On August 27, 2016, leaders from the New River Valley region, representing Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski Counties, and the City of Radford, led a river clean-up event in Radford, VA. Over 450 volunteers representing student groups, businesses, river advocacy groups, and the general public attended the event and removed an estimated 2 tons of garbage and hundreds of tires in first regional river clean-up event in the New River Valley.
Meeting at the Glencoe Museum in Radford, two river-bound groups set out to clean up two stretches of the New River on canoes donated by local outfitters and the Boy Scouts of America. Each group was led by a series of captains, and were supported by public safety and public service employees from the surrounding localities. A land crew also picked up trash at Wildwood Park, in Radford.
This river clean-up event represents the expansion of successful clean-up efforts in Giles County, led by the ReNew the New Committee, over the past 14 years. Beginning in December 2015, County and City administrators from the region agreed to use the ReNew the New model for a regional river clean-up effort. Coordinated by the New River Valley Regional Commission, the localities chose a stretch of the New River near Radford as the first clean-up site, with the intent that future regional clean-up events would follow annually at different locations within the New River Valley.
For further information, please contact Michael Gottfredson (michaelg@nrvrc.org), 540-639-9313 x205.