Second Annual River Clean-Up

The Anglers held its second annual clean-up of the Au Sable River on Saturday, September 7. Over eighty members of the organization, local Grayling-area supporters, and members from other groups, participated in the day-long effort.

This year's project was expanded to cover three branches of the river, including the Mainstream from Burton's Landing to Wakeley Bridge, the South Branch from Chase Bridge to the mouth, and an eight-mile stretch of the North Branch.

Enough trash was collected from the river, its banks and log jams, to fill a commercial dumpster.

Workers gathered at pre-assigned sections of the three branches to wade for several miles to collect the debris, depositing it in large potato bags. These bags were then left on log jams to be picked up by a cadre of riverboats and canoes floating the river later in the day.

The debris was mostly the usual and expected stuff, such as cans, bottles, shoes, shirts, and other clothing. There were some broken Styrofoam coolers and some unusual items: three temperature recorders lost by the DNR, a mattress, a blanket, fishing lures (from fly-fishing only sections), aluminum foil, whiskey bottles (half full), rope, large sections of plywood, broken fishing rods, a reel, a pair of waders, and much more.

According to Mike Krause, one of the event organizers, a property owner and Anglers director, the clean-up was a great way to give something back to the river. "This river sees a lot of use throughout the summer months from canoeists, tubers, and fishermen." Debris from overturned watercraft and careless behavior is inevitable. "Giving the river a cleaning is one way to restore the pristine beauty of this precious resource," notes Krause, who added that the clean-up project also gets people on the river for a little socializing.

The Anglers were assisted in the clean-up by several other fishing groups, including the George Mason Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and the Mershon Chapter of TU. The turnout was so overwhelming that additional people who had volunteered were kindly turned away.

"The stretches we planned to wade were more than adequately covered," asserted Rusty Gates, president of the Anglers. He then added: "Because we had such a large number of people interested this year, we're considering expanding the cleanup to include more boat-based crews to cover the deeper sections of the river, and perhaps the stream access sites."

"Clean-Up '97" will be held the first Saturday after the Labor Day weekend.

The Anglers thank all who participated in this very worth-while effort and hope that next year's project will be even more successful. RWOL

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