June 9th, 2012 - Betsie River Extravaganza Clean Sweep - Homestead Dam to US-31 Section
This was an event that was the idea of Mike Jones from the Benzie Conservation District and who is also a member of the TAPC.
Mike asked me to help him pull this cleanup off and I did what I could to help with suggestions, equipment and 14 volunteers from Scout Troop 105 from Lake Ann, members of the TAPC, and a few guests.
The First Congregational Church of Benzonia fed us a really nice, hot pancake breakfast where we were able to meet up and plan the day. Special thanks to the Church and members Chris Stone, Sonny Rodriguez, Chris Jones, Jim Sheets, and Carol Dye. The BRCS, GTCD and TAPC donated canoes, paddles, pfds, radios, grabbers, knives, pliers, gloves and ropes for those who needed them.
The river was occluded with trees in a few places, so Mike decided to do only two sections. We divided into two groups.
My group was to clean the section from Homestead Dam to US31 - about 1.5 miles of river. I had 19 people in 14 boats in my group.
Gerry Wilgus, Sue Wilgus and Mike led the downstream group that went from US31 to Smith Bridge. - About 3 miles of river. This group had 9 people in 8 boats.
It was slow going for us for the whole way. We struggled with downed trees, fast current and so much trash and fishing tackle in the trees that everyone was occupied most of the time. A few people got wet and just about everyone got poked in the finger with a fish hook or two but no one got badly injured - Thank G-d! I guess a church pancake breakfast is a good way to say some safety prayers.
It took us 3 1/2 hours to go 1-1/2 miles!
We took our pictures and then combined the individual bags of trash we had found. Together, we had two very large bags so heavy that it took two strong men to get them in the Campground dumpster. Over 100 pounds.
I haven't seen that much fishing tackle outside of a Cabela's or a Jay's Sporting Goods. What a tangled mess of line and dangerous hooks.
Downstream Group - US-31 to Grace Rd.
The downstream group did fairly well navigating the downed trees and other obstacles present. It was very slow going near the campground due to all the fishing tackle stuck to the trees. Some branches and individual trees took twenty minutes or so to clear of line and hooks. Once past the campground, it was smoother sailing with less trash overall. Plastic water bottles became the most common item found along with soda bottles, cans, and empty booze bottles. This section took four hours to paddle and clear.
We ended up with about two full bags of trash from the downstream section. We did some sorting and sent about half of it to be recycled.
The owners of the campground at Vacation Trailer Park, Betty and Bill Workman, were very gracious to let us use their landing for our put-in and take-out, along with the use of their dumpster.
The scouts and other volunteers were very proud of the fact that they had made such a huge impact on the cleanliness of the river and we all want to do it again next year. I hope the scouts will make it an annual event and service project for their troop in the future.
Norm Fred and Mike Jones