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Massive cleanup, personal cost

Without more sponsors or another grant, Spirit of Gulfport nominee Kurt Zuelsdorf's bayou efforts may end.

By NICK JOHNSON
Published July 15, 2007

GULFPORT - When he started a cleanup program offering free kayak rentals to anyone willing to pick up garbage in Clam Bayou nature preserve, Kurt Zuelsdorf was a man on a mission.

The program garnered enough attention to get the leaders of St. Petersburg and Gulfport involved, resulting in a massive cleanup with hundreds of volunteers.

For his efforts, Zuelsdorf has been nominated by the Gulfport City Council to receive the Spirit of Gulfport award on Tuesday.

The honorary award is given once or twice a year to a resident who exemplifies public service in the community and encourages others to do the same.

It will be the first official acknowledgment Zuelsdorf has received from either of the cities where the nature preserve sits.

Accolades aside, Zuelsdorf says what he really needs right now is money.

For a year Zuelsdorf has been struggling to carve out a living with his business, Kayak Nature Adventure tours, along Clam Bayou. But to keep afloat, he had to come up with a practical solution to the massive amounts of garbage that flow into the nature preserve from nearby stormwater pipes.

With a $3,700 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, he started the program that allows kayakers to paddle free if they pick up a bag of trash.

The program costs much more than the grant provided, Zuelsdorf said. "We actually spent about $15,000 in four months on that project, including grant money," he said.

The rest came from several small sponsorships and about $9,000 of his savings.

Zuelsdorf, who has a family to support, has been working as a handyman on the side to support the kayak business but doesn't know how much longer he can stay in business.

Without more sponsors, or another Swiftmud grant, the cleanups might end.

While Gulfport and St. Petersburg were squabbling over blame for the garbage problem and waiting for a Swiftmud restoration project, Zuelsdorf was getting the community involved and cleaning up the trash.

"What he's done in Clam Bayou is exceptional. He's brought a focus to that area, and he's done it by bringing people together," said Commissioner Michelle King, who nominated Zuelsdorf for the award. "We never would have had that last cleanup if it was not for him," she said.

Zuelsdorf's nonpolitical stance on the state of the bayou was a simple one: To him it was all about nature and the wildlife that lived there, not who was to blame for the garbage that was ruining the preserve.

"I believe that Kurt took the high road," said Michael Yakes, mayor of Gulfport.

The cleanup, which removed 9,500 bags of garbage, was a huge success as both cities claimed that the trash was down to a manageable level.

But Zuelsdorf said it's just as big a problem now as when he started, and he hasn't seen additional efforts from either city since.

He's now worried that if his cleanup program stops, the bayou will slip back into its previous filthy state.

"In the next two years it will be in worse shape than when we started," Zuelsdorf said, citing issues that might contribute to more trash ending up in the water.

"More people are using plastic bottles; St. Pete is not recycling, and more people are moving to automatic garbage trucks."

Zuelsdorf said the constant flow of garbage into the preserve and the lack of a consistent effort by either city can be daunting, but the overwhelming support of people in the community and the wonders of the bayou keep him inspired.

"I still haven't gotten that figured out, and I don't have the verbiage yet to explain it, but something happens out there," Zuelsdorf said. "That's what parks are for. That's what wildlife does."

Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361.

"In the next two years it will be in worse shape than when we started. More people are using plastic bottles; St. Pete is not recycling, and more people are moving to automatic garbage trucks."

Kurt Zuelsdorf , Kayak Nature Adventure tours owner

[Last modified July 14, 2007, 21:57:00]