Cold snap notwithstanding, it really is spring. And every spring, regular as the flowers, there's a rash of stream cleanups to clear neighborhood waterways of trash and debris.
Volunteers are being sought for Project Clean Stream this Saturday (April 2) from 9 a.m. to noon to help give facelifts to more than 165 streams that ultimately feed into the Chesapeake Bay.
Last year, more than 3,600 volunteers ermoved more than 118,000 pounds of trash and debris. This year, organizers are aiming to recruit 4,000 folks to haul out 150,000 pounds of rubbish. And they're expanding the effort to include tree plantings and removal of invasive plants.
One stream cleanup that's going to need more than three hours is Bread and Cheese Creek (seen above) in eastern Baltimore County, where previous sweeps have pulled 32.5 tons of junk from its banks. Volunteers are needed there from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Picking up trash won't cure a stream's ills if it's been degraded by development and pollution. But it will produce some visible visual improvement - and if enough people join in, maybe it'll help build public awareness of the need to address those more systemic problems throughout the watershed.
The annual Project Clean Stream is organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, with sponsorship from Perdue Inc. and help from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
The Alliance's map that's supposed to show all the stream cleanups in the works doesn't appear to be working, but look at the group's Facebook page for a cleanup near you, or contact project organizer Dan Ellis directly at 443-949-0575 or dellis@allianceforthebay.org
(Volunteers pull a tire from Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk. 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)