Annual Earth Day river clean up

Yesterday was a most beautiful day for a river clean up. If the few sites I managed to get to were an indicator of participation then we had a great turn out for it, too. The clean up is sponsored by Milwaukee Riverkeeper and there were many sites along all of our rivers. I stuck to the Milwaukee River. Started at Lincoln Park and made my way downstream to Caesar's Pool, although by the time I got to the end it was indeed the end and the volunteer staffers were heading off to the after party at Estabrook Park. Here are are few of my photos. More can be seen on Flickr.

Members of girl scout troop 20055 lend each other a helping hand. Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park

Estabrook Dam

Members of Chinmaya Bala Vihar Hindu community at Estabrook Park

Estabrook Park

This chalkboard has to be the catch of the day! Hubbard Park.

Bicycle cop on the West Bank Trail at North Avenue.

Wrapping up for the day at Caesar's Pool.

See the complete Earth Day river clean up album on Flickr.

Earth Day: A community cleans up the KK

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Which do you think is the more powerful metaphor?

A) While picking up trash along the concrete-lined Kinnickinnic River I found a framed print of exotic waterfowl discarded in riverside bushes.

B) Two hundred community members turned out last Saturday to pick up trash along a stretch of their river that has been little more than a drainage ditch for over 40 years.

The irony of the sentimental wildlife print discarded near the degraded river is good for a chuckle, but I choose B as the more important metaphor. The KK River Neighbors Association and the 16th St. Community Health Center turned people out in force to join in the annual Earth Day cleanup sponsored by Milwaukee Riverkeeper. The symbolism is clear: the community cares about its environment and is hopeful about the future of its maligned waterway.

The reason for that hope is as concrete as the river channel: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has begun a multi-year project to remove said concrete channel and restore a more natural flow to the Kinnickinnic River. Judging from the enthusiastic comments I heard repeatedly on Saturday, the community is thrilled at the prospect.

Acres of cleared land between Harrison Street (background) and the KK River (behind me) are evidence of progress on MMSD’s rehabilitation project. After houses in the flood-prone area are purchased and demolished the concrete channel will be removed and the river reconfigured within a landscaped park.

After two hours of picking up trash near the river and throughout the neighborhood on either side everyone gathered at another concrete symbol of the river’s revitalization. The concrete channel, which until recently extended east to the I-94 overpass, now ends just shy of the 6^th St. Bridge. The first phase of the MMSD project was completed in 2011. In addition to removing the concrete channel a newly dedicated KK River Trail was created alongside the rehabilitated stream.

A huge crowd that included cleanup teams from several sites on the KK gathered along the 6^th St segment of the KK River Trail for a “Trash Bash” organized by the event sponsors. Free pizza and burritos were available to all. There were family-friendly interactive displays related to water and the river. A team of scientists from UW—Madison were on hand to help folks learn more about their river.

The UW team provided hip waders for the public to borrow so that they could physically immerse themselves in the river. “Having kids and adults connect with the river in that way is huge,” said Iris Gonzalez, one of the organizers from the 16^th St. Community Health Center. “Most of them were very hesitant to try but, after watching others (in some cases their own children), they were convinced. It is experiences like feeling the pressure of the water against your body, or the waders suck onto your legs when you step in and seeing fish and fish eggs up close that foment a spirit of stewardship.”

Local children spray water onto a watershed model that illustrates how water flows are affected by varying slopes, soils and vegetation conditions.

The success of the “Trash Bash” in bringing the community down to the river, to activate the new trail and to celebrate the transformation that is underway was a major achievement. Many in the neighborhood had not ventured there before, according to Gonzalez. However, she told me proudly, “I know they will be back!”

The event culminated in a spectacular demonstration of hydraulic flows and river dynamics. Peter Levi, the UW limnologist heading the team of scientists, poured red dye into the river just east of the 6^th St. Bridge. At first the dye turned the water bright scarlet and then expanded to fill the width of the river. The dye gradually dissipated as it swirled downstream, around rocks and settled into pools. It was a crowd pleaser and a lovely end to the Earth Day river cleanup.

A brief series of photos from the day follows.

To see even more photos from this event go to my flickr album.

Full disclosure: I am substantially connected to many of the organizations responsible for the cleanup and KK River Project because the work they are doing is dear to my soul. As a former board member of Milwaukee Riverkeeper I have participated in most (if not all—I don’t quite recall) of their 20 annual river cleanups. I am working with the MMSD to document the current phase of the KK River Project. On top of that until recently my daughter, Chelsea, was employed by the 16^th St. Community Health Center. And Chelsea brought my only (so far) granddaughter to help out with the cleanup. She’s only 3 years old, so she mostly played on the Cleveland Park playground and ate pizza at the Trash Bash. Hey, I said “full disclosure!” Oh, and Chelsea took my picture with this funny-looking fish.

More photos on flickr.

The Menomonee River gets its annual makeover

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We weren’t there to pick up wildlife, but seeing this tiny turtle did put the day’s primary purpose in perspective. After we clean up their habitat the animals will go on living in it.

On Saturday hundreds of volunteers flocked to Milwaukee’s three rivers for the annual clean up. For nineteen years in a row Milwaukee Riverkeeper has sponsored the event, which is a combination spring-cleaning and Earth Day celebration. After our particularly brutal winter there was a lot of trash to collect.

Covering a small segment of my Menomonee Valley beat, I spent most of my time between Miller Park and 3 Bridges Park, which is also the route of the Hank Aaron State Trail. I met a lot of folks and managed to make photographs of a few of them. Let me introduce them to you. 

A large crowd gathered near the Sausage Haus at Miller Park for a brief orientation before heading for the river.

The irony was not lost on Jeff K. He chuckled as he lifted the bruised baseball he found half buried in the ground.

Nicholas and Carol work their way up the steep slope next to the stadium parking lot.

Todd H. was among a group with the Gilbane building company.

Marc S., a member of Trout Unlimited, came prepared to wade in the water. When I asked if he'd fished here in the Menomonee, he said no. But he quickly added that he planned to do so.

Larry K. crawled into the snarl of this large deadfall to retrieve some trash.

Members of Marquette University's Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority take a break to pose in the field along the Hank Aaron State Trail.

Little Lennon, with her parents, Tighe and Nicole, was the youngest river cleaner I met. She proudly brandished her grabber like a sword.

Accenture is a business technology company with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee. Here are a few of them sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the company logo. I was told that some Accenture volunteers had come all the way from Chicago to clean up the Menomonee River.

Glen and Mike, here hamming for the camera, are also members of Trout Unlimited. Mike teaches a workshop on fly fishing for the Urban Ecology Center.

They made good use of their waders, pulling up some heavy items submerged in the river.

John Paul and Bennett were the perfect size to scout for trash caught underneath the Valley Passage Bridge.

I intercepted Patrick, Braden and Julian on their way to the Urban Ecology Center to deliver this animal skull they had found.

This group from Anderson Pest Solutions is heading down the Hank Aaron Trail with their bags of trash.

At Stormwater Park I found site captains Anne and Lauryn commanding the day's haul.  Anne and Lauryn work with Menomonee Valley Partners.

Like these newborn animals we hold the earth in our very human hands. We have the power and the agency to trash the entire planet; but it is springtime and we have chosen another path today. The turtle and the snake were set free to slip away through the bent grass. They will find their home a little cleaner.

This post is one in a series that relates to my Menomonee Valley Artist in Residency. For more information about the residency and links to previous posts and photographs, go to MV AiR.

Full disclosure: I am a former board member of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, a current board member of the Friends of the Hank Aaron State Trail and Menomonee Valley Partners sponsors my Artist in Residency. I find my work as an artist and my life in the community to be integrally related; were I to tease them apart I would feel like a turtle placed in an aquarium. 

Milwaukee's rivers get cleaned up

It was a chilly but bright morning and Milwaukee area residents turned out in force to clean up the three rivers. The annual River Clean Up occurs on the Saturday closest to Earth Day. It is sponsored by Milwaukee Riverkeeper, the Urban Ecology Center, among other organizations. I toured three of the sites many sites where crews were out picking up trash and other debris. Here is a brief photo essay of the morning's activity, which included a stranger than usual find in one of the rivers.

First stop: Honey Creek in Wauwatosa.

Lindsay and Mel pause for a pose.

Barcalounger, anyone?

A group of girls from St. Joan Antida High School lend a hand.

Next stop, the Menomonee Valley. Here volunteers stroll along the Hank Aaron State Trail near Miller Park.

Picking up trash on the riverbank near the Hank Aaron State Trail's Valley Passage.

Jeff, a staff member of the Menomonee Valley Branch of the Urban Ecology Center, tries to wrestle a large piece of sheet metal from the river.

An Urban Ecology Center team picks invasive garlic mustard in conjunction with the river clean up.

My third stop was the Kinnickinnic River, where some heavy lifting was going on.

Seriously heavy lifting!

Luckily Poseidon lent a hand. (His real name is Tim.)

Wes wins the annual prize for finding the strangest item in the river. This leather valise was discovered to contain articles of clothing, a pistol, and bricks. The bricks, presumably, were in there to make sure the stash of incriminating evidence stayed at the bottom of the river. Little did the perpetrators of whatever this implies know that the riverkeepers would discover it!

Someone called 911 and within minutes officers Pelczynski and Campos responded. They cautiously inspected the bag.

And retrieved the gun.

Close inspection revealed it to be a BB gun. The story of its disposal in the river, in the bag with the clothing, remains a mystery.

To see additional photos, go to my flickr page.