Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting a great group on incoming West Virginia University freshmen. These students were part of the WVU Adventure Orientation Program. Our mission together was to clean up some of the popular natural areas around Ohiopyle State Park. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled into a partnership with these students, and their help was hugely appreciated. It was going to take a team to handle the amount of litter we were facing. Without a hitch, the team attacked with one goal: no trash left behind. An unplanned benefit of the day was that the park was very crowded during the cleanup. This allowed many park goers to see the volume of trash that accumulates in relatively small areas and hopefully made people more aware of the importance of “leave no trace.”
Motivated groups like the WVU Adventure Orientation Program help make the world a better place. Thanks to the participants, the group leaders Lexi and Yough G, and program manager Marcedes for their assistance in helping to clean up our watershed and the river. If your group would be interested in participating in a cleanup please contact us at MWA! This work is never done.