Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Rebecca Hackner, Doug Bailey and Anthony Buchko carry a mattress out of the Montreal River Saturday as part of a larger group that helped clean up the river between Ironwood and Hurley.
IRONWOOD - A group of residents gathered at the pavilion in Ironwood's Depot Park Saturday morning to receive assignments for the summer clean-up of the Montreal River.
The clean-up was one of three this year, said Ian Shackleford - a botanist with the U.S. Forest Service which helped an organize the cleanup - and was coordinated by the Forest Service, the Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee and the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department.
There was a clean-up using kayaks in April and another in May.
Unlike earlier clean-ups that focused on the river banks, Shackleford said Saturday's event was focused on removing debris from the actual riverbed.
"Today's emphasis was walking the river at low water and cleaning the river itself," Shackleford said.
The volunteers removed a number of items from the river including a roller blade, coffee maker, a mattress and - according to early estimates - more than 70 tires. Shackleford was happy with the way the clean-up went.
"I'm pleased with the turnout, the weather was great, the water level was low and safe, and you could tell the garbage we were getting was mostly old stuff that had been there a long time." Shackleford said, "I think the people of Ironwood and Hurley respect the Montreal River and are keeping it pretty clean. We are happy for this opportunity to clean up some of the older garbage."
Shackleford said the clean-ups were just one of the ways he has seen the community develop the river recently.
"We're excited to see a lot of interest in the Montreal River this year, with the mural, the non-motorized bridge ... and the Hurley trailhead project. It's an exciting time to appreciate the Montreal River," Shackleford said.
The three clean-ups have covered the section of the river between Norrie Park and Peterson Falls, with Saturday's focusing on the section between Norrie Park and U.S. 2.
"The area through town was cleaned the most thoroughly," Shackleford said. "From Silver Street to the cemetery, we had people walking the river getting just about everything."
The clean-ups were funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which Shackleford said provided congressional funding to projects to restore and enhance the Great Lakes and waters in the Great Lakes Basin.
