While boating on your favorite river, have you ever been disgusted by the trash littering the shoreline and thought “someone should clean this up”?  That “someone” happens to be Missouri River Relief (MRR). This grassroots organization of dedicated and highly motivated volunteers cleans miles of shoreline in Missouri and beyond. Along the way they also raise awareness and educate anyone who is willing to listen.

On March 7^th, Patty Herman and Colby Wrasse from Columbia NFWCO, assisted MRR with a clean-up on the Osage River. One of the logistical issues of a river clean-up is getting volunteers safely to and from sites along the river. Our office assists with the effort by providing safe and educational boat rides for volunteer groups. Patty and Colby couldn’t resist getting in on the “fun” and filled many bags with trash. The picturesque Osage River is one of Missouri’s largest and most popular waterways, but unfortunately it has a lot of trash lining its banks. The March clean-up focused on a dumpsite directly across from the Mari-Osa public access. For decades careless people have used a high bluff overlooking the river as a community dump. Over the years this trash heap has grown enormously and has gradually slid down the hillside towards the river – an incredible eyesore! The acres of trash here included almost anything one could imagine: refrigerators, washing machines, jars, bottles, tires, toys and even the proverbial kitchen sink.  Cleaning up this mess was going to be quite a chore. Luckily we had over 160 enthusiastic volunteers who were ready to roll up their sleeves and do some dirty work.  During this one day clean-up we removed an amazing 13-tons of trash, but still barely made a dent in the huge dump. 

This is the ninth year of operation for MRR. Thus far MRR has organized 46 clean-ups, and with the help of over 10,000 volunteers has removed 480 tons of trash. Columbia NFWCO looks forward to helping MMR beautify Missouri rivers. To learn more about Missouri River Relief visit their webpage at:  http://www.riverrelief.org/

Colby Wrasse

Patty Herman