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b1umb0y
March 8th, 2010, 06:05 PM
Project Clean Stream is an annual event that focuses on trash cleanup around streams and shorelines in urban, suburban, and rural settings throughout Central Maryland, the Gunpowder Watershed, and the Eastern Shore. This event is sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Trust with contributing partners including, but not limited to, the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy (http://www.gunpowderfalls.org) and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (http://www.alliancechesbay.org/cleanstream.cfm). Last year, the GVC, ACB, and other watershed organizations obtained 2,630 volunteers that collected 258,310 lbs of trash at 157 cleanup sites (http://maps.yourgmap.com/v/u_f2_CleanStream_sites_09.html).

So, you might be asking what this has to do with you? Well, for the past few years, a small group of mountain bikers has volunteered at sites around Loch Raven to help out in this effort to show our support and intent to be stewards to this extremely valuable natural resource in our backyard. This year, we want to organize a larger group of mountain bikers from the local area as well as MORE to assist in the cleanup of our site at Seminary Avenue and Dulaney Valley Road (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=39.424591,-76.597431&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=16&sll=39.423862,-76.595929&sspn=0.014089,0.026243&ie=UTF8&ll=39.423862,-76.591852&spn=0.014089,0.018067&z=16).

So, we are organizing an official MORE trail day for April 10, 2010, from 9am to 12pm in order to offer our assistance to this statewide event. Let's be ready to roll at 9am.

Our approach in past years has been to hike into the streams and shoreline starting at the trailhead on Seminary Avenue, just east of its intersection with Dulaney Valley Road and collect and move trash to the Woods Road that parallels the shoreline. From there, a few cyclists with BOB trailers move the trash from these locations to the main trailhead where it can be hauled away. We currently have access to 4 BOB trailers and would need 4 riders interested in a prodigious, interval-laden workout to move these copious quantities of debris to the pickup site. As for the rest of us, we will all hike in and focus our efforts on trash collection, so wear comfortable shoes and be ready for an adventure.

If interested, please drop us a line so we can get a rough estimate as to what kind of turnout we can expect. Also, if you have access to additional BOB trailers, please contact us so we know what is available in the event that we get a large turnout.

Please bring water and a snack as well as gloves if you have them. We will provide gloves for those that need them.

And, if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask! Please spread the word and forgive us if you receive multiple emails regarding this event!

Thanks again!
Dave Blum and Bob Compton, MORE Trail Liaisons for Loch Raven Reservoir

b1umb0y
April 6th, 2010, 04:45 PM
Just a reminder to anyone interested in helping out with the first Loch Raven trail work day that if interested, feel free to contact me to add you to the list.

Thanks,
Dave

b1umb0y
April 12th, 2010, 05:39 PM
Hello Everyone--

I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone that was able to come to the MORE-sponsored Project Clean Stream this past Saturday at Loch Raven! You guys and gals rock!

In the final analysis, we had 105 people that came out for three and a half hours. Between the two different dump sites, we estimate that over a ton of garbage was removed from the western half of the Seminary trail system. This included a child's swing-set, the body and fenders of a few cars, part of a washing machine, a few signs, and lots of tires. A rough tally of the bottle and bags revealed that we pulled nearly 1,500 bottles and 500 bags from the reservoir. Styrofoam seemed to be a pretty big contributor, too. All in all, we had an extremely successful day! And we couldn't have done it without your support! Thank you!

I have posted some of the pictures that were taken on Saturday, and they can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b1umb0y/sets/72157623716527865/

Additional thanks go out to Bob, Eric, Rick, Paul, Steve, Nate, Bruce, Mark, Jay, Kevin, Dave G., Aaron, and Mike W. for all of the additional work you guys put in to see this day through! Your efforts were indispensable!

And lastly, to the guys that brought coffee and doughnuts without being asked, thank you so much! It really added to the success of the day and please shoot me an email so I can properly acknowledge your generosity!

Really, I cannot say thanks enough! Give yourself a big pat on the back!

Sincerely,

Dave Blum and Bob Compton, MORE Trail Liaisons for Loch Raven

PS. We will be having our first Loch Raven Trail Work Day on May 1. Details will be sent out as the day gets closer. Hope to see you there!