2016/2018 – Adopt-a-River and Adopt-a-Pile
Adopt-a-River
Since 2012, StreamSweepers’ purpose has been first time comprehensive cleaning and assessment of Virginia rivers. In 2016 we tested maintenance cleaning on the Rapidan and Robinson Rivers. Prior to 2017, all of the work was completed by paid staff. Based on landowner discussions, and our experiences with maintenance cleanup and volunteer activities, we saw a need for an ongoing program after StreamSweepers has completed initial cleanup and assessment providing administration and labor for activities to include maintenance cleaning, volunteer events, and multi-disciplinary educational events for landowners about river stewardship. We named this program “Adopt a River.” Our view was that Adopt a River would be a Phase II part of StreamSweepers programming, with Phase I being initial cleanup and assessment. In 2017, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation defunded their “Adopt A Stream” program, so we saw a need for something similar.
Please consider a donation to fund the removal of these large items – culverts, extra heavy tires, diesel storage tank, dangerous metal objects and more. We estimate the total cost to remove these items to be $20,000 with $10,000 of this amount provided through pro-bono (match) services by our contractors.
2018 – Adopt the Mattaponi
For 2018, we worked with landowners that previously supported StreamSweepers on the Rapidan, Robinson, and Hughes Rivers to create Adopt A River Stewardship Teams. A Team could be a person, family, business, organization, or anyone that cares about the ecological health of a stretch of river identified by StreamSweepers and is willing to take action to maintain or improve it. The maps on the individual Adopt a River sections show the stretches or segments of these three rivers where we sought Stewardship Teams to adopt in 2018.
2018 Stewardship Team Activities included:
- Half-day Stewardship Team gatherings to plan for work to be completed.
- Half-day volunteer cleanup of an easily accessible point on the river around a bridge crossing or along a river near a road with volunteers walking the river banks to remove trash. StreamSweepers organized the event, providing supplies and equipment and food, with Team Member(s) helping to champion the event among neighbors and social and civic groups.
- Half-day education events for landowners about specific issues related to river health spanning water quality, wildlife, environmental policy and law and land use planning.
- Maintenance clean-up of a 4-mile river segment(s) by paid StreamSweepers staff.
StreamSweepers Staff created a budget for these five activities to be completed for each river segment for 2018. Support was solicited from landowners to help each team in one or more of the following capacities:
- Financial support
- Hosting an organizational or educational Team meeting
- Participating in a volunteer cleanup
- Contact neighbors and civic/social groups
The cost for StreamSweepers to work with a team to implement these activities for 2018 was $6000 per river segment.
2016 Adopt-a-Pile
The summer of 2016 we uncovered over 25 sites with trash too large to be floated out on our canoes in the three rivers we cleaned (Hughes, Rapidan and Robinson Rivers). We needed to hire contractors with heavy equipment to remove these items. This additional expense was not included in our budget. We asked our followers to adopt trash piles which were removed pro bono for us by dedicated contractors.
2016 – Adopt the Rapidan
StreamSweepers cleaned and assessed all 80 miles of the Rapidan River from Shenandoah National Park to its confluence with the Rappahannock River.
Rapidan River Adopt-a-Pile
900 Pound Tire – $1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Extra Large Culvert – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Metal I Beams – $1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
2016 – Adopt the Robinson
StreamSweepers has cleaned and assessed all 30 miles of the Robinson River from Shenandoah National Park to its confluence with the Rapidan River.
Robinson River Adopt-a-Pile
850 Pound Tire – $1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Large Metal Object – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Large Pile of Heavy Metal Fencing – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Storage Tank – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS TANK HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Extra Heavy Wood Fence with Metal Hinges – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
5 Locations of Rusted Metal Culverts – $2000 Removal Fee – THESE CULVERTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED!
Diesel Storage Tank – $2000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Large Appliance – $1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
2016 – Adopt the Hughes River
Hughes River Adopt-a-Pile
Bed Frame – $1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!
Large Pile of Rusted Metal -$1000 Removal Fee – THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!