Falling into a Record Cleanup

During the weekend of September 8-10th, the Gallatin Watershed Council teamed up with the Gallatin River Task Force to clean up the entire Gallatin Watershed from the headwaters of the Gallatin River through the Gallatin Canyon and across the Gallatin Valley! 

On Saturday, September 9th, 170 GWC volunteers tackled 13 sites throughout the Lower Gallatin Watershed, removing 1,520 pounds of trash. Combined with the Task Force, 290 community members removed 3,300 pounds of trash from the entire Gallatin Watershed.  It’s incredible what people and organizations can do when they work together! This is a GWC record for cleanup volunteers.

The cleanup event was a tremendous success in terms of removing harmful trash. Trash that enters our waterways can affect water quality, endangers plants and animals, and pollutes the outdoors spaces that we recreate and get our drinking water from. Visible trash eventually will break down into microplastic particles. This can cause various negative environmental impacts, human health concerns, and ecological disruption.

After the cleanup, GWC hosted a celebration at Lindley Park Pavilion with food, beer, and prizes. Community engagement manager, Heather Priest, spoke about the 2023 volunteer season. She raved about the dedicated GWC volunteers and all their hard work. From picking up dog poop, bird surveys, picking up trash, and planting trees - GWC volunteers have continued to have a positive impact on this community.

Cleanup prizes got the crowd excited! Protect our Rivers donated Pit Vipers and croakies that went out to every single raffle winner. They also donated our grand prize, two Rocky Mountain River tubes. REI donated a water bottle, backpack, and camping chair to a lucky winner. Janji donated a multipass swing bag along with a $100 gift card. There were lots of laughs and smiles, especially when a Chuck E Cheese picture won Strangest thing! 

This fall cleanup was not possible without the incredible community turn in both the Lower Gallatin Watershed and the Upper. Thank you to everyone who contributed to its success. A huge shout out to our event sponsors and donors: Athletic Brewing, Bozeman Brewing Company, Eco Montana, Happy Trash Can, Janji, Lockhorn Cider, Northwestern Energy, Primal, Protect Our Rivers, Republic Services, REI,  and First Security Bank.

We hope to see everyone in 2024 for our spring and fall cleanups!

Click here to read an article written by our Big Sky Watershed Corps Member, Kori Navarro and the Gallatin River Task Force, BSWC member, Ally Sutcliffe.