SACRAMENTO — Volunteers from several California B.A.S.S. Nation clubs joined the Urban Creeks Council of Sacramento for Creek Week 2013 in mid-April.
Creek Week is an annual volunteer effort to improve and enhance urban waterways by removing debris and invasive plants.
Dave Castro of Golden State Bass took the lead this year and recruited members from Basin Bassmasters and the Junior B.A.S.S. Buddies, as well as their families.
“Golden State is a conservation club that has been involved for a couple of years now," said Castro, "and we wanted to do more. For the second year, we joined the California B.A.S.S. Nation in becoming official sponsors of Creek Week. Urban Creeks Council makes it so easy to participate.”
In 2 1/2 hours, the group removed more than 100 pounds of trash from the wetlands site, which is part of the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area and the American River watershed.
Andrew Sayles, California B.A.S.S. Nation president, couldn’t say enough about the volunteers, many of whom just returned from the Western Divisional at Clear Lake. “These guys just finished a full week fishing and working behind the scenes at both the College Series and Divisional events, and here they are the next weekend crawling through brush and muck to remove trash. They’ve really stepped up to show how important it is to protect our environment.”
Next year, members of the Junior B.A.S.S. Buddies plan to establish a cleanup effort in their hometown of West Sacramento.