River cleanup coming up, with prizes

The  2024 Flathead Waters Cleanup event returns Saturday, Aug.10. This Flathead Basin-Wide event hosted by Flathead Rivers Alliance, Flathead Conservation District, Western Montana Conservation Commission, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Lake County Conservation District and Flathead Lakers brings together agencies, organizations, and community members in an all day volunteer event to not only cleanup trash, but celebrate the region’s incredible waterways. Round up your friends, family or organization and help set record participation in this year’s Flathead Basin-Wide event cleaning up a river or lake near you! Flathead Rivers Alliance seeks volunteers for the three forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River. There are lots of ways to participate: hiking along the shoreline or floating sections. Join efforts on the Flathead Wild and Scenic River or one of the many Flathead Basin waterways.

Formed in 2019, Flathead Rivers Alliance is a friends group that supports protection and management of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River (North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork) and enhancement of the river system’s outstanding and remarkable values that include geology, ethnography, history, wildlife, vegetation, fisheries, water quality, and recreation. The river system has the significance of inspiring the idea of a National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and contributing approximately 85% of the water entering Flathead Lake.

This one-day cleanup event is an extension of the cooperative efforts Flathead Rivers Alliance and its agency partners conduct throughout the summer. Glacier National Park and Flathead National Forest run routine River Patrol crews, while the Alliance coordinates a 30-plus volunteer River Ambassador and River Recreation- Citizen Science crew that both staff pop-up information booths at popular river access points and serve as citizen scientists collecting river user and wildlife data while floating the river and hosts over 240 volunteers annually during one-day stewardship events. The Alliance and its agency partners are invested in safeguarding the future of the Flathead River system and developing a new generation of river stewards.  

The event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a celebration and prize giveaway hosted at Sacred Waters Brewing in Kalispell from 4 to 8 p.m.. Prizes from event sponsors include: half-day guided fishing and rafting trips, an evening sailing cruise,  outdoor gear, and so much more. Grab a friend, recruit club members, or rally the family. Help keep our favorite places clean while enjoying a good time. More information can be found at www.flatheadrivers.org/events.