Preparations are underway for the 20th Annual Spring Shoreline Beautification Cleanup at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks. The event begins March 19 and will continue through April 17. The Adopt-the-Shoreline organization, which coordinates the cleanup, invites businesses, residents, second homeowners, vacationers, and others to participate, to help make this year’s event a success.
Adopt-the-Shoreline Coordinator Bryan Vance says more than 800 volunteers are expected to participate in this year’s cleanup, but more boats and volunteers are always welcome. To volunteer, use the list of Zone Coordinators to locate the zone in which you would like to work. Then contact the Zone Coordinator to volunteer a few hours of your time to help clean up that area. You may also volunteer by calling the Adopt-the-Shoreline office at 573.365.9252.
Adopt-the-Shoreline is sponsored by Ameren Missouri, which provides administrative support and pays for disposal of the trash and debris removed, but the cleanup work is performed entirely by volunteers.
Vance says cleanup volunteers also appreciate help from individuals who clean their own coves and stack materials for the Adopt-the-Shoreline participants to pick up by boat.
If you clean your own cove, Adopt-the-Shoreline offers these guidelines:
• Remove only man-made debris collected on the shoreline. Natural debris such as brush, leaves or tree limbs will not be accepted.
• Household trash will not be removed. Only shoreline trash will be accepted.
• Stack all trash needing pickup in a location easily reached by pontoon boats or barges.
• For removal of the trash you collected, notify the Zone Coordinator in your area, or call 573.365.9252.
• Remember, volunteers only clean an area once and some areas are not cleaned at all. Help out early, and be sure to notify your local Zone Coordinator in advance if you need items picked up.
Vance adds that participants in last year’s cleanup, and a second cleanup in the fall, reported a much cleaner lake than in past years, but still removed more than 150 tons of debris from the lake’s shoreline. “Nineteen years of organized shoreline cleanups, along with Ameren Missouri’s ban on non-encapsulated foam flotation that became effective three years ago, is clearly having a positive effect,” Vance says. “Last year we had about the same number of volunteers as the previous year, but they found about a third less trash. We expect that trend to continue this year.”
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