Why would anyone want to spend a Saturday morning fighting bugs, struggling through woods, and picking up debris?
“Do it for the the animals,” said Bob Pendergrass, supervisor of the Nature Center at Dan Nicholas Park and coordinator for 2001 Big Sweep.
The plastic, paper and metal bits spread over local shorelines are more than unsightly. They pose a threat to the lives of wildlife.
“Trash causes problems. Animals can’t untie knots,” said Pendergrass.
Animals and fish become entangled in the six-pack plastic rings. Brightly colored balloons prove attractive and fatal to fish and fowl.
People call the Nature Center each year reporting geese entangled in fishing line.
In most encounters with fishing line and other trash, the birds and animals die.
Statewide, 2001 Big Sweep Waterways Cleanup has a new theme, “Help Protect Our Wildlife.”
Big Sweep will be held Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m..
The Rowan effort will focus on the Eagle Point Nature Preserve, the newest of Rowan County parks.
Opened earlier this year, Eagle Point is expected to draw more walkers when cooler weather arrives.
The point, which juts out into High Rock Lake, serves as a trash collector for the lake.
Pendergrass said the water flow dumps a lot of debris on the point, an area heavily used by wildlife, including bald eagles.
Organizers need 200 or more volunteers to cover Eagle Point Preserve and an area near Tamarac Marina.
Volunteers will form into foot patrols to scour the banks and shores in search of trash.
Registered participants will get free T-shirts featuring the wildlife design, a poster boy raccoon and fish.
To register, contact Pendergrass at 704-636-2089 by Sept.7, a Friday.
Volunteers can opt to show up on Sept. 15, but only those who register in advance will get the free T-shirt.
Pendergrass is delighted to see the focus on wildlife and hopes it will bring renewed interest in recycling.
Students from Erwin Middle School and East Rowan High School are being recruited to participate.
Pendergrass hopes students, Scouts and entire families will join in the cleanup effort.
Last year, 210 volunteers picked up 2,000 pounds of trash along 13 miles of Grants Creek and the shores of High Rock Lake.
Statewide, 16,104 volunteers covered 1,407 miles of shoreline and picked up nearly 600,000 pounds of debris.
The first Big Sweep was held in 1987.
Volunteers have pulled a wide assortment of debris from the state waterways, including a lawnmower, a camper, military equipment, including parachutes, a picnic table and a handwritten curse inside a laxative bottle.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette@salisburypost.com
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