Taking Out Rafts of Trash

WV chapter works with local DNR to clean up Upper Mud River WMA

For the sixth consecutive year, volunteers from the West Virginia Chapter of Delta Waterfowl headed to the Upper Mud River Wildlife Management Area in Lincoln County for a large-scale clean up, collecting over 55 bags of trash and debris.

"I started hunting out there and just started noticing a lot of trash accumulating in different places," said Mike Ball, chapter chairman.

Ball's cousin started the chapter and was originally running projects in the northern part of the state. When Ball took the reins, he wanted to make an impact closer to home, where he hunted.

"When I got back home, I called the local Department of Natural Resources office," said Ball. "They got me in touch with the guy who maintained the property. I started talking to him, and put a plan together." The 1,200-acre WMA serves a wide range of recreational uses, including fishing, swimming, and hunting. It also features shelters, a public beach, dam, and boat ramp.

The chapter typically rotates between different trouble spots each year, with some areas like the boat launch and dam being cleaned multiple times.

"I was actually out there duck hunting towards the end of this season, and I drove down to the boat ramp, just looking around with my binoculars, and there were some ducks over on the other side of the lake," said Ball. "And I am looking out there like man, I can't tell if those are ducks or trash." The group pulls out an average of around 50 bags of trash per year. Their most recent haul included plastic bottles, tires, metal debris, and concerning items like pill bottles and needles.

"It helps me out to have an organization come in here because we get flood events, so stuff gets brought in all the time," said DNR wildlife specialist Corey Tucker.

"Being an employee of the DNR, I have staff here so we can take care of things, but we can't always get everything. We're fortunate to have an organization like Delta come in to work with us."

Tucker is a member of the chapter. He started hunting waterfowl with Ball in 2022.

"It's important to have that connection with and to be involved with your state's natural resources," Tucker said. "I encourage any organizations out there that are looking to get more involved with their state's natural resources, whether it's just simply keeping the area clean or assisting on some maintenance projects on their respective public lands, to make that connection and help each other out."

"We've carried on this tradition every year, and it makes a big difference out there," said Ball. "There's always going to be trash, but it's not overwhelming amounts anymore.

It's more just stuff that gets washed in with different floods each year that we can help take care of." — Christy Sweigart