ALBANY - More than 65 people helped clean up trash and cut tree branches in the Sugar River near Albany for the Lake Winnetka/Sugar River Improvement Association's 17th annual Sugar River Cleanup recently. The annual event is registered with the American Rivers National River Cleanup and is held each year on the weekend before Memorial Day weekend.
This year, there was a larger group of volunteers than in previous years, which enabled the river cleanup to cover a larger area. The Little Sugar River was covered from Tin Can Road, past Reuben's Cave and the Big Sugar River was covered from Attica down to the confluence with the Little Sugar River at Lake Winnetka. Then the lake and river were covered through Albany and all the way to the Putnam Park area in Brodhead, via Decatur Lake and the Brodhead Mill Race. It was the first time volunteers went beyond the Mill Race headgates all the way to Brodhead.
More than 25 miles of river and banks were covered.
Responsibilities of the volunteers varied depending on their abilities. Some volunteers canoe down the river with long-handled dip nets to scoop up trash, while some chose to walk the banks and clean the shoreline or under bridges. Some prefer to stay away from the water and clean up trash on the Sugar River Trail and the Albany Wildlife Area trails, which eventually would wind up in the river. And some volunteers prefer to get in the river and cut tree branches in the river and haul them to the shore.
Sweet Minihaha and the Crazy Horse campgrounds provided canoes and shuttled volunteers around. The Harvest Center Farm provided 31 volunteers, a trailer, shuttle service and food at the base station. The Albany Mini Mart provided soft drinks and donuts and to Carter Machine of Monroe provided food for lunches. American Rivers provided trash bags and potato chips. The Albany American Legion hall was used as a base station for the cleanup.
Each year at the river cleanup, some of the same typical trash found includes food containers, beverage containers (of which almost half are Mountain Dew bottles and cans), expired shotgun shells, pieces of Styrofoam, plastic bags, bait containers, parts of old deer stands and old tires. This year's unusual items found included parts of an old Cub Cadet garden tractor, a car radiator, a blue plastic barrel, a rusted mountain bicycle, rubber hip waders, canoe seats and unopened beverage containers.
The association has learned that only around 10 percent of the trash in the river was actually thrown there deliberately. Much of it is thrown from vehicles on roads. Over time, it will blow to the lowest point under bridges crossing the Sugar River. Also, the large portion of "household garbage" tires and appliances found in or near the Sugar River are generally dumped into the wildlife and hunting areas by careless people that don't want to take their trash to the local recycling centers.
Items like the canoe seats and full beverage containers were most likely lost when canoes struck logs in the river and were swamped or overturned. For this reason, a crew is sent out to try to clear fallen tree branches and logs. This work is done from a standpoint of safe navigation verses habitat preservation. Branches are only cleared to the point of allowing small boats or canoes to pass allowing the remaining branches to stay in the river to provide habitat for game fish fingerlings, fry and reptiles.
The next event that the LWSRIA will be sponsoring will be the annual Carp Fishing Contest Friday, Sept. 2 through Monday, Sept. 5. Prizes will be awarded to contestants with the most carp caught.
More information about the L.W.S.R.I.A. is available at P.O. Box 348, Albany, WI 53502. The group's e-mail is lwsria@aol.com or call (608) 862-1698 and leave a message.
This year, there was a larger group of volunteers than in previous years, which enabled the river cleanup to cover a larger area. The Little Sugar River was covered from Tin Can Road, past Reuben's Cave and the Big Sugar River was covered from Attica down to the confluence with the Little Sugar River at Lake Winnetka. Then the lake and river were covered through Albany and all the way to the Putnam Park area in Brodhead, via Decatur Lake and the Brodhead Mill Race. It was the first time volunteers went beyond the Mill Race headgates all the way to Brodhead.
More than 25 miles of river and banks were covered.
Responsibilities of the volunteers varied depending on their abilities. Some volunteers canoe down the river with long-handled dip nets to scoop up trash, while some chose to walk the banks and clean the shoreline or under bridges. Some prefer to stay away from the water and clean up trash on the Sugar River Trail and the Albany Wildlife Area trails, which eventually would wind up in the river. And some volunteers prefer to get in the river and cut tree branches in the river and haul them to the shore.
Sweet Minihaha and the Crazy Horse campgrounds provided canoes and shuttled volunteers around. The Harvest Center Farm provided 31 volunteers, a trailer, shuttle service and food at the base station. The Albany Mini Mart provided soft drinks and donuts and to Carter Machine of Monroe provided food for lunches. American Rivers provided trash bags and potato chips. The Albany American Legion hall was used as a base station for the cleanup.
Each year at the river cleanup, some of the same typical trash found includes food containers, beverage containers (of which almost half are Mountain Dew bottles and cans), expired shotgun shells, pieces of Styrofoam, plastic bags, bait containers, parts of old deer stands and old tires. This year's unusual items found included parts of an old Cub Cadet garden tractor, a car radiator, a blue plastic barrel, a rusted mountain bicycle, rubber hip waders, canoe seats and unopened beverage containers.
The association has learned that only around 10 percent of the trash in the river was actually thrown there deliberately. Much of it is thrown from vehicles on roads. Over time, it will blow to the lowest point under bridges crossing the Sugar River. Also, the large portion of "household garbage" tires and appliances found in or near the Sugar River are generally dumped into the wildlife and hunting areas by careless people that don't want to take their trash to the local recycling centers.
Items like the canoe seats and full beverage containers were most likely lost when canoes struck logs in the river and were swamped or overturned. For this reason, a crew is sent out to try to clear fallen tree branches and logs. This work is done from a standpoint of safe navigation verses habitat preservation. Branches are only cleared to the point of allowing small boats or canoes to pass allowing the remaining branches to stay in the river to provide habitat for game fish fingerlings, fry and reptiles.
The next event that the LWSRIA will be sponsoring will be the annual Carp Fishing Contest Friday, Sept. 2 through Monday, Sept. 5. Prizes will be awarded to contestants with the most carp caught.
More information about the L.W.S.R.I.A. is available at P.O. Box 348, Albany, WI 53502. The group's e-mail is lwsria@aol.com or call (608) 862-1698 and leave a message.
