04/22/26
earth day lower salt river cleanup with
AVNET & Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.
On Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026, we teamed up with AVNET & Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. for our 11th annual Earth Day Lower Salt River Cleanup on the Tonto National Forest. We had volunteers on dry land as well as volunteers floating the river.
415 volunteers, including 20 youth volunteers, helped us remove helped us remove 1,840 pounds (.92 tons) of trash & 1 tire from the Lower Salt River! Volunteers also helped pull, bag, & remove Stinknet (Globe Chamomile), a fast-spreading invasive weed.
Volunteers hiked & explored multiple recreation sites along river from Phon D up to Water Users Recreation Area, picking up trash & pulling invasive stinknet. Volunteers with kayaks & paddleboards pulled trash out of the river that volunteers on foot could not reach & pulled stinknet you only see when you float the river.
Thank you, Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch, for providing free shuttles & discounted kayak & SUP rentals to volunteers who made reservations with them. This was a HUGE help & something volunteers look forward to each year! Thank you to the team from Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch that ran the shuttle & got volunteers set up with rental equipment!
Thank you, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., for donating Wild Water to volunteers!
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Earth Day with us & make a positive impact on the Lower Salt River!
In addition to AVNET & Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., we would also like to recognize our Event Sponsors: Arevon Energy, AC Infinity, Arizona Wholesale Growers, AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Arizona Plasma, Beer Barn, Desert Monsters Tours, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, No Snow Standup Paddleboards, Resolution Copper, REI Cooperative Action Fund, Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch, Salt River Project, State 48 Overland, Stellar Adventures, Verderia, Victory 4x4, Visit Mesa, Wild West Off-Road Recovery, & Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative. Thank you to everyone at the U.S. Forest Service Tonto Nation Forest for their support!
Thank you to everyone from Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company for being an Event Sponsor & providing free Wild Water to volunteers! We are grateful for your support!
Volunteers from SWCA Environmental pulled & bagged invasive stinknet, enough to fill the back of a vehicle!
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Photos Courtesy of Garett Cline
Photos courtesy of volunteers
Thank you to everyone from SRP, River Rangers & SWATT for spending earth day with us!
Raffle Winners
Thank you to Arizona Plasma for donating beautiful metal signs & Get Ghosted Phoenix for donating Any Tour for 2 to our free volunteer raffle! Thank you for helping us show volunteers how much their hard work is appreciated! We also gave away a few Natural Restorations hats, stickers & patches!
Arizona Forward’s Emerging Sustainability Leaders program team set up a table sustainability education & resources as well as additional snacks & ice water.
After a restorative day spent in nature, volunteers enjoyed ice cold NA Brews & Sparkling Water thanks to Athletic Brewing. We loved sharing Athletic Brewing with volunteers because we have been the recipient of Athletic Brewing’s Two for the Trails grant several times. You can view our latest Two for the Trails grant project on the Tonto National Forest HERE & we’ll share our newest project with them soon.
Through their Two for the Trails program, Athletic Brewing contributes up to $2 million annually to help protect, preserve, and maintain local trails. With this grant, we’re continued working on our Lower Salt River & Chain Lakes Restoration Project including trash removal, graffiti removal, and invasive species removal of apple snail eggs. We are grateful for their support of our mission & our restoration projects on the Tonto National Forest.
