Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance needs volunteers

GREEN BAY, WI – (WGBW & WISS) – Northeast Wisconsin is lucky to have amazing waterways from the Bay of Green Bay to the Great Lakes to rivers and streams. These waters make up the Fox-Wolf Watershed and volunteers are needed to help keep them clean!

Annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Clean Up

Sharon Cook, the Development Director of The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance says Saturday, May 4th is the annual  Fox-Wolf Watershed Clean Up. It is the largest volunteer trash clean-up event in Northeast Wisconsin.

“Garbage can get into the water, and it causes problems for our infrastructure,” said Cook. “And of course, 200,000 people get their drinking water from Lake Winnebago. We want to keep that water as clean as we can.”

Cook says there will be over 65 public sites for clean-up activities extending all the way from Green Bay to Fond du Lac. 

“There is somewhere that you love to be; a park, a trail, a boat launch – somewhere that is already a place that you care about where you can volunteer,” said Cook. “And we have site leaders who show up. And they bring all of the resources you’re going to need.”

Volunteers will pick up trash from 9 am until 11:30 in the morning. Then a celebration picnic will be held at Pierce Park at 1035 W Prospect, in Appleton from Noon until 2. 

Cook says that this is a great opportunity for the entire family. “It’s a great way for even young kids to be involved,” said Cook. “We’ve had little kids that can barely walk that can get around and understand the concept of pick up what you see on the ground and put it in the trash bag. 

Cook asks volunteers to register ahead of time at https://fwwa.org/cleanup. That will make it possible to have the right supplies for each location. 

Protecting the waterways in Wisconsin

Cook says people must care about and work to keep the water safe in the Fox-Wolf Basin because it flows to Lake Michigan.

“Our area is the largest contributor of water to the entire lake, to all of Lake Michigan, and the third largest source of water for the entire Great Lakes,” said Cook. “So what we do on our land here, what we do on our waters here, has global significance to the largest freshwater source.”

Outside of the annual waterways clean-up, Cook says that the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has big technical projects to reduce phosphorus. They also work with farmers and urban stormwater management to protect and clean the waterways.