OFFICIALS PLEASED WITH CREEK CLEANUP WORK

Although the number of participants wasn't as high as expected, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Conservation said Wednesday that last week's cleanup along portions of Crooked and Hurricane creeks near Marble Hill was a success.

Brian Todd, fisheries management biologist with the department's Southeast Missouri regional office at Cape Girardeau, said another cleanup probably will be held next summer, perhaps along Castor River.

"At this time there are no definite plans, but because of the interest expressed by those who participated in last week's cleanup, we anticipate there will be something next year," said Todd. "There were a lot of positive comments about the cleanup project; people told us they were pleased to be able to do something to help clean up the environment."

About 60 people, including children and adults, participated in Saturday's cleanup that netted three and one-half pickup-truck loads of trash. The trash included 30 old tires, beer cans, bottles, and abandoned toys.

Todd said about six miles of creek banks were cleaned on Saturday, including 4.6 miles of Crooked Creek, nearly one mile of Hurricane Creek, and a little over a half-mile of Little Crooked Creek.

The project was sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation in cooperation with Kohlfeld Distributing Co., of Cape Girardeau and a number of area businesses and organizations.

"Overall, I was very pleased with the way everything went," said Todd. "We had hoped for about 100 people, but the lower number of participants did not detract from the cleanup. I was concerned the number of reaches along the creeks would be so short that the volunteers would be done too early, but it turned out to be just about the right amount of time so no one got sunburned or burned out."

Todd said most of the participants were from the Marble Hill area, but there were several from Cape Girardeau, including Yvonne Ketchum, who participated in a similar cleanup along the Meremac River. Todd said Ketchum brought along four foreign-exchange students. "She wanted the students to see there is concern for the environment and ecology," Todd said.

Besides cleaning up trash along the creeks, Todd said the project also helped create a greater awareness among the participants of the ecosystem in and along the creek. "What is on the banks, such as trash, debris, chemicals, pesticides and garbage has a direct impact on the aquatic life in the streams," he explained.

After the cleanup, participants were treated to a beach party of hot dogs and cold drinks at a campground on Crooked Creek. Todd said an exhibit set up at the campground by the department attracted a lot of attention from the children and adults.

"We had some aquariums that had some of the native fish that are found in these streams, along with crayfish, tadpoles, and other aquatic life," Todd said. "The kids had a chance to observe closeup some of the wildlife."

Todd said the department learned a lot from the stream cleanup in Southeast Missouri.

"For one thing, next year, we're going to send out invitations to youth and environmental groups to participate," he said. "The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, and FFA all have ecology and environmental programs, and I'm sure members of environmental groups such as the Audubon Society would like to participate. We just didn't think about all of this while we were planning, but we won't forget next year."

Todd said the cleanup was the first organized cleanup for any stream in Southeast Missouri. He said the department has sponsored frequent cleanups along the St. Francis, Black, Current, Jacks Fork, and Eleven Point rivers, and the Bourbeuse and Meramec rivers near St. Louis.