Project Planning: The Dash for Trash 2009

The photo at the left was shot on a hazy, overcast day, and provided us with two views of the rich fall colors. (As with any of our photos, you can click on the image to enlarge it.) The St. Croix River has given us an abundance of beauty this year; now, we're getting ready to return the favor in 2009.

People who follow our project know we've been working on a project called The Dash for Trash. Essentially, this massive project will involve sending teams of people down a nearly 20-mile stretch of the St. Croix River in kayaks and canoes, gathering debris all along the way. We had originally planned to execute this task in 2008, but had to cancel the effort for reasons explained in previous postings. (If you’d like to read more about the original event plan, click here.)

Having spent some time on this stretch of river over the past month, Julie and I were able to grasp the scope of this project a little better… and take it from the drawing board to the currents of the St. Croix. Now, we’re using that experience to put together a plan for 2009. I'm hoping you'll review the plan (the dates, anyway), and give us your input.

First off, we’ve decided to execute this project as a two-day event, rather than attempt to cover the entire stretch in just one day. In doing so, we believe the pace will be safer for participants, and more beneficial to the river. Of course, a two-day event will mean more complicated logistics, as camping sites must be secured and additional meals must be planned.

At this moment, our intention is to assemble a small group of people to conduct a trial sweep on the weekend of May 16-17 (a Saturday and Sunday). Day one would begin at Taylor’s Falls, and conclude at Osceola Landing. Day two would resume at Osceola, and conclude at William O’Brien State Park. As explained in our original plan, the goal of this early expedition would be to gather knowledge. How tired will people get? What kinds of food and supplies will be needed for two working days like this? How many breaks/stops should there be (and where)?

Using the intelligence gained during the May trip, we will refine the official “Dash for Trash” event, which has been tentatively scheduled for August 29 – 30, 2009.

Again: Please improve this event by offering your input. The May dates have been chosen because they land right between Mother’s Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend. The August weekend has been chosen because it coincides with the first weekend of Minnesota State Fair. That makes it a good time for Wild Mountain/Taylor’s Falls Canoe Rental, which has again committed to providing their generous support of this project (canoes, kayaks, paddles, PFDs, dumpster, etc.). Another reason that the August dates make sense: It puts us in a position to “report on the outcome” of the project, by bringing our story to the DNR booth at the State Fair once the project has been completed.

Are you a paddler? Interested in joining us (May, or August, or both)? Do you have ideas about improving this event? We hoope you'll share your ideas, and enhance this outcome of this effort!

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

Video: It's on my winter "to do list"

The intent of this blog is to chronicle our river restoration efforts, and document some of the things we’re learning along the way. With that in mind, my winter “tasks list” includes the editing of video I captured on two separate clean-up missions.

On one of my trips down the St. Croix River this season, I strapped a video camera to the dashboard of one of the Pungo 140 kayaks that is on loan to us from Joe’s Sporting Goods. I purchased a short tripod last season that is perfect for camping/backpacking. Turns out, the three legs also fit perfectly onto the cockpit dash of the kayak. (Click to enlarge any image.)

Sidebar: I confess, I almost lost the camera on more than one occasion… when landing, bumping into logs, or clobbering it with my paddle. But that’s why I’m using an old video camera! Granted, the Nikon is new this year (a wonderful gift from my wife), but that is packed into a "padded cell" (by Outdoor Research) anytime I'm at risk of hitting the drink! The GPS is designed to survive if submerged for a limited period of time.

I also shot some footage of a basic, shoreline clean-up on the Mississippi River. Last summer, I was approached by a group of potential volunteers who were having a hard time grasping the scope of a project like this; next time that happens, I’ll be able to show them precisely what’s involved.

Things are awfully busy with work right now, and any nice weekend days that occur between now and snowfall will be dedicated to our waterborne cleanup activities. But this winter, when things slow down a bit and our weekend time cannot be spent on the river, I’ll take the time to edit that footage into something useful. (It will probably look a little goofy, but it will still be useful.) One more way we can help tell the rivers’ story.

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

Pollution on the Upper Minnesota River has a "CURE"

I’ve recently learned of an organization in Montevideo, Minnesota, whose focus is the preservation of the Upper Minnesota River. The group is called “CURE” (Clean Up the River Environment).

It is amazing how many people you meet and grass roots organizations you discover when you dive into a topic like river restoration. In this case, the focus of CURE is a very specific watershed. Like our humble little project, the work of CURE involves some river clean-ups (they conduct two riverbank debris removal projects a year). But CURE is also somewhat active in politicking, too… as the group attempts to have environmental interests considered with regard to farm policy and agricultural practices, power company expansion or development, and legislative actions. I’ve had a brief email exchange with Brook, an organizer for CURE. Like most people involved with the issue of river restoration and preservation, she is obviously energized by the cause.

Perhaps one day, we’ll have a chance to visit with their organization more directly, and compare notes. My Mom always said, “We all have something to learn.” But it is also true that everyone you meet has something to teach.

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

A late-season sweep on the St. Croix

Today, Julie and I capitalized on some surprisingly nice weather, and headed out for a late-season sweep of the St. Croix River. Our target area for the day was the first of our adoption sites: The backwaters area that runs just south of Osceola Landing. I was beginning to fear that we wouldn't get to this stretch of river in 2008 (our first effort was washed-out, and our second had to be called due to a family emergency). It was a perfect day... but our lack of advance planning left us without a shuttle plan, so we drifted downstream the full trip, gathering trash, and then had to paddle back the same 3.7 miles against the current. It was a great workout!

We're thankful that we only gathered about 22 pounds of trash, including bottles, shoes, a cooler lid, and some softdrink cups. That's not a large quantity of trash, considering the area we covered. But for a mission like this, on a river like the St. Croix, success is not measured by the tonnage removed... but by the beauty left behind.

The still-pristine quality of this stretch of river can attributed, in part, to the work done by members of the St. Croix River Association (they did a clean-up on this stretch back in July). After their clean-up, we were advised by Lisa (SCRA member) that a large blue barrel had become lodged in some driftwood, in a way that they were unable to retrieve it. (Click on any photo here to enlarge it.) Lisa, I've tagged that drum for removal, noting its GPS location. I think I'll get in touch with the DNR before attempting to extract this drum, though, as I was unable to determine whether it was still sealed (looks like it in the photo) and I'm not sure of its' contents. (Sorry, Lisa, we didn't find the picnic table you mentioned.)

I realize that my postings have been a bit sparse over the past couple of weeks, but for good reason. When there has been "spare" time, I've been on-the-water or working on other warm-weather aspects of the project. There will be plenty of time this winter to spend indoors, on the computer, sharing what we've been learning throughout 2008. And there is much to share! Including a new kayak added to our fleet (affectionately christened "the garbage barge"), some footage of several clean-up projects that await editing, and the renewed commitment of assistance from our friends at Joe's Sporting Goods.

It was a privilege to share a day like today with my wife. The fall colors, while past "prime," were absolutely stunning. Today's trip was a reminder of how beautiful a river can be, dressed in its' autumn attire, and offering a sense of calm, as if waiting for winter to come so it can enjoy a nap. We'll make it a point to share some of our photos from the day in a future posting, so you can experience some of the natural paintings and peace we enjoyed on this late-season voyage. (The beauty & the beast, remember?)

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

River cleanup: From simple recovery to genuine recycling

Saturday was just plain cool. I didn't get out on the water, but it was still cool. Remember the tires, scrap iron and other crud I gathered back on September 20th? (The safe shown at left, for example, which has regurgitated its' river muck after being pulled from the water.)

Well, all this stuff had been sitting in my utility trailer since that time. So this past Saturday, Julie and I set-out to figure out what we should do with it.

First, the fender that looks like it flew off a car from the I-694 bridge. Turns out to be mostly P.E.T. plastic. Into the recycle bin it went.

Next, the tires. There was one on a rim, one off, and a pair of bike tires and tubes that I cut off a bike that I had pulled from the muck. I took those to a tire retailer that I had spoken with ahead-of-time; he assured me that the tires we collected would be transformed into something useful... like the running surface needed for a high school track team, or the like.

Finally, the scrap iron. We took everything metal to Scrappies Express Recycling, which is a division of American Iron here in Minneapolis. We weighed-in, unloaded, and then weighed again. Then, we were presented a check for $17.50. Go ahead and laugh... but I was delighted. After all, I was just hoping they'd take this junk off my hands (in turn, helping me take it out of the river). But as a bonus, I made enough cash to pay for a few gallons of gas.

The whole process at American Iron was fascinating (click to enlarge the photo). Using a massive electro-magnet attached to the claw of his crane, the yardsman sorted various types of metal into different roll-off bins... soon to be loaded onto barges, and carried to salvage yards and recycling plants along the Mississippi. Presumably, the sheet metal and scrap iron will be melted-down into some new form of useful material, at an energy cost lower than mining fresh ore for similar production, and preserving those remaining natural resources for other uses. So the global quality impact is pretty strong, all the way around.

I found it fitting that our junk was recovered from the Mississippi River... and now, that same river will aid in her own restoration by helping to carry that scrap iron to new uses downstream.

There's one last item that we needed to get rid of: An old Nokia cell phone that we pulled from the spillway near the Three Rivers fishing pier. It's too water-logged to ever be used again, so it has no value... but it has great potential for harm to the river, due to the heavy metals within the nickel-cadmium battery that once powered it. (That's why these things shouldn't even be tossed into a landfill; there are nasty ingredients that nobody wants seeping into the groundwater.)

Eager to find an appropriate alternative, I called the Verizon store were I most recently bought my own cell phone. I was pleased to hear that they have a recycling box in the back of the store, and they're more than happy to dispose of those old phones properly, even recycling whatever parts or materials might have future use.

Note to the planet: There were plenty of places to drop junk off that would have made a lot more sense than, say, a river. In the end, of more than 800 pounds of junk recovered, only one item--a wooden-framed screen door--ended up in a dumpster. Everything else was recycled.

Our goal was to get junk out of the river. But the learning process continues, as we realize just how much of this junk can be re-purposed into something new. If you know any cool tricks about recycling or re-purposing unconventional debris... please share your thoughts by email, and contribute to our ever-increasing body of knowledge.

Kevin Knieling: Going the distance

I'd like to introduce you to a guy by the name of Kevin Knieling. In a world of people who've had wild dreams about roaming the world, he's someone who's actually doing it.

My mom, who lives up in Drayton, North Dakota, had heard of Kevin's latest voyage: A kayak run that would begin in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He intends to paddle south down the Red River of the North. From there, he'll portage several miles to the heading of the Minnesota River network... and that will carry him toward the Twin Cities of Minnesota. At that point, he'll pick up the Mississippi River and traverse it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

His travels serve as a great reminder that inland behaviors have a way of flowing all the way to the seas... because his kayak will take that very trip.

I've been in touch with Kevin, and we've had a brief email exchange about his trip, as well as our project at CleanUpTheRiver.com. I've asked him to check in with us once-in-a-while, and tell us about his observations from the rivers. He sent the two photos that appear in this posting, along with waypoints indicating their location; one is a disk implement used to cultivate fields, the other is some type of rusted-out boat or other scrap iron. Follow Kevin on this voyage, as I will be doing, by checking out http://www.kevinknieling.com/. You can follow the progress of this river voyage, specifically, by going to this section of his site:

http://www.kevinknieling.com/2008/. Once you're there, just click on the button that says, "Paddle It!"

Safe voyages, Mr. Knieling, and thanks for letting us see the state of these rivers through your eyes!

- Mike

Happy International Coastal Cleanup Day!

To celebrate the event, I went after some of the oversized debris that I've inventoried over the past year in the metro Mississippi River (our adoption site 3 with the Adopt-a-River program). By the end of the day, I had gathered 885 pounds worth of crud (actual weight, not an estimate). The materiel was recovered along a 1.2-mile stretch of the river, between the I-694 bridget and 57th Avenue north on the west bank of the river... which is under the jurisdiction of the Three Rivers Park District.

Because of the geotrashing work we had done by kayak earlier this year, this recovery effort seemed very efficient; it took only about 6 hours, even though I was working alone. (The tools provided to us this year by Joe Rauscher at Joe's Sporting Goods have proven immensely helpful in preparing for this kind of work.) Because of the water-borne planning I had done, I knew exactly where I was going, and exactly what kind of tools I was going to need to hoist these items out of the muck, up some very long, steep banks.

Among the items recovered: A culvert, two safes (one with six bullet holes, and the other apparently cut open with an acetalene torch). two compressors with their chemical contents intact, various car parts (one tire on-the-rim, one fender), construction material, some scrap iron and a bike. (Click on the images to enlarge any photo here.)

Previous to this weekend, we had recovered 328 pounds of junk from the St. Croix River, as well as the Mississippi, bringing our season total to 1,218 pounds (so far). Not too bad under some trying circumstances this year.

Julie and I still have a few more trips planned before ice-up, including a sweep of the Osceola backwaters on the St. Croix River (our last attempt was rained out), a few walking trips on the Mississippi, and additional geo-tagging as weather allows. If you're interested in joining us, just drop me an email.

Two additional items worth noting from this weeks' efforts.

1. First, only one item went into a dumpster (a wood-framed screen door). Having made plans with material handlers in advance, everything else recovered today can and will be recycled.


2. Second... I captured some of the challenges of this project on video, and will use that footage to create some documentary content for this blog site this winter, when the on-water season is over. (I grabbed some similar footage on the St. Croix two weeks ago.)
   
3. It has been a good day on the Mississippi. Now, there is the matter of some laundry that needs to be done.

The beauty and the beast

Early in the life of this project, I made a promise to myself: To not dwell only on the gloom and doom (one might say the beast) of pollution in our waterways, but also to celebrate the breathtaking beauty of the rivers we’re out to restore.

On a recent trip down the northern St. Croix River, my search for trash was rewarded by more than one glimpse of grandeur. I got nailed by a twenty-minute downpour, which for a moment had me wishing I had stayed off the water that day. But the storm soon passed, and rugged waves yielded to a glass-like surface. I sat there for a moment, reflecting about how lucky I was to be drifting down this wonderful waterway.

Then, I was granted another reflection. My paddle sitting idle on the deck of the kayak, the gentle current turned my boat backwards… and I saw the rear of the storm that had just passed overhead. I quickly grabbed my camera out of the dry sack and snapped this photo. (Click on the image to enlarge either photo.)

The St. Croix River is seldom so stingy as to give its advocates just one picturesque snapshot per visit. At nearly every turn, if you’ll take the time to notice, the river provides a spectacular glance at nature. And so it was this day, as I turned away from the storm and headed toward my base camp (still 4+ miles away). The water acted like its own mirror, offering one gorgeous reflection after another.

My wife has asked how I can turn a four-hour kayaking trip into a full-day excursion. I blame images like this: It is as if the river tempts her visitors to stay just one moment longer, at each crook or bend along the way.

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While my mission is to remove trash and debris from our waterways, and encourage others to do the same... it seems a reasonable indulgence to enjoy the natural wonders we discover while on our journey; to capture and share some of the scenes these rivers provide. One might say that the beauty is the incentive; our reward for challenging the beast.

© 2008, Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

Two wins in one weekend, but a washout the next

Last weekend, we made two 9.6-mile sweeps of our "adoption site 2," the northern St. Croix River between Thayer's Landing and St. Croix State Park. We hit the Minnesota side on
Saurday, and the Wisconsin side on Sunday, capturing some great photos, footage and knowedge to share as time allows. This weekend, we were hoping to tackle the backwaters near Osceola, conducting an end-of-season cleanup of light litter, as well as two larger debris items we've been alerted to.

But on this Sunday morning, we are waking to the sound of rain on the roof of our base camp; a rain that has been falling nearly non-stop since Friday evening.

Oh, well. As I've stated before, there are two forces which demand respect in any cleanup effort: Mother Nature, and Father Time. This weekend, it is she who will hinder our efforts. We might have been able to get a little more work done, but it would have been miserable in the cold, constant rain. And since our great granddaughter is along on this voyage, we elected to be even more cautious than usual.

The delay puts additional pressure on our late-season goals. Autumn was in the air this weekend; the working days are getting noticably shorter, and the air and water are cooling. Enough so that we know our waterborne cleanup season will end within several weeks (perhaps a few shoreline cleanup missions could be completed after that).

We did discover a new place to use as a base camp this weekend. Traditionally, we would have set-up at William O'Brien or Interstate State Park when focusing on this particular section of the St. Croix River. But without a reservation this week, and learning those two camps were full, we instead setup at Wildwood Campgound, which is operated by the same folks who run Wild Mountain recreation area and Taylors Falls Canoe Rental. In addition to being a great facility, it is located just south of Taylors Falls near the intersection of highways 8 & 95, making it a very convenient site for us when cleaning our adopted stretch of the St. Croix near Osceola... or perhaps a site we'll keep in mind when planning next year's Dash for Trash.

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.

We've got some catching up to do

I had the chance to do a combination cleanup/geotrashing trip on the west bank of our adopted metro Mississippi recently... and on Labor Day Monday, two of my kids helped me make another sweep along the same stretch, but on the east bank. I snapped a wealth of new photos and captured a lot of new trash targets, which I'll report about when time allows. And some nice recovery progress (we nabbed some tires).

Then, last weekend, I had a chance to hit our second adoption site on the northern St. Croix River, sweeping the west bank of this 9.6 mile stretch on one day, and the east bank the next day. On these two trips, the capacity of the Pungo kayaks we're using became clear: I was able to recover a full bag of trash someone had tossed into the river, as well as a pair of tires (and I geo-tagged two more sites where tires are sitting so I can go back and get those, too), along with some miscellanious trash.

Tonight, Julie and I are headed to our other adoption site, the backwaters of the St. Croix River near Osceola. I've received reports of a picnic table caught in trees along the shoreline, as well as a trash barrel of some type in the water. Hopefully, we'll be able to carry those items out, along with whatever debris has accumulated in the basin over the summer.

Even though out summer has been somewhat abbreviated, I think we're making some good progress. So far, we can count a little more than 300 pounds of trash removed from our adopted waterways. Beginning next weekend (to coincide with the annual International Coastal Cleanup), I'm hoping to make a few walking trips along the Mississippi here in town, and have developed a plan to remove several tires, safes and scrap-iron targets. I think it would still be a realistic goal to try remove 1,000 pounds of trash, before the river chills-down to the point that it is no longer safe to work.

If you'd like to join me for one of those trips, just drop me an email.

Of course, I'll document our progress more specifically at this site as time allows. But for now, while the weather is holding, my spare time is better spent on the water than behind a computer keyboard. There will be plenty of time to post details on rainy days... or after the ice comes in.

© 2008 Mike D. Anderson, Crystal, MN.