BUTTE – Thursday was a good day for spring cleaning along Butte’s Blacktail and Silver Bow Creeks.
“This year we have a record, this year we have 391 kids out here with us,” said Rayelynn Brandl, director of the Clarkfork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP).
The young volunteers were finding a wide variety of garbage along the creeks.
“A bunch of golf balls, a bunch of liquor bottles, a bunch of boxes, coats, pop cans, full beers, everything,” said student volunteer Trey Bennett.
Cleaning the creeks has a bigger purpose for those who are eager to see this entire superfund area reclaimed over the next few years.
“Absolutely, cleaning up the mine waste, it’s happened Missoula, it’s happened all around us, why not Butte, I think it’s important for our community to be educated about it and I’m trying to teach our students and well,” said Butte teacher Claire Baer.
Many applaud the efforts of the Restore Our Creek group that wants to see the first mile of Silver Bow Creek reclaimed.
CFWEP is not associated with Restore our Creek.
“I’m proud of our community for asking for that. Butte tends to say ‘good enough’ sometimes and I think it’s great that we’re asking for more right now,” said Brandl.
And many of the young people cleaning up on Thursday share the dream that one day the entire length of Silver Bow Creek will be flowing with clean water.
“Yes, I would very much like to see it flowing with water, like, healthy water that the fish can actually live in and stuff like that, like plants and fish,” said student volunteer Hazlyn Sheehy.
The cleaning up today for a better tomorrow.
Reporting by John Emeigh for MTN News
