7th Annual Tellico River Cleanup

by Stefan Roth, March 2006

Member of Southern Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA) and other volunteer groups recently spent a Saturday out in the woods on National Forest lands, picking up litter that thoughtless or careless people had discarded on public lands.

SFWDA President Bob Yarbrough, who was out with the work crews picking up trash, said , "It a great way for us to help the Forest Service take care of our public lands. We enjoy the recreational opportunities and we're willing to work to make them possible."

The 7th Annual Tellico River Cleanup Day was held on March 11, 2006. Organized as a partnership between Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, Trout Unlimited, and the U.S. Forest Service, it has grown quite a bit since its inception and the event regularly brings out 200 - 300 people from dozens of recreation groups - hiking and walking groups, kayaking and canoeing clubs, fishing and hunting clubs, 4-wheel drive clubs, and nearby businesses.

The volunteer groups split up into small groups and covered literally dozens of miles of roads, trails, and river banks in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests, which border each other across the Tennessee / North Carolina state line.

Mary Jane Burnette of the Forest Service's Tellico Ranger District reported that she had 182 volunteers working in Tennessee. Larry Fox, Forestry Technician with the Tusquitee Ranger District, counted 113 volunteers in North Carolina. This adds up to a grand total of 295 volunteers cleaning up dozens of miles of trails and roads. Of these volunteers, 183 volunteers came from local and regional 4-wheel-drive groups. Everyone should be very proud of the dedication shown by all the volunteers..

For example, Southern Jeeps, out of Atlanta, worked the areas east of the state line in North Carolina. "We had 30 members attend and covered about one and a half miles of trails," says Scott Gregg, President of Southern Jeeps.

Wayne and Joyce Kickles from Smoky Mountain Trail Runners 4WD Club spent 8 hours on Saturday on the cleanup and workday. Wayne wrote us, "We picked up some trash on the way up to the work areas, but got most of what we collected at the top of trail 9. Once we reached the work areas, we spent most of our time cleaning and helping to install the fence at the top of trail 9 (see related story)."

Eric Potts and two friends in his Jeep picked up trash for a mile on trail 6 - until their trash bags filled up. They came up from Georgia to help out because they like to ride at Upper Tellico OHV Area.

JimBob Faulk reports that there were two members from Traxx in Motion, traveling all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. JimBob reports, "We cleaned down along the river on trail 5. The big camping area near the water crossing had a wealth of "crap." Literally, the highlights were nearly 2 dozen small propane bottles, multiple tampons, and someone's homemade toilet (5 gallon bucket with a toilet seat on top). We also worked the area from Big Oak campground to the next campsite toward Tellico Plains."

Scott Correll from Cumberland Off-Road in Cookeville, Tennessee wrote to tell us that their club had five adults and three children working for five hours on trail 9 from the garden below slick rock to the top. They picked up mostly stuff from the "bystanders" area and off to the sides of the trail.

"Nine members from Georgia 4x4 and Off Camber 4WD cleaned trail 1 from the lower trail 2 entrance to the upper 2 entrance and collected 12 bags of garbage - approximately 1.5 miles of trail, " reported Mark Webb, the Director of Land Use for Off Camber 4WD Club from Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, three vehicles from Off Camber 4WD and 5 vehicles from Clemson Offroad cleaned from the beginning of trail 3, up trail 12 over to Pinch Rock on trail 11. Others cleaned up on the entrance to upper trail 2 and surrounding area around the top of lower trail 2.

Ten members Rock Solid Jeep club attending the cleanup day started at State Line and went along Tellico River Road to the road to trail 2. Then they went up the gravel road almost to the top of lower 2 and back down. They continued on up the River Road a couple of miles past the gravel road, where they met members from the Renegade 4WD Club cleaning up along the road and river. Gary Parsons reports that they found the normal bottles and cans, an old chair, and the elastic band from a pair of men's underwear.

Land Rover owner David Russell brought four other members of the Southern Land Rover Society to the cleanup day. David reported, "We did about 2 miles on trail 1 towards Murphy. We cleaned up about 50' off the trail in those hard to get to places. We picked up mostly cans and bottles and filled 2 1/2 trash bags."

Gerald Henderson, President of Rattle Rock 4WD Club, stated that his club had twenty members in attendance. They covered the Upper 2 trail and School Bus hill (trail 12). The most interesting item they recovered was a freezer - what was it doing way out there in the woods?

In addition, members from all recreation groups cleaned up many more miles on the trails and roads along the Tellico River and the North River in Tennessee. Volunteers picked up the trash and left the full bags along the road side, to be picked up by Forest Service personnel who gave up their weekend time to help this worthwhile cause.