News Release Archive

Volunteers invited to celebrate Great Sierra River Cleanup and National Public Lands Day at New Melones Lake

Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis@usbr.gov

For Release: September 07, 2017

SONORA, Calif. – On Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central California Area Office is celebrating the 2017 Great Sierra River Cleanup and the 24th anniversary of National Public Lands Day.

There will be a trash and debris cleanup at sites around New Melones Lake in the Stanislaus River watershed. The public, organizations and local businesses are invited to participate in the cleanup and help us restore the health and beauty of our waterways throughout the area. Cleanup sites will be located in the Tuttletown Recreation Areas, Mark Twain Day Use Area, and Natural Bridges. Maps will be provided for these locations upon check-in, and volunteers will need to provide their own transportation. There also may be opportunities to do shoreline cleanup by boat.

Here’s what volunteers need to know:
When: Sept. 16, 2017, from 9 a.m. to noon, on-site registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Meet at the New Melones Lake Visitor Center, 6850 Studhorse Flat Road, Sonora, California
How to Register: Call the Administration Office at 209-536-9094 ext. 0 (TTY 800-877-8339)
What to bring: Volunteers should dress for the summer heat, bring snacks and water, and wear a hat, sunscreen and sturdy shoes. We ask that volunteers bring work gloves and trash grabbers, if possible.

Participants requiring special accommodations please contact Reclamation as far in advance as possible at the number listed above.

The Great Sierra River Cleanup is an annual event coordinated by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and is a premier volunteer event focused on removing trash and recyclables from the watershed throughout the Sierra Nevada region. National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers. Today volunteers work at thousands of sites performing a variety of services including building and maintaining trails, planting trees, shrubs and native plants and picking up trash. National Public Lands Day is a perfect opportunity for families to experience what our public lands have to offer.

For additional information on New Melones Lake, please visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/newmelones/index.html . For information on the Great Sierra River Cleanup please visit http://www.sierranevada.ca.gov/our-work/rivercleanup and for information on National Public Lands Day please visit http://www.publiclandsday.org/ .

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.