It’s amazing what you can find in the garbage.
Just ask a group of young people who spent three days clearing 15 truckloads of garbage from Bogart Creek.
Among the junk the found were parts from an old boat, including the engine.
“They (nearby landowners) were disgusted by the stuff in there,” said David May, a 21-year-old Newmarket resident and a crew leader. “People have this mentality about streams. You throw something in it and it will disappear but it settles somewhere.”
The crew that helped clear the creek is part of the Ontario Stewardship Rangers program, which gives young people experience working on natural spaces in their own communities.
Two crews from Aurora and Newmarket are part of this program.
Mr. May’s crew includes one Aurora and two Newmarket residents.
Crews participate in a variety of projects including stream and wetland restoration, building and erecting bird, bat and butterfly boxes, research for species at risk and biodiversity projects and helping to maintain trails by brushing and repairing boardwalks and small bridge crossings.
Last Friday, the crew cleared emergency access trails to Durham’s regional forest in case an ambulance needed to get to someone in the forest or a fire truck needed to get to a forest fire. The crew that cleared out Bogart Creek will continue doing projects around Newmarket this summer.
“There is a lot (of garbage) in little forests. More than you would expect,” Mr. May said.
This waste is especially found in areas considered teenaged hangouts and close to high schools, he added.
“Anywhere close to a bridge where people can throw things over is especially bad,” he said.
Other projects the group from Newmarket will undertake include one at Black River in Keswick and another at Holland Landing.
Last Monday, they worked at the Aurora Community Arboretum on the Flora Aurora project, which involves major tree planting.
One of the most interesting projects was the electro-fishing project in Pefferlaw and Sutton, Mr. May said.
During electro-fishing, a current is sent through the water. This stuns the fish and causes them to rise to the surface so they can be counted.
The fish are later re-released.
This crew will have another opportunity this year to do an electro-fishing count.