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OldRiverRunner
02-11-2015, 11:08 AM
Cowper Chadbourn of the Arkansas Canoe Club has been heading up major cleanup efforts at Fourche Creek, Little Rock. Cowper has asked for support from Little Rock geocachers on March 14. Here is the text of his message sent to the Keep Arkansas Beautiful office:


We've marked the location of several trash sites along Fourche Creek. Norm claims he has a dozen groups coming out on March 14. If we have that many, either we'll be picking up line in the parks, or done in 45 minutes. But if someone with GPS skills was available, they could lead smaller groups of people to trash collections along the banks of the creek, so that we could effectively complete the process of cleaning out some of the larger accumulations. I call it Geo Trashing. Basically, we need some folks that are proficient with their GPS, to keep us from wasting time with a group of people wandering in circles, and to make sure we don't leave anyone lost in the woods when the clean up is over.
For those wishing to participate, Cowper also had the following question:

Find out if they have 4 or more folks who would take it from the level of having just an end-point that they needed to get to, or do I need to give them a recommended route. Worded differently, are they willing to visit the area before the actual March 14 event, to find the best route. or should I find that for them so that they can just show up on the day of the event only?
This would be a GREAT opportunity for Central Arkansas geocachers, or even ArkGeo itself, to hold a CITO event and help out with the cleanup efforts. If you are interested, either as a group or individual, and are willing to volunteer your efforts for a few hours on Saturday, March 14, then please contact Cowper at this email address: cchadbourn@conwaycorp.net. He can also be reached via Facebook.

For an idea of the work that Cowper and his group have done already, here is a great segment that aired on KATV last night: http://www.katv.com/story/28076070/is-your-city-park-also-a-dump

Some of you may be contacted by Cowper directly, as he asked me for some recommendations on local geocachers who might want to participate. I took the liberty of providing him with a list of several Little Rock area geocachers and their email addresses.

Savoy
02-25-2015, 07:23 PM
I'm supportive of this as something we should do for both the PR, but also its a good thing to be working with another group like the Arkansas Canoe Club. Other than the Pie Day events, I don't know of another conflict.

If we don't go for this as a group (Events Committee), lets make that call in time so that we can still get it listed from an individual to beat the event submission deadline.

I got this letter from Heather:

Hello!

Frank *** forwarded your names to us as a group of individuals who might be interested in helping our Fourche Creek Clean-Up efforts. Let me tell you why Fourche Creek is so special, why we are trying so hard to clean it up, and how we are hoping you or others you know can help!

Fourche Creek is an unbelievably beautiful watershed in south Little Rock. It is a Cypress-lined creek that snakes through a large area of undeveloped bottomland woods. The Fourche drains eastern Saline and central Pulaski counties and, incredibly, 98% of Little Rock, emptying into the Arkansas River just south of the downtown area. Unfortunately, decades of neglect means that all the litter and debris from city streets, parking lots and neighborhoods has piled up in and along the creek’s banks. Efforts by numerous organizations are underway to clean up the creek so that it can be used and enjoyed as a wonderful urban wetland resource.

Some of these clean-up efforts have been spearheaded by our small group from the Arkansas Canoe Club. The task at first was more than daunting…it was downright overwhelming. But we have found by setting our sights on one piece of trash or one pile of trash or one small area at time, we are slowly but surely making a VISIBLE impact on this great resource. Since Jan 1 of this year, our small teams have been able to remove over 5 TONS of trash from the Fourche. Trust me, there are still TONS left, but we can really see the results of our efforts, at least along one small stretch!

The reason we are reaching out to you, is that March 14th there will be a large Fourche Creek Clean-Up effort as a part of the city-wide Keep Little Rock Beautiful events. In preparation for this event, we have gathered GPS coordinates for key areas that need attention, which could be accessed via a short hike. What we are looking for are a small group (or groups) of volunteers who would hike through the bottomlands (it’s really beautiful in there!) to the specific sites we have identified. We will provide you the coordinates, and heavy duty contractor garbage bags. Once the volunteer group arrives at the site, bag the trash you see! These are what we like to call “target rich environments,” meaning you won’t have any trouble finding something to pick up! You will have hiked to right along the creek, and once the trash is bagged, just leave your bags staged along the creek bank. The Arkansas Canoe Club will come by via boat later in the afternoon and extract all the bags, tires or other items you leave for us (text us your coordinates)! Oh, and don’t worry about leaving TOO MANY bags for us to pick up. We would be THRILLED to be overwhelmed!

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, I would love to hear from you and tell you more. Also, while we ideally want to get teams to participate on March 14, if your groups would want to arrange a major CITO event in partnership with a Fourche Creek Clean Up, we would be happy to partner with you on other dates if that would work better.
I have included some pictures below to give you a feel for the creek and the surrounding area.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from you!

Cheers,
Heather Huckeba
Arkansas Canoe Club

OldRiverRunner
02-26-2015, 01:18 PM
Thanks for responding to this, Les. I checked with Cowper and he says there has been some positive response from some of the CAGE folks. I wish someone had organized a CITO, however, as it would have been a good chance to give back to the community as a geocaching group and also to get the Pi souvenir. Too bad there is a conflicting event in the area, also.

ABJCM
02-26-2015, 06:28 PM
I'm sorry, this is my fault. On February 7th when I made the suggestion that we get together for pi day, I didn't know anything about this opportunity for a CITO.

I have a small daughter and I'm not sure I'm physically able to bushwack off trail with her all day. That's why I didn't volunteer.

Again, it was me who pushed that other event. Please don't think it was done as a reason not to participate. There wasn't any offense intended.

-Ang

MathSeeker
02-26-2015, 07:10 PM
Thanks for responding to this, Les. I checked with Cowper and he says there has been some positive response from some of the CAGE folks. I wish someone had organized a CITO, however, as it would have been a good chance to give back to the community as a geocaching group and also to get the Pi souvenir. Too bad there is a conflicting event in the area, also.

I corresponded with Heather also. I asked her about doing a C.I.T.O. in the afternoon on March 14th.
ORR are you saying my Pi Day 3.14 event (GC5N4TB) would conflict with an afternoon C.I.T.O.?

Savoy
02-26-2015, 07:54 PM
I'm not sure why we couldn't do both... I'd be happy to put out a CITO event for this. As long as everyone is cool with have two events that day. I'm going for the pi too! :)
I'm going to be there anyway to help with the clean up.

Savoy
02-26-2015, 11:33 PM
http://coord.info/GC5NG0M

Posted.... so lets all sign up!!! :)

- Les/Savoy

OldRiverRunner
02-28-2015, 06:59 AM
ORR are you saying my Pi Day 3.14 event (GC5N4TB) would conflict with an afternoon C.I.T.O.?

Judy, no, I am not saying that. Les was the one who said there was a conflict.


I'm supportive of this as something we should do for both the PR, but also its a good thing to be working with another group like the Arkansas Canoe Club. Other than the Pie Day events, I don't know of another conflict.

OldRiverRunner
02-28-2015, 07:06 AM
http://coord.info/GC5NG0M

Posted.... so lets all sign up!!! :)

- Les/Savoy

Thanks for hosting the event, Les!

Savoy
02-28-2015, 12:33 PM
No problem, happy too... http://coord.info/GC5NG0M is live now too!

Come on folks, let's show'm how we CITO :)

jclaudii
03-02-2015, 08:58 AM
Awesome Event, I'm not sure if we'll be able to attend or not, but I'll keep you updated Les!

Savoy
03-02-2015, 05:39 PM
Cool!

perm74
03-02-2015, 08:29 PM
Will there be places to clean that do not require a canoe? I ask because cypress trees love water and I don't have the mobility to truck through mud or a canoe to float it.

Savoy
03-03-2015, 08:56 PM
Will there be places to clean that do not require a canoe? I ask because cypress trees love water and I don't have the mobility to truck through mud or a canoe to float it.

Actually, we won't be canoeing at all.

We'll be walking along various trails/paths and leaving the bags of trash/items near the banks. The Canoe club will be picking them up latter via land, and sea :)

Savoy
03-11-2015, 06:26 PM
I'm going to run out there tomorrow after work or afternoon on Friday to check conditions... please be sure to check the event webpage before you head out for this event. If the water is too high or its a bit too boggy to work safely due to all the rain/snow, etc., I'll shout out (announce something) via the event page.

Thanks! - Savoy

Savoy
03-13-2015, 04:14 PM
The Arkansas Canoe Club Rep. and I are going to call a "delay of game" on this event.


I went down this afternoon, and ACC is on the river now... and we both agree that the water is too high and the ground too unstable to have this event as scheduled.


I am cancelling this for now, but PLEASE expect to see these again, most likely near the end of April.


Thank you all that agreed to come out and serve this community in this GREAT cause. Its noticed and very much appreciated!!!!


- Savoy

Savoy
03-14-2015, 10:58 AM
Its official... this event will be the CAGE April CITO Event, event.
I'll have the page up soon... thanks all!
- Savoy

Savoy
03-14-2015, 11:15 AM
http://coord.info/GC5PCFK