POTOMAC — Western Montana is home to some of the state's cleanest waters, and a part of that is made possible with the help of Blackfoot Home and Community Club's annual clean up on the Blackfoot River.
“The river needed help,” said Lynn Gontarek-Garberson with the Blackfoot Home and Community Club. "And this is one of the premier rivers in our country and we would like to make sure it stays that way.”
Club members gather at Johnsrud Park in Potomac for their annual cleanup on the last Saturday in July.
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This tradition began in 2003, initiated by the late Marietta Pfister.
“She lived on the river and saw people tossing orange peels in the water and decided to say something because it was a regular occurrence,” Garberson said.
As many recreate on the river during the summer, it also means more waste gets tossed into the water.
Pfister, with the help of the club, came to the river once a year to pick up trash.
Almost two decades later, many partners, including Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Bureau of Land Management, have helped collect thousands of pounds of waste over the years.
“Over the years, there has been 20,000 aluminum cans, I don’t know how many plastic bottles…,” Garberson said.
The cleanup also offers a valuable learning opportunity for youth, like Boy Scout Troop 1909, who came out Saturday to lend a hand.
“There was a lot of stuff out there,” Liam Oliver with Boy Scout Troop 1909 said.
To mitigate waste, the club provides over 7,000 river bags for waste disposal year-round and with the help of local organizations and schools, who help tie the bags together.
“Bureau of Land Management buys the bags that we have groups tie strings on,” Janelle Schiller with Blackfoot Home and Community Club says, “so they can be used in the river and tied to whatever their floating on.”
“Those bags are located anywhere you can find an inner tube, and they are free,” Garberson said.
The goal remains the same for all involved: to keep Montana rivers clean.
“It helps the wildlife so the fish can live freely without having to get caught in all the trash,” Oliver said.
“This is their river; we would hope that because it is their river, they would hope to keep it clean,” Garberson said.
This year, volunteers participating in the annual cleanup gathered over 200 pounds of waste from the Blackfoot River. The collected materials will be sorted and recycled.
Click here to learn how to get involved.
