SYRCL’s 13th Annual “Greater Yuba Clean-Up and Restoration Day”
Rally Round the River on Saturday, September 25, 2010
The South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) announces the upcoming 13th annual “Greater Yuba Clean-Up and Restoration Day” on Saturday, September 25, 2010. The event is in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Great Sierra River Cleanup, a program of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. This all-day event includes clean-up and restoration projects from 9:00 am – noon, followed by a full afternoon of festivities at the South Yuba River State Park at Bridgeport crossing celebrating the Greater Yuba River and community volunteers. In 2009, a record number of over 700 volunteers—registering as individuals, civic and youth groups, or families—supported SYRCL’s Greater Yuba Clean-Up.
“The record turn-out in 2009 and representation from such a variety of youth and civic groups illustrates that protecting clean flowing rivers is a value that unites our community together,” says Miriam Limov, SYRCL’s organizer of the event.
SYRCL has spearheaded twelve successful years of river clean-ups in partnership with the California Coastal Commission’s Cleanup Day, the state’s largest volunteer event and largest volunteer event in Nevada County. SYRCL’s Greater Yuba River Clean-Up and Restoration Day has stewarded sites ranging from the high Sierra mountains of Donner Summit to Parks Bar on the Lower Yuba, covering over 90 miles of shoreline. With over half a million visitors each year to the South Yuba River alone, enormous amounts of litter are discarded over the summer months. To address these recreational impacts, SYRCL has coordinated 4,800 volunteers who have removed 120,000 pounds of trash and recycling, rebuilt trails and removed invasive species during the three-hour cleanup day each September for the past 12 years.
Additionally, SYRCL has partnered to offer volunteers an opportunity to support several habitat restoration projects on September 25th, including removal of noxious weeds at Bridgeport and another vegetation project at the Bennett Street meadow in Grass Valley.
Volunteers can also make a difference on the popular Grouse Ridge trails in the Tahoe National Forest on September 18 through a pre-winter trail maintenance service project. Meet at the Nevada City forest service office on Coyote Street at 8 am to carpool, bring a shovel or pick, lunch and water and we’ll enjoy a day up in the mountains fixing the trails that have had much use over the summer months. You can sign up to participate in this project and the clean-up on September 25th. Both dates of participation require pre-registration.
New this year is the BYOB campaign: Bring your own, bag and/or buckets to pick up the trash, gloves, water bottle and serving ware to the celebration. This action will reduce the amount of trash produced by the event by not having to produce more plastic bags than necessary.
River Celebration! Following the morning clean-up effort is a free hearty barbeque lunch and river celebration for participating clean-up volunteers at South Yuba River State Park at the Bridgeport crossing on the South Yuba River north of Penn Valley.
In a new youth partnership, SYRCL is collaborating with The Nevada County Y.O.U.T.H. (Youth Opposing The Use of Tobacco for Health), Coalition to increase the amount of community awareness related to the environmental impact that tobacco litter has on rivers and aquatic life. They will have an info booth at the Bridgeport celebration; contact Felicia Sobonya at felicia.sobonya@co.nevada.ca.us for more info or to get involved. Other youth and school groups interested in participating are encouraged to contact SYRCL to register for specialized projects.
On-Line Registration Required! To sign up for a Clean-Up site or for the restoration projects, please visit our website at www.yubariver.org to register. Register early to make sure that you have the opportunity to cleanup at your favorite site!
For More Information: www.yubariver.org or contact event coordinator, Miriam Limov at miriam@syrcl.org 530-265-5961 X 201
