Since moving out to the Fraser Valley we have become very
involved in our local river cleanup community. Illegal dumping is a huge issue
in the Fraser Valley and unfortunately, in many other municipalities. It's
difficult to understand "why" people would do this and
"how" to fix it so we do our part by helping to cleanup, educate and
"bring back more than we go out with". I am a Director with the
Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Society and my husband, Mark maintains their
website and data.
The first community cleanup we attended this year was run by
the Fraser Valley
Salmon Society (FVSS) and generously supported by Dean (Werk) and his
crew at Great River Fishing
Adventures. The FVSS is a non-profit society that ensures and
advocates for the rights for all anglers in non-tidal waters and works with the
Department of Fisheries & Oceans as co-managers in conservation
and habitat protection. The FVSS is also heavily
involved in the training and education of anglers and the public to sport
fishing. Dean is President of FVSS, was born and raised close to the Fraser
River and runs his business, Great
River Fishing Adventures up and down the river. Please check them out. |
| Dedicated volunteers braving the miserable weather; collecting garbage on one of the gravels bars of the Fraser River. |
The weather was less than ideal but we had approximately 20
like-minded folks come out to pick up garbage on the gravel bars and
banks of the Fraser River. I was very fortunate to head out on one of Dean's
boats with Aggie and her son, Chris - two, very active anglers and members
of the FVSS. With the help of boats provided by Dean and others, we were able
to access gravel bars and bring out a lot of garbage. We pick up everything
from fast food packaging, clothing to abandoned campsites with tents, cooking
gear and more.
 |
| View from the boat |
While some of us were 'on the water' others headed to a
notorious dumping spot at Old Orchard. This area is accessible by car/truck and
we know this area well as we have used it as a 'take out' for our paddling
trips. It is always a depressing mess and once again, a lot of garbage was
collected.
 |
| Thanks to Great River Fishing Adventures for sharing their boats and fuel to get volunteers to the remote gravel bars. |
If you care about keeping your local waterways clean, get
involved with local organizations doing river cleanups or start your own. Here
in the Fraser Valley and in Chilliwack specifically, we have a community full
of people that are passionate about this issue and plenty of others who provide
us with lots of garbage to pick up.
 |
| Volunteers enjoying the bbq hosted by Fraser Valley Salmon Society - thanks, Aggie! |
Upcoming cleanups are as follows:
Saturday March 28th run by Fraser Riverkeepers and Woodtone - meet at Gill Road in
Chilliwack at 10 am. Free BBQ for volunteers at 1pm. Please bring
appropriate clothing and footwear - this event will go rain or shine.
Saturday April 18th run by Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Society -
registration starts at 8:30 am at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve
at 5200 Sumas Prairie Rd, Chilliwack, BC. Refreshments generously provided
by Tim Hortons and the Chilliwack Water Store. Please
bring your refillable water bottles and coffee mugs as we want to discourage
single use containers.
