ADOPT-A-RIVER

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STRETCHES OF CEDAR RIVER CLEANED

  • Mower County's north border to the south side of Lansing.
  • Ramsey Dam (near Old Mill Restaurant) to County Road 4 (several miles south of Austin).
  • Orchard Creek to Riverbend Campground.

NUMBERS

  • 9 Adopt-A-River routes created by CRWD staff had volunteers "adopt" them for cleanup.
  • 8 out of those 9 routes were cleaned at least once during 2011 by their volunteers
  • 50 or so volunteers helped clean up the Cedar River as part of the Adopt-A-River program.
  • 120 tires estimated to have been removed by the Mullenbach group (Orchard Creek to Riverbend)
  • 110 tires spotted in the river by the Hull group just between Solafide Observatory and CR 4 bridge.
  • Dozens of volunteer hours and thousands of pounds of trash removed from the Cedar River.

VOLUNTEER GROUPS

  • Wayde Bishop family – Mower County's north border to County Road 1.
  • Craig Anderson – County Road 2 to the south edge of Lansing, past the race track
  • Pheasants Forever – North of the Ramsey Mill Pond down to the Ramsey Dam (not completed in '11)
  • Rotaract – Ramsey Dam to Mill Pond in downtown Austin.
  • Barb Wright group – Fourth Ave. N.E. dam (Riverside Arena) to Marcusen Park
  • CRWD/Minnesota Conservation Corps – Marcusen Park to Skjeveland Property.
  • Howie Crawford family – Skjeveland Property to Solafide Observatory.
  • Mike Hull group – Solafide Observatory to County Road 4.
  • Mullenbach group – Orchard Creek to Riverbend Campground.

ROUTES YET TO BE ADOPTED

  • County Road 1 bridge to County Road 2 bridge (just east of Lansing)
  • County Road 4 bridge to Orchard Creek landing off Hwy. 105 – This was part of an adopted route that we made to be too long. This section did not get cleaned and needs a group to "adopt" it.
  • Riverbend Campground area to the Minnesota-Iowa border – This is a very long stretch of river that likelycould be broken down into two or three Adopt-A-River routes.

TYPES OF ITEMS REMOVED OVERALL
* Bottles and cans * Tires * Rusty bicycles * Traffic cones * Metal signs * Plastic bags
* Hub caps * House siding * Flower pots * Bed frame * Computer monitor * Large helium tank * Rear-end differential * Barrels * Unidentifiable odds/ends
* Chair frame * 30-gallon trash can * Lawn furniture * Parts of cars/tractors/bikes * Tarps * Kitchenware * TV set * Couch * Carpet/Rug * Iron/Steel/Concrete/Rubber/Plastic/Wire
* 5-gallon chemical cans * Bicycle * Wood pallets * Car bucket seats * Rope * Coolers * Swimming pools * Street signs (one attached to pole) * Microwave

ITEMS TOO LARGE/DIFFICULT TO REMOVE
* Tires, including ones buried and tractor tires * Half-buried trash barrels * Bathtubs * Car (one) *Metal culverts * Tarp up in a tree * Oil tanks * Fence post with concrete * Large metal pieces

SUMMARY

  • "Adopt-A-River" seemed like a great success in its first year. We will work to find more volunteers groups to "adopt" additional routes on the Cedar River.
  • Tires are a major issue – the number of tires in the river is much higher than expected but it's difficult to coordinate their removal. We will work on determining ways to address the tire issue.
  • All of the volunteers I spoke with seemed very pleased. All indicated they would do it again in 2012.
  • THANKS to the City of Austin and Mower County for helping with the program.