100,000 pounds of trash. That’s the amount that James River Basin Partnership’s executive director, Brent Stock, estimates that river cleanups have removed from the James and its tributaries in the last 25 years.
That’s an impressive number. And it speaks to the power of folks coming together in a common cause. Paddling With a Purpose, to turn a phrase. 
River Rescue is JRBP’s flagship cleanup. Originally organized by the Ozark Mountain Paddlers (OMP), it’s the event that many people think of when someone mentions the watershed conservation non-profit.
It’s one of the longest-running river cleanups out there. Only COVID and high-water events from time-to-time have prevented it.
Most of the popular stretches on the James from Springfield to Galena have hosted the cleanup in those years, as well as the Finley River.
