It's Time for Spring Cleaning!

The snow melted off the hillsides of the Huzzah Conservation Area. Spring breezes brush fallen leaves off the landscape and expose a careless array of litter and garbage. Knowing the importance of keeping our area’s natural resources clean, employees at Ozark Outdoors in Leasburg took a few days to beautify the area. With spring near, and April showers in sight, Kevin jumped on the four-wheeler. He spent three days lining the roads between the Meramec River Bridge and Scotia Bridge, winding through the 4-way at Scotia Ranch Road and down through the Courtois Primitive Campground. All together, five miles of roadway, between these river accesses, are now litter- free. You would not believe some of the items found throughout the piles of leaves, tree limbs and root wads from recent floods! Everything from car parts and patio furniture to clothing items and hoses were mangled on the hill sides and in ditches. Piles were made along the road for employees to gather for sorting. For many years, Ozark Outdoors has been caring for the Courtois Primitive access area through the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Adopt-An-Access Program. Mowing the grass, picking up trash and cleaning the facilities are among some of the responsibilities Ozark Outdoors has undertaken. Everyone benefits from the reduced agency costs for maintenance in the area. In August of 2009, Ozark Outdoors hosted their annual Operation Clean Stream event. During this event, 122 participants cleaned approximately 106 miles of the Meramec Watershed, including 16 miles on the Courtois Creek, 14 miles of the Huzzah creek, and 76 miles of the Meramec River. More than 3000 pounds of litter was collected, including more than 1000 pounds of metal material. Ozark Outdoors plans to continue this annual Operation Clean Stream event on August 29th 2010 with ambitions of covering more area behind the power of more dedicated volunteers.

The unique part of this process happens after all of the litter is compiled. The employees of Ozark Outdoors sort through every piece of trash, pulling out anything that can be recycled, including aluminum cans and old tires. These items are disposed of properly, making this area of the Meramec River Watershed a whole lot greener.

If you and your organization would like to help in the river clean-up efforts or would like information on
Adopt-An-Access, contact Ozark Outdoors at 1-800-888-0023 or visit The Missouri Stream Team website, www.mostream.org/AAAprogram.asp.

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