Lower SAlt River & Saguaro Lake Trash & Invasive Removal Project
7,663.69 pounds of trash, 1 tire, & invasive stinknet removed & thousands of invasive apple snail eggs knocked into the water
Funded by Athletic Brewing Company’s Two for the Trails Program and AVNET Cares Grant PRogram.
We are the proud recipient of an Athletic Brewing Company’s Two for the Trails grant & a grant from Avnet Cares in support of our restoration work on the Lower Salt River & Saguaro Lake. With grant funds, our military veteran-based Dedicated Restoration Team & volunteers made a significant impact on the Tonto National Forest by removing 7,663.69 pounds of trash (3.83 tons), 1 tire, & invasive stinknet from the Lower Salt River and Saguaro Lake, as well as knocking thousands of invasive apple snail eggs into the water at the Lower Salt River.
Lower Salt River Trash Removal
Saguaro Lake Trash Removal
Invasive Stinknet & Apple Snail Egg Removal
Invasive Apple Snail Egg Removal
Saguaro Lake
281.02 pounds of trash removed
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Lower salt river
7,382.67 pounds of trash, invasive stinknet, & 1 tire removed, as well as thousands of apple snail eggs knocked into the water
We heard there were a bunch of nails in the water & on a popular sandbar along the Lower Salt River. We didn’t want anyone to put a rusty nail through the bottom of their foot or pop their paddle board, so we took our Dedicated Restoration Team out there with our magnet bar & rakes to remove them.
Please do not take pallets out to the forest to burn, it’s illegal and a huge hazard for people, wildlife, & tires. Pallets are held together with a bunch of nails & when someone burns them, they leave all the nails behind. People typically burn a bunch of pallets at once leaving behind hundreds of nails.
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Do you see the rattlesnake to the left of the water bottle?
INVASIVE STINKNET (GLOBE CHAMOMILE) removal
We removed 728 pounds of stinknet! Invasive stinknet destroys biodiversity, outcompetes native species, & increases fire hazards. if you see it, please pull it & bag it!
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We pulled more stinknet along the river any time we saw it.
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Invasive apple snail eggs
Cluster of invasive apple snail eggs
Knocking cluster of apple snail eggs into the water
Invasive apple snail eggs are bright pink & laid in clusters above the waterline on plants or structures. They are a telltale sign of the invasive apple snail, a species native to South America that has spread throughout the US Gulf Coast & beyond. These snails are voracious eaters of aquatic vegetation & can significantly alter freshwater ecosystems.
Why are apple snails a problem?
Habitat destruction: Apple snails consume large amounts of aquatic vegetation, which can disrupt native plant life & negatively impact the food chain for other species.
Spread: They reproduce quickly, laying multiple egg clusters containing hundreds of eggs.
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Apple snails are highly invasive! Female snails can produce thousands of young each year. They outcompete native snail populations, which are an important food source for many fish and wildlife, in large part because there are no local predators that will eat them.
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Apple snail eggs are laid above the waterline and need to remain moist but not submerged to hatch. By knocking them off vegetation & submerging them, we’re preventing thousands of invasive apple snails from hatching in the river.
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You can help! Anytime you float the river & see bright pink clusters of apple snail eggs, knock them into the water if you can do so safely!
2,526.18 pounds of trash removed post memorial day weekend
After memorial day weekend, we teamed up with our friends from Salty Scuba Squad, Salt River Waste & Trash Removal Team, River rangers, Salt River Tubing, Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch, & redline rentals & Sales To float the river. Our groups split up & covered the river from Water users to Phon D sutton recreation areas, picking up trash from the river & riverbanks while Salty scuba squad divers pulled trash from the river bottom.
We frequently pulled off of the river to pick up trash along the riverbanks
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An awesome team from Salt River Tubing helped in a HUGE way by picking up trash from us at multiple locations along the river! We were grateful to them for saving us a bunch of hiking with over 2,500 pounds of trash from the river to the dumpsters in the parking areas. They also provided a shuttle for a bunch of volunteers & got out on the water with everyone to pick up trash!
Hawes trail system - lower salt river
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We replanted this barrel cactus that was knocked over
We also removed trash from Bulldog Canyon & Butcher Jones
Volunteer Events
11th annual Earth Day Lower Salt River Cleanup. Click HERE to view photos.
415 volunteers, including 20 youth volunteers, helped us remove 1,840 pounds of trash & invasive stinknet, & 1 tire form the Lower Salt river on the tonto national forest!
Lower Salt River Cleanup with SRP’s Rotational Engineering Team. Click HERE to view photos.
