海角社区

But, thankfully,  that amount is getting less and there are volunteers who help clean it up, including a strong showing by the 海角社区 Bengal nation at this year鈥檚 Portneuf River cleanup held Saturday, Aug. 17 in Pocatello. 

The 海角社区 Department of Biological Science鈥檚 Stream Ecology Center, along with 海角社区 faculty, had its team there again, as it has been annually for years. New this year, volunteers from 海角社区 New Student Orientation also helped out in the cause.

鈥満＝巧缜�檚 contribution to the cleanup is awesome,鈥� said Hannah Sanger, Science and Environment Division administrator with the City of Pocatello. 鈥満＝巧缜� New Student Orientation showed up in mass and the 海角社区 stream ecology students and faculty were here again.  We couldn鈥檛 have done it without 海角社区.鈥�

 The annual clean-up effort is paying dividends.

鈥淚t is wildly successful,鈥� Sanger said. 鈥淎bout a dozen years ago we鈥檇 use a 30-yard  dumpster here (for collecting the clean-up trash) and we just have a three-yard one now, and that is awesome. It is making a huge difference.鈥�

The annual cleanup is sponsored by City of Pocatello, 海角社区鈥檚 Stream Ecology Center, Portneuf Watershed Partnership and Portneuf Valley Partners.

鈥淓very year the graduate and undergraduate students in the Stream Ecology Center  in the biology department as well as others around the university contribute to the cleanup of the Portneuf River,鈥� said Colden Baxter, 海角社区 professor and director of the Stream Ecology Center, who was joined by Ben Crosby, 海角社区 geosciences professor and chair.

His team of nine were wading in the Portneuf and cleaning its banks just downstream from the end of the cement channel near Raymond Park.

鈥淭his is our assigned section,  we鈥檝e kind of adopted it,鈥� Baxter said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e found some interesting things through the years, usually furniture and so on, some interesting plastic or rubber toys, tricycles, a TV, shopping carts and various appliances. The real bane here are the plastic bags. There are tons and tons of plastic bags and there is a lot that needs to be picked up.鈥�

This year, one of Baxter鈥檚 doctoral students, Jeremy Brooks,  from Billings Montana, found an umbrella amongst the refuse in the river.

鈥淭his is the first time I鈥檝e done it before but it is really great,鈥� said Brooks, 鈥淚鈥檓 getting to see some new parts of the river and pick up some of the garbage from the place we live in. It鈥檚 really cool that our group has been a part of it so long that the city has taken it up.鈥�

Brooke Barber, director of the 海角社区 Office of Student Involvement and Orientation, brought a group of 15 new 海角社区 students to the cleanup.

鈥淲e are thrilled to introduce them to their new city of Pocatello and have them join  us today in beautifying the city they are living in now,鈥� Barber said.

 The team from the 海角社区 Stream Ecology Center with their prizes.

 The 海角社区 New Student Orientation team that participated in the Portneuf River cleanup.