ClearWater Conservancy to Host Watershed Cleanup Day

ClearWater Conservancy and local volunteers will dedicate efforts to keeping local waterways free from trash with the 29th annual Watershed Cleanup Day.

Individuals, families and groups can register now to take part in the event, which will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 12. Registration is open until April 4.

Since 1997, event volunteers have removed more than 6 million pounds of waste from local roads, streams, sinkholes and illegal dumpsites. Volunteers at this year’s event will have the opportunity to work at a variety of sites across Centre County to remove trash that could otherwise end up in local waterways.

“As I approach my first Watershed Cleanup Day as executive director of ClearWater Conservancy, I am so impressed with the effort this community makes to keep the watershed free of trash,” Elizabeth Crisfield, ClearWater Conservancy executive director, said in a statement. “Watershed Cleanup Day highlights the importance of this work — but picking up trash any day also helps keep central Pennsylvania a beautiful place to live.”

Volunteers can sign up as an individual or a group, and the event is open to all.

Two volunteer options are available for Watershed Cleanup Day. Site coordinators are needed to help organize volunteers before and during cleanup at more than 50 sites across Centre County. General volunteers, meanwhile, work together as a group alongside their site coordinator to clean up each area.

Site assignments are made based on group size, ages and home municipality, as well as need for pickup. Many sites are along roads but not major highways.

Watershed Cleanup Day is supported by local businesses and municipalities. The event is led by ClearWater Conservancy in association with the Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority and the Spring Creek Watershed Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System partners.

The mission of ClearWater Conservancy is to conserve and restore natural resources through land conservation, water resource stewardship, and environmental outreach across Central Pennsylvania.

For more information and to register, visit www.clearwaterconservancy.org/wcd.