Dedicated volunteers after a successful river cleanup.

Last February, over forty dedicated volunteers from northern California and southern Oregon met at the Forks Boat Launch above the Middle Fork – South Fork confluence. After a safety talk, volunteers departed for pre-scouted trash locations in the Smith River National Recreation Area; the combined effort of more than eighty hours resulted in the removal of trash and recyclables from the watershed. A caravan of trucks and trailers hauled everything to Del Norte County Transfer Station in Crescent City, tipping the scales at 3,620 pounds. This was one of three successful cleanup events in 2024.

Additional stewardship highlights included a July 5th beach cleanup with 110 volunteers and 2,500 pounds of trash and fireworks debris collected, and Coastal Cleanup Day with thirty volunteers on an idyllic September Saturday. At the Coastal Cleanup, volunteer groups focused on Crescent Beach within Redwood National and State Park, on lower Elk Creek, and in the Elk Creek Wetlands Wildlife Area. Interesting finds included a hundred pounds of cigarette butts, broken glass and microtrash scattered across Crescent Beach, as well as a shopping cart, various appliances, and a wet mattress hauled out of habitat areas along Elk Creek. Eighty cumulative hours of work yielded 1,280 pounds of trash that will not make its way into the ocean.

Volunteers and Crescent City and Smith River Alliance staff with a massive haul removed from Elk Creek Wildlife Area.

For those keeping score, that’s 470-plus volunteer hours which resulted in the removal of 7,400 pounds of trash from the Smith River watershed and coastal plain. Old friends met up and new friendships were made working in our community to make public land better!

These events were made possible with support and collaboration from Redwood Parks Conservancy, Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, Six Rivers National Forest- Smith River National Recreation Area, Redwood National and State Parks, California Coastal Commission, Cal Poly Humboldt Natural Resources Club, and the City of Crescent City. Special thanks to volunteers and donors like you who provide the sweat equity and funding to make cleanup events possible. If you’d like to join our volunteer list, please visit https://smithriveralliance.org/volunteer/ or send an email to volunteer@smithriveralliance.org.