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Letter to the editor

Effort will help shores sparkle

A countywide cleanup Saturday targets beaches, waterways and mangroves.

By NICK JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Barbara H. Miller shares this photo of Chloe, her black Standard Poodle. Beaches.tampabay.com: Your guide to bay area beaches. Complete listing of cleanup sites

The Clam Bayou Nature Preserve, Fort De Soto Park, Gandy Beach and a shoreline near you will get some special attention from volunteers this Saturday.

All are part of the countywide cleanup effort by Keep Pinellas Beautiful and other organizations and municipalities to get the trash out of area beaches, waterways and mangroves.

Volunteers can help clean up by foot or in non-gas-powered boats, such as canoes and kayaks.

The city of Gulfport is focusing on Clam Bayou.

Parks supervisor Bob Williams expects about 100 people to show up by land and water.

Tampa Bay Watch is organizing about 150 volunteers for Fort De Soto Park.

Martha Garcia, an environmental scientist there, said mangrove roots catch a lot of debris. "Those roots hold things in and hold things down," she said.

Meanwhile, Save Our Shore is organizing a number of sites throughout St. Petersburg.

Steve Ellis, who helps organize those sites, said Gandy gets a good turnout, but help is needed at other locations.

Not sure who to side with?

Bill Sanders, executive director of Keep Pinellas Beautiful, said there's no need to worry.

"It's all the same thing," Sanders said. "It's all wrapped in one; it just depends on who you're talking to and what they're calling it."

There will be more than 20 sites participating, and all can be seen on the Keep Pinellas Beautiful Web site, so it should be easy to find one close to home.

The cleanups start between 8 and 9 a.m. and run until sometime after noon.

Most sites will have everything you need: pickers, gloves, garbage bags and water.

Big groups are encouraged to call ahead so that no site ends up with too many volunteers.

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

[Last modified October 17, 2007, 10:50:27]