About 500 volunteers are expected to converge at Flaming Geyser State Park on Saturday for the 24th annual Green River Cleanup – the oldest such effort in the state.
The Cleanup – organized by the Washington Recreational River Runners and Friends of the Green with support from the Middle Green River Coalition – will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the park, located at 23700 SE Flaming Geyser Road, Auburn.
More than 500 volunteers converged last Saturday at Flaming Geyser State Park for the 24th annual Green River Cleanup – the oldest such effort in the state.
The Cleanup – organized by the Washington Recreational River Runners and Friends of the Green with support from the Middle Green River Coalition – ran throughout the day at the popular Auburn park, located at 23700 SE Flaming Geyser Road.
The public – rafters, kayakers, hikers and others – participated in the on-the-ground cleanup at various places along the gorge. Attendees’ ages spanned 10 decades.
The event was a celebration of dedicated volunteers who have worked over the years to preserve the 12-mile-long Green River Gorge.
The Cleanup’s theme – “A Ribbon of Wilderness in Our Midst” – honored Wolf Bauer, the original catalyst and author of the “State Parks Green River Gorge Preservation Plan.” Bauer, 97, was on hand to receive special recognition from friends and state parks officials in a ceremony. The lodge at the park was renamed after Bauer for his work and contributions to Northwest conservation, mountaineering, mountain search and rescue, and kayaking.
Bauer considers the Green River Gorge his legacy to kayaking in the Northwest.
Hundreds of expert boaters launched from Kanaskat and various points to raft the gorge and clean up trash along the way. Ground crews met at Flaming Geyser and included: Veterans for Conservation, Democrats at Work, Green River Community College students, Enumclaw students, and others who went to various places along the river and uplands to pick up trash.
“People never volunteer to clean up here. This is just wonderful,” said Don Mason, of the Black Diamond Historical Society.
A large amount of trash was removed from the river and uplands, including one 500-gallon plastic water tank that was carried on a raft down to Flaming Geyser.
“It’s great that crews were able to clean up so much trash. Now if we can just get people to stop dumping trash in our river, that would be even better,” said Lisa Parsons, of Middle Green River Coalition, an organization working on land conservation and advocacy for the Green River Gorge.
In addition to ground cleanup crews, the day was filled with river rafting and kayaking, mountain bike riding, a hike to the historic town of Franklin, a barbecue, presentations and entertainment.
Among the many participants were: Middle Green River Coalition, American Whitewater, Washington Kayak Club, Paddle Trails Canoe Club, University Kayak Club, Sierra Club, King County, “Keeping the Claw Clean”, Veterans for Conservation, Black Diamond Historical Society, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Green River Community College Students, Green-Duwamish Watershed Alliance, Boeing Employees Whitewater and Touring Club.
Event sponsors included: Cascade Land Conservancy; The Mountaineers; Washington State Parks; Mindful Intent Magazine; Greenwave Construction; Palmer Coking and Coal; Covington Rotary; Wabash Nursery; Rock Ridge Orchards; Black Diamond Bike and Backcountry; Spider Lake Winery; Dinkleman Worm Farm; Kayak Academy; and David Elliott.
About Wolf Bauer
Having been too late to save the Cowlitz canyons, Wolf Bauer turned his attention in the mid-1960s to the Green River Gorge. After exploring and kayaking the gorge with friends, he returned with his wife to photograph it. He created a slideshow and approached the Washington State Parks Department to interest them in preserving the area.
In a 1966 Seattle Times article, he described the gorge “just 30 miles from a million people” as “a ribbon of wilderness in our midst.”
Thanks to public pressure, money was appropriated to purchase private land in the gorge from individuals, railroads and timber companies, thus protecting it from development.
Bauer considers the Green River Gorge his legacy to kayaking in the Northwest.
To learn more about Bauer, visit http://www.mountaineers.org/NWMJ/05/051_Bauer1.html.
Middle Green River Coalition
Nine years ago, the Middle Green River Coalition was formed to ensure that key areas within the Middle Green River Watershed were protected as well as the Middle Green River itself. This led to the creation of the Green River Gorge Mountains to Valley Greenway. The efforts of the groups and the greater community were key to actualizing the vision Bauer initiated more than 40 years ago.
The organization has joined the Cleanup to help raise awareness of the urgent need to move conservation of the unique Green River Gorge forward. They have been working for the past nine years to protect the Green River Gorge Mountains to Valley Greenway and have worked on land conservation in the greater Middle Green River Watershed for the past 12 years.
Its goal is to keep the conservation efforts that Bauer began moving forward through land acquisition along the Green River Gorge and uplands. They also are working to make sure that development doesn’t threaten the important springs that feed cold clean water into the Green River Gorge.
Flaming Geyser Park
The developed area of Flaming Geyser Park is 480 acres in size and spans across three miles of the Green River. It is part of the larger Green River Gorge Conservation Area, most of which is undeveloped, comprising more than 2,000 acres. The Green River Gorge Conservation Area is located in King County 2½ miles south of Black Diamond and eight miles north of Enumclaw off State Highway 169.
To learn more about the Middle Green River Coalition, please visit http://www.mgrc.org/.