Volunteers needed for Blackfoot River Cleanup This Weekend

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is looking for volunteers to help out at the eleventh annual Blackfoot River Cleanup, which is scheduled for this Saturday, July 26.

"We're always in need of a lot of volunteers for that event and it's about a half-a-day effort," said FWP spokeswoman Vivica Crowser. "We meet at the Johnsrud Fishing Access Site, just about ten miles up highway 200, up the Blackfoot. Then we split up and are assigned different sections of the river to clean up either by boat or on foot.

Those with snorkeling gear and boats are asked to arrive at eight in the morning and boats are especially needed to shuttle people and garbage up and down the river.

When all the trash hauling is finished, volunteers will be honored with a free barbecue.

After over a decade of cleaning up the river, Crowser says they've found everything from flip-flops and bottles to television screens. Cans and bottles are the most common find, but in the past five years the total amount of garbage hauled out of the Blackfoot has declined, which may be a good sign that the cleanup efforts are working.