Volunteers after Featherstone NWR Cleanup

ExxonMobil Volunteers at Occoquan Bay NWR

Volunteering for a National Wildlife Refuge can be fun and rewarding.  Just a half of day, great weather, a beautiful landscape, and willing and able volunteers were the ingredients that came together and made two separate refuge cleanups a success.

An annual effort is made each year to clean the Potomac River Watershed.  This year marked the 20th Potomac River Watershed Cleanup.  Thousands of volunteers of all ages picked up trash from different clean up sites around the region - rain or shine!

On Saturday March 29, 2008, the Friends of the Potomac River Refuges in partnership with the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, conducted the first public cleanup on the Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge. Twenty-five volunteers participated for 3 hrs and collected 3,400 pounds of trash including 28 tires and 2 propane tanks.

On Saturday May 5, 2008, 194 volunteers from ExxonMobil Corporation participated in the annual Occoquan Bay NWR Cleanup. Twelve U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service volunteers helped coordinate the volunteers and transport the trash to 2 on site roll-off dumpsters. An emphasis was made to separate out plastic bottles from the trash and approximately 20 bags of bottles were collected. Both dumpsters were filled with tires and debris. Two miles of shoreline were cleaned along with several miles of roadsides and the Highams Court access road to Veteran's Memorial Park.