WATERVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Volunteers filed onto the banks of the McKenzie River for a cleanup project spanning 55 miles.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports that volunteers at Saturday’s event found old sleeping bags, carpet and fishing lines. Event organizers say that frequent homeless campers, partiers and fishermen leave piles of trash behind them.
McKenzie Watershed Council executive director Larry Six says that the river is home to healthy trout and salmon runs and provides drinking water for 200,000 people.
The cleanup event — which covers a 55-mile-long stretch between Olallie Campground northeast of McKenzie Bridge to Armitage Park near Eugene — began more than 30 years ago, when river guides began to grow concerned about trash accumulating along the McKenzie as more people recreated on it.
