River Rescue
River Rescue is a community action event, coordinated by Ijams Nature Center, which involves hundreds of volunteers. This annual cleanup covers 50 miles of Tennessee River shoreline. River Rescue started in 1990 when volunteers gathered together and collected several tons of debris which included tires, electronics, bottles, cans, fast food wrappers, down to cigarette butts. Over the past 18 years, River Rescue has attracted 8805 volunteers. They've picked up 273.65 tons of debris and 1893 tires. The tons of debris has decreased from 40+ tons to 10+ tons and 500+ tires to 24+ tires at the various 20-40 locations. This just goes to show that River Rescue is working the way we want. Each year brings new volunteers to work alongside veteran River Rescuers who seem to find less trash, therefore huge improvements for our waterways. We still have a ways to go and could use your help.
The 2009 River Rescue will be held on April 4th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and volunteer at one of our many sites. This is a great opportunity for any school group, church group, family or individual, to get outside and help clean up our rivers and streams. Zone Captains and boats are always needed.
For more information please contact Sarah Brobst at 577-4717 ext. 24 or sbrobst@ijams.org
River Rescue Statistics
A huge thanks to the sponsors of the 2009 River Rescue, we would not be able to do it without you!
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Knox County, City of Knoxville, First TN Foundation, Waste Connections, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Commercial & Investment Properties, Southern Shores, B97.5, Concord Marina, and Water Quality Forum. |
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River Rescue 1999
In its 10th year, River Rescue attracted over 600 volunteers. One of the additonal "zones" or cleanup sites added in 1999 was I.C. King Park. This rugged 200 acre area is covered with mountain bike trails and is used extensively by fisherman and boaters. 20+ volunteers came to this site and picked up 3 tons of trash and debris. Initial cleanups at new sites often net large amounts of trash and debris. Consecutive cleanups are typically not as large. ...more
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River Rescue 2000
River Rescue 2000 saw 720 volunteers patrolling 50 miles of shoreline along the Tennessee River. These hardy volunteers picked up 27.5 tons of debris in a 4 hour span. Goose Creek has been a cleanup site each year for the past 11 years and this year was no exception. Charlie and Wilma Underwood have been the zone captains for this site every year and 2000 was no exception. They've seen everything from sunken jon boats to Bart Simpson dolls pulled from the river. This year saw 50 bags of trash pulled from the mouth of Goose Creek by 10 volunteers. ...more
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River Rescue 2001
This was a banner year for River Rescue. The perfect combination: More volunteers than ever, less trash than ever. 835 folks ventured out on a great East Tennessee spring day to bag and haul as much trash and debris as they could find along a 50 mile stretch of the Tennessee River shoreline in Knoxville and Knox County, Tennessee.
The enormous support from the community was reflected in the big volunteer numbers at Concord Park, Sequoyah Park and especially the mouth of Fourth Creek. At Fourth Creek the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) employee volunteers were on hand to coordinate and organize that ...more
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River Rescue 2002
River Rescue day arrived and volunteers were ready to pitch in and conquer that trash! Every year brings some interesting treasures to light. This year some of our most interesting "finds" included a stryofoam Santa Claus face in perfect condition, a fire extinquisher, a water heater,complete set of lawn furniture, and a Minnie Mouse Coke can.
592 volunteers hauled over 20 tons of debris from the shoreline. The CAC AmeriCorps team was out in full force at Sequoyah Park organizing 38 volunteers and making sure all trash was hauled back to the dumpsters.
Statistics 2002
Flyer ...more
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River Rescue 2003
River Rescue is a community action event that has involved thousands of volunteers. The annual clean-up covers miles of public-access shoreline on the Tennessee River, from Forks-of-the-River to Fort Loudoun Dam in Knox and Blount ...more
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River Rescue 2004
For the fifteenth time in as many years, 772 volunteers assembled to clean up our local rivers. They came alone or with groups to locations from Ijams downstream to Ft. Loudon Dam on the Tennessee River and to similar sites on the Clinch River at Melton Hill Lake. Their goal was to clean up as much pubic shoreline as possible. This year’s River Rescue was held April 3. And like before, the general public stepped up to help in the effort. The counties involved in the program—Knox, Blount and Anderson—have a lot ...more
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River Rescue 2005
Despite freezing temperatures, rain, and strong winds, River Rescue 2005 turned out to be a tremendous success! With the help of nearly 450 volunteers, Ijams Nature Center sponsored an event that removed approximately 10 tons of trash from the waterways of East Tennessee. Although April 2, 2005 was colder, rainier, and windier than many in recent memory, much was accomplished. Notable improvements from years past include significantly few tires and less visible garbage in public spaces. However, there is still much to be done. Ijams and the partners of the ...more
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River Rescue 2006
Ijams Holds Another Successful River Rescue! On Saturday, April 1, Ijams Nature Center held the 17th Annual River Rescue on the banks of the Tennessee River. River Rescue is Ijams’ largest clean up event; volunteers come from all over Knoxville and surrounding communities to pick up debris at 30 sites up and down the Tennessee River. Anyone can volunteer and everyone makes a huge difference in the amount of garbage that is ...more
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River Rescue 2007
River Rescue, shoreline cleanup, draws 750 volunteers
River Rescue is a shoreline cleanup of public sites along the Tennessee River from Forks-of-the-River to Fort Loudoun Dam in Knox and Blount Counties, a distance of fifty "river" miles (100 miles of shoreline) and a portion of the Clinch River at Melton Hill Dam in Anderson County.
This was the 18th year of the annual event coordinated by Ijams Nature Center with the help of several other organizations including the Water Quality Forum. This year, almost 30 sites were cleaned up including Carl Cowan, Concord, Admiral Farragut, Sequoyah, I.C. King, ...more
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