Spring 2002 Bidwell Park Cleanup

On May 18, 2002 about seventy people set off from Hooker Oak Park on a quest. Their mission-to rid Upper and Lower Bidwell Park of trash and recyclables. Equipped with trash bags, work gloves, water, a map and an appetite for refuse, volunteers from local high schools, university organizations, and the community at large rescued lost cups, broken beer bottles, and cigarette butts galore from the banks of Big Chico Creek, the open spaces of Lower Park and rock formations of Upper Park.

The community event, organized by BEC, the City of Chico, CSUC Environmental Advocates, and A.S. Recycling, began at 9 a.m. at Hooker Oak Park. Mark Gailey, a long time volunteer of the cleanup aided Executive Director, Barbara Vlamis, in assigning volunteers to the areas of the park in most dire need of attention. Volunteers were sent to Annie's Glen a pocket park at the intersection of Mangrove and Vallombrosa, various locations in Lower Park, such as the campfire circle and stretches of area along the roadside, Bear Hole and other popular spots in Upper Park, and the Frisbee Golf Course.

A group of ten volunteers went to the edges of Upper Bidwell Park to remove trash. The volunteers' effort took them to the stretch of ridgeline between the Frisbee Golf Course and Green Gate along Highway 32. The small band of hearty do-gooders discovered and recovered burnt couches, large pieces of black tarp, old cans, clothes, a desk, broken bottles, the ubiquitous cigarette butt, and cigarette packages. "There were broken bottles everywhere. We got the big pieces, but there was glass everywhere," said Sierra Grossman, volunteer and BEC Board member. "Overall I felt we cleaned up the area. It would be nice to have a lot more people out there to do a lot more," said Grossman commenting on the success of the cleanup effort near the Frisbee Golf Course.

Cleanup volunteers filled half way one 30-yard bin with trash that could not be recycled. All recyclables and scrap metal went into the approximately ten toters lined up next to the 30-yard bin in Hooker Oak Park.

Each year Butte Environmental Council along with other organizations get together to organize two cleanup efforts. One event is in the spring each year, while the other takes place in the fall. The spring cleanup is dedicated solely to Bidwell Park. The fall cleanup focuses on both Bidwell Park and the Creeks of Chico. The fall cleanup will be held in September this year.

Special thanks to the following sponsors of the Spring Cleanup: Butte County Fish and Game Commission, Butte County Public Works, Cal-Skate, City of Chico, Ed's Printing, Mt. Shasta Spring Water, NCN-KHSL/KNVR, Neal Road Landfill Company, Woodstock's Pizza

For more information on cleanup efforts and participating, contact BEC at 891.6424.

Posted July 2002