News for Immediate Release
August 29, 2022
Contact: Mark Izard, (501) 860-1084, [email protected]
Arkansas Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Seeks Volunteers for Lake Winona and Lake Sylvia Trash Clean Ups, Join other volunteers Saturday, Sept. 10 to help keep our public lands beautiful
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) is celebrating National Public Lands Month by organizing two watershed cleanups on Saturday Sept. 10, 2022. Two volunteer crews will be collecting, bagging, and disposing of litter from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lake Winona and Lake Sylvia.
More than a dozen volunteers collected 60 bags of trash during the Lake Winona clean up last fall. Event organizer Mark Izard is looking forward to an even bigger turnout this year to remove more trash from the Ouachita National Forest.
“Picking up trash on a Saturday might sound unappealing,” says Izard, a Little Rock resident and Arkansas BHA’s conservation chair. “But it’s very rewarding when you’ve spent all year out in the national forest driving by a pile of trash and not knowing how to get rid of it—and now you’ve got a way to get rid of it. You don’t have to look at it anymore when you’re out enjoying the national forests we have here in our state.” Most of the litter Izard has identified for removal lies along forest service roads. Beer cans and soda bottles are often tossed from vehicles, and it’s all too common to stumble across illegally
dumped household trash. “I’ll have many different groups that use the national forest come out to help, from hunters and runners to mountain bikers and off roaders,” says Izard. “There may be several people from different groups who go to one trash site to clean up that site. So you’ll make new friends and
meet new people when you’re there.”
Trail rider Amy Marlar of Plummerville has attended the annual Lake Winona clean up since it began in 2020. As the Arkansas ambassador for Lady Owned Toyotas, she plans to attend with about a dozen fellow trail riders this fall.
“It’s ridiculous the amount of trash that’s there—it’s horrible,” says Marlar. “For instance, we went tubing last weekend up there. There’s just trash everywhere. People leave whole bags of trash and they’ll leave the bags open, so animals have scattered it everywhere. People throw out tires, washing machines—one time we found a whole campsite people had just up and left.” That’s why Marlar finds it’s so satisfying to pitch in every year. It’s important to take care of the
public land she uses so often and encourage her peers to do the same.
“This is my favorite way to give back to the community,” Marlar says of removing litter. “This is my favorite thing to do. Anytime I see trash I pick it up, whenever I’m trail riding. It’s just my way of helping clean the earth and taking care of our forests.”
Volunteers for the third annual Lake Winona clean up should meet on the southeast side of the lake at 24512 Lake Winona Rd, Paron, AR 72122. There will be a dumpster on site, provided by Central Arkansas Water.
beautiful lake at sunrise pine forest nature landscape vector illustration EPS10