing 63 miles of the Wapsipinicon River from Independence to Olin. Project AWARE, which stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition, brings together hundreds of people who spend anywhere from one to five days exploring Iowa’s rivers and picking up trash.

New records were set this year for total participants as well as for the largest number of volunteers on a single day (277), according to Lynette Seigley, who coordinates Project AWARE for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Volunteers are accustomed to the family-friendly event, and a record 14 percent of this year’s participants were under the age of 18. In addition to Iowa, volunteers came from 10 other states and from as far as Sweden and China.

“It was so inspiring to see so many people so dedicated to the cause,” said Aaron Batchelder, Linn County Conservation resource manager. More than 14.5 tons of scrap metal from the river were handled by Linn County Conservation, the City of Quasqueton and Jones County Conservation.

Volunteers also removed 10 tons of tires from the Wapsipinicon. About 90 percent of trash pulled from the river was recyclable, Batchelder said.

Volunteers were greeted along the route by thank-you signs, bottled water and music from local landowners and residents.

“It was wonderful to be recognized and thanked by so many along the way,” said nine-year AWARE veteran Darrel Brothersen from Tipton. “They seemed very appreciative of our dedicated volunteers.”

Numerous classes of sponsors supported the event. The Platinum Paddle sponsors included Alliant Energy Foundation, Bridgestone America’s One Team One Planet Spent Tire Program, Cargill, Firestone Complete Auto Care, Flint Hills Resources, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering at the University of Iowa, Iowa DNR-IOWATER Rivers Programs, Iowa Flood Center, KOKZ-FM/KFMW-FM/KXEL-AM, Linn County Conservation Board, State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa, Wapsi Canoe and Zanfel Laboratories Inc.

Golden Yoke sponsors were Ansell Protective Products, Buchanan County Conservation Board, Cedar River Festival Group, Jones County Conservation Board and Rockwell Collins.

Silver Stern sponsors included Bug Soother, the city of Independence, he city of Quasqueton, DuPont, Eaton Corporation Community Involvement Team-Shenandoah Plant and the Gazette Foundation.

Among the corporate donors were Advised Fund of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, Hy-Vee Inc., Independence School District, Iowa Whitewater Coalition, Nathan and Jamie Lein, Tournier’s Recycling and Auto Salvage, Wapsi River Rentals and Waste Management.

River Steward sponsors included B4 Brands, Buchanan County Pheasants Forever #85, Caterpillar Inc., Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Connie Struve and Bill Covington.

Environmental Advocates were Friends of Fontana Park, Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association, Rivers and Streams LLC, Sen. David and Vid Johnson, Snyder and Associates Inc., Stine Seed Company, Touch the Earth Outdoor Recreation and Education at the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa Outdoor Recreation.

River Rescue sponsors included A-L Rolloff Inc., Boy Scout Troop 242, Buchanan County Historical Society, Can Shed LLC, Casey’s General Stores Inc., Cedar Valley Paddlers, Central City Community School District, Central Iowa Paddlers, the city of Ames A.O.C. Resource Recovery System, the city of Central City, CrawDaddy Outdoors, Darrel and Jean Brothersen, Denny Weiss, Des Moines Area Community College, Don Wall, FB and Company, Franklin SWCD, Humanities Iowa, Iowa Geological Survey, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Jones County Solid Waste Commission, Linda Appelgate, Linn County Conservation–Wickiup Hill Learning Center, Loren Hamilton Construction, Mark Bohner, Mark Clymers, Pipe Pro Inc., Preserving Recreation and Habitat on the Wapsi–PROW, RBC Wealth Management, Seatasea Watersports Center, Skunk River Paddlers, Sqwincher/PMG, the Dental Practice, Tim Fay, the University of Iowa Research Park, Wayne Saur, White Pine Group-Iowa Sierra Club, William and Joan Kauten and Wilton Steel Processing.

Life Jacket sponsors were Andrew and Maureen Johnson and Roberta Abraham.

Even small-scale cleanup projects by the Raccoon River watershed Association net a lot of junk fromn the Raccoon River. Photo courtesy Ray Harden
Even small-scale cleanup projects by the Raccoon River Watershed Association net a lot of junk from the Raccoon River. Photo courtesy Ray Harden
Canoes fill up quickly with trash from the Raccoon River. Photo courtesy Ray Harden
Canoes fill up quickly with trash from the Raccoon River. Photo courtesy Ray Harden

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