Doug DeFlitch, left, and Matthew Wielicki, both Fresno State geology graduate students, clear tires out of the San Joaquin River on Sunday.
Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee
Clean San Joaquin
Volunteers pick junk out of the river for two days.
The river water was a little cool for the ideal dip. Doug DeFlitch shivered slightly as he put a grappling hook in a tire and hauled it out of the San Joaquin River on Sunday.
But, yes, it was worth it, he said emphatically.
"It's the idea that you can do a little bit here and a little bit there, and it will matter," said DeFlitch, a Fresno State geology graduate student who volunteered during a two-day river cleanup during the weekend.
Matthew Wielicki, also a geology graduate student — and also up to his chest in water, heaving tires — agreed.
"You figure, we're two guys and we've pulled out eight tires in an hour. Think what 20 guys could do every two weeks."
There are two major cleanup operations on the San Joaquin River every year. One in May is part of a national river cleanup. The one in September is under the umbrella of the California Coastal Commission. Researchers estimate that two-thirds of the trash that ends up on the coastline comes from rivers.
Richard Sloan, co-founder of RiverTree Volunteers, the local group that organizes the cleanup, said that anyone looking to bolster the argument that you can make a difference needs only look at the San Joaquin River.
The first time he canoed down the river in January 2000, he said he was appalled and daunted by the amount of dumped tires and trash.
But this weekend, the volunteers hauled away 229 tires. They have hundreds more waiting for the next pickup. Sloan said that during the past five years, volunteers have removed 1,000 tires just from the stretch of river between Highway 99 and Skagg's Bridge.
"Now we see light at the end of the tunnel," he said, pointing to a river bottom that was mostly covered with rocks, not trash.
He describes the nonprofit RiverTree Volunteers organization as the "free spirits on the water."
Richard Sloan, right, co-founder of RiverTree Volunteers, stands next to tires he and other volunteers pulled out of the San Joaquin River. There are two major cleanup events on the river every year.
Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee
They are a small and informal group, in the habit of using ingenuity and hands-on work to get things done.
Along with cleanups, they sponsor canoe trips all year round with the idea of helping the river to gather friends.
"It's the John Muir principle. He said, 'Introduce people to the forest, and they will hear the forest speak,' " Sloan said. "It's the same thing with the river. We try to give people a chance to listen."
This weekend's cleanup concentrated on submerged and heavy items, such as tires. Sloan's dog, Lola, bore evidence of some of the dangers the tires represent. She's had more than 30 stitches from cuts on submerged steel tire rims.
As they worked, volunteers debated what needs to be done to keep people from dumping tires: More enforcement or government-sponsored free dumping?
Either way, for once, the volunteer cleanup crews feel they are beating the polluters. Sloan said he's seen a marked decrease in the amount of new tire dumping.
But people still put their trash in the river.
Next Saturday, the RiverTree Volunteers will be sponsoring a floating cleanup project.
They have trash tongs donated by Longs Drugs that they will use to pick up trash on the surface of the water.
The canoes they own are already filled, but they are looking for volunteers with their own canoes to help Saturday. For more information, visit http://www.rivertreevolunteers.org/.
The reporter can be reached at dmarcum@fresnobee.com or(559) 441-6375
