The Institute of Packaging Professionals and Forest Products Clubs at Virginia Tech joined efforts on Saturday, March 15, to clean up a 1.5 mile section of the New River. In all, 19 volunteers participated; they collected 21 bags of trash, recycled 11, and pulled tires and other debris from the river.  Alex Hagedor, a graduate student at Virginia Tech coordinated Saturday’s outing. “I thought we were going to get rained out but we ended up having awesome weather—it was a great success,” Hagedor said.

The clubs contacted the National Committee for the New River (NCNR) for information on forming their clean-up crews and affiliate with the state program.  NCNR is rapidly expanding their reach in the New River watershed to coordinate the on-going and new volunteer clean-up efforts, as well as their water quality monitoring capabilities.  Individuals, clubs, or community organizations can contact Courtney Wait, Advocacy Coordinator for NCNR, to learn more about how they can participate in New River clean up and water quality monitoring projects:  336.982.6267.

The Institute of Packaging Professionals and Forest Products Clubs are now affiliated with the Virginia Department of Recreation and Conservation in the Adopt-A Stream Program.  The clubs have devoted their time and efforts to clean this section of the New River twice each year.  Adopt-A-Stream signs will be issued showing Virginia Tech—Institute of Packaging Professionals/Forest Products Club later this year.

NCNR envisions a permanently protected New River as a treasured natural resource.  The mission of NCNR is to advocate for successful protection of the New River, to restore eroding river and stream banks and enhance riparian habitat, and to permanently protect land along the River.  NCNR works in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia’s New River watershed.  Over the last 31 years, the organization has protected nearly 5,000 acres of land important to the river’s water quality, scenic and natural values, and has restored over 56 miles of river and stream bank.