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[chris gadsden]

What a rewarding day it was for the Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalitions as we and close to 175 others showed up to spruce up the Chilliwack Vedder River from below the Freeway Bridge up to the Chilliwack River Hatchery. Mother Earth also co-operated with a perfect day, weather wise.





It is so rewarding to the CVRCC directors to see members from all 3 of our local fishing web site, the general public, as well as a good numbers of young people including 30 or so scouts taking part. If we are to succeed in trying to bring this littering of our precious rivers under control it will be hands of the younger generation to do so and change peoples attitude in the future.



 A interesting story I heard today. A mother who was with her two children may 4 and 6 years old told me when cleaning up around the GBHNR site her youngest said while picking up some litter "why did some one drop it on the ground when there was a litter barrel a few feet away"? That is why it is so important to have young people take part in these cleanups for they will never be ones that become so uncaring about our environment.

So many people contributed today and we thank them all but what a number of the Go Fish BC Trout Hatchery staff did was amazing, they brought at least 4 truck loads of garbage from the West side of Keith Wilson Bridge area from the start of the Vedder Canaldown stream to where it meets the Sumas River.

The dumpster at the GBHNR was full to the brim as some video that Rodney took at the end of the day will show. Not sure of how much was put in the dumpster at the Fish and Game Clubhouse but George may have some photos of that.

One final note, it was good to see 2 local Conservation Officers take part cleaning up as well. Charges will be proceeding against the person caught dumping last weekend by a member of Fish BC and observed as well by a member of this forum.





I believe if this case succeeds it will be well published in the local press, we will keep you updated as how this goes. It would be nice to set an example if you are to lazy to properly dispose of your garbage you will pay plenty through your pocket book.





Thanks once again for all that were able to take part today and the CVRCC directors hope those that were tied up with other commitments today will mark our next cleanup date, Saturday July 14th on their calenders and take part in cleaning up the Chilliwack Vedder, one of our precious British Columbia rivers.

Thanks also to those that do cleanups on there own during the year when out fishing, every bag you can pick up during a trip does make a difference. I know many anglers we may not see at a cleanup do this and we reconize them also. I hope Rodney and George will post some videos and stills on this thread to see what was accomplished today.

[milo]

I can't complain about the cleanup today:
Third cast with a Rodney spoon:



Gotta love those cleanups!

 

[TrophyHunter]

Gorgeous fish Milo
Congrats !!
TH

[chris gadsden]

Well done Milo, I had a feeling you would tie into one. Thanks for taking part in the cleanup today.

[bbronswyk2000]

We started out just picking up small pieces of garbage but nothing looked bad at this point.

We than stumbled by a homeless person with a camp setup. We were already told by some of the organizers about this individual. They told us he is pretty good picking up other peoples garbage, packing it up and leaving it by the roadside for pickup. So we chatted with him for a bit and went on. After a 100 yards or so I had this feeling. I went back to our new friend and gave him $10 and told him to get himself some dinner tonight. Well he was very grateful. We went on our way and Milo stumbled upon a big mess from some other homless people who did not cleanup after themselves. We packed up the two garbage bags we had and Milo went off to take them to the truck and get some more bags. While he was gone I stumbled on some more garbage and made a big pile of it. Milo came back and said he could not get the bags to the truck so left them up the trail. Here is the garbage I piled up



As we were packing up that garbage our new found friend came through the bushes. He had a very handy wagon that we could use to transport the garbage to the truck.



 So off we went. Now we were up by the road but had to cross this creek. So off went my socks and shoes and I took the garbage across.



So with the truck now packed up its off to the Blue Heron to drop it off



Milo and I decided to hit the river for a while and as you saw above he was rewarded for his cleanup efforts. I was not so lucky as the gods did give me a chance as I felt the hands of a steelhead for about 30 secs untill he broke me off after a few headshakes.

Good time and nice to see the river in good shape and clean once again.

[chris gadsden]

Good work on your cleanup and the fish as a bonus.

[Rodney]

Good to know that my spoons work for another species Milo.

Videos from today (four parts available right now, the rest will come tomorrow or Monday). These clips are intended to document what we find at each cleanup and perhaps the media can use them to do a story.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

[bbronswyk2000]

So did you guys fill a complete dumpster? Looks like considerably less garbage than previous cleanups. Than again its not after the summer when most of the garbage collects.

[Rodney]

The last few parts of the video will answer that question and unfortunately what you see will be shocking.

[bbronswyk2000]

Was that what I think it was? Was that a small animal ( cat? ) in there? Please tell me I am wrong... 

[Rodney]

No no, no dead animals in those clips, at least I don't think so. I meant the clips that I will be posting tomorrow or Monday, the amount of garbage coming in after most people left is shocking.

[bbronswyk2000]

No no, no dead animals in those clips, at least I don't think so. I meant the clips that I will be posting tomorrow or Monday, the amount of garbage coming in after most people left is shocking.

OK I must be tired and seeing things. Must mean I have to go to bed after only getting a couple hours sleep last night.

[Lew Chater]

Thanks again to our great group of volunteers, over 160 people from all over the valley who were able to come out and work so hard at bringing out the debris that we find every cleanup. The bin at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve is totally full to the top, with wood debris, tires and some plastic, chemicals etc piled on the outside of the bin. The bin at the Chwk Fish and Game Club was about one third full.
  I went up to both bins today to collect the tires, about 15 of them, to take to a sorting area at the land fill tomorrow after a Timmy's with Chris. Chris was doing the recycling of the tins and bottles today. His Leaf Mobile was full when I saw him looking at the river conditions at Lickman Rd. just before noon.
As said above, it was great to see our Conservation Officers out yesterday and as the pictures indicate, they were really involved in some especially dirty areas. The quads and winches were really necessary.
Milo and BB did a tough one also, but it was not the one I described to them.I was by there today and it is in a little further than the one they cleaned out yesterday and is still there waiting for us on another day. Waders  and tarps etc will be needed for it also.
Our new adoptive group, the people from Freshwater Fisheries of BC, the old Abbotsford Trout Hatchery, did a great deal of work yesterday, bringing in 4 or 5 totally full pickup loads from the west bank of the canal between the KWB and the Barrowtown boat launch.
Everyone can feel good about the fact the river area is much cleaner. The frustrating part and what we have to continue to work on is getting to the people that create this mess. On my way up to the Fish and Game Club today, there was fresh litter and several cans at spots that I know were cleaned yesterday!!

[Rodney]

More photos can be seen at:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/2007aprcleanup

[Rodney]

more video clips:

Part five - CVRCC makes a donation to the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve

Part six - All of the garbage unloaded in this video came from the stretch between Keith Wilson Bridge and Hwy 1 Bridge along the Vedder Canal (Abbotsford side). The Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery has recently adopted this section of the river and their volunteers have done a great job as shown. In total, about 6 truck loads of garbage came out from that stretch. The dumpster bin was half full when these arrived. Once these trucks were unloaded, the dumpster bin was almost completely full.

Part seven - Final words from Lew and Chris.