A throng of 75 Missouri Stream Team volunteers cleaned up close to 40 miles of the Big Piney River in Texas County last Saturday.
During the annual event, organized by the Big Piney River Stream Team Watershed Association, 60 large bags of trash, a computer monitor and miscellaneous larger items were removed from the river compared to 76 large bags of trash in the 2013 river cleanup. Thirty-five tires were removed this year compared to 55 last year.
Organizers considered the results to be good news for the Big Piney River cleanup and the Big Piney River Stream Team Watershed Association.
“With more volunteers and more miles of river cleaned up we took out less trash and tires,” said Scotty Wade, a river cleanup organizer and campground owner and canoe outfitter at Boiling Springs, west of Licking. “It shows that our clean up and watershed education programs are working.”
Many businesses and individuals provided support to the Big Piney cleanup effort – the sixth conducted by the Stream Team organization. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Missouri Stream Team program. To learn more about Missouri Stream Team go to www.mostreamteam.org.