For the second consecutive year, citizens, government agencies, and organizations from all over Northwest Arkansas will work to together clean up Scull Creek. The event is one of many Keep Arkansas Beautiful cleanups occurring in other parts of the state.

The Scull Creek Cleanup will be held on Tuesday, March 12 and will begin at 4 p.m. The event concludes at 8 p.m. following a volunteer appreciation dinner, and door prize giveaways.

Scull Creek is an urban stream that headwaters on the western slope of Mt. Sequoyah and flows through the Historic District of Fayetteville before meandering through several parks, residential neighborhoods, and commercially zoned areas.

The Scull Creek Cleanup is an important event because many storm drains that feed water directly into the creek, also deliver tons of pollutants, such as trash, into the creek on an annual basis. Without such a large community effort consisting of well over 100 volunteers working in coordination at once, it is nearly impossible to clean the entire creek at once. Last year’s event was a great success in which 109 volunteers from 30 different community organizations participated in collecting just over 4,000 pounds of trash from the creek, and adjacent private lands and trail.

It is important to note that many organizations have adopted sections of the city’s trails and parks, and clean them regularly. However, sometimes urban streams just get so trashed with litter that it takes a lot of folks at once to get the job done.

The Scull Creek Cleanup is just one of many events for the annual Great Arkansas Cleanup campaign going on between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30.

Several organizations are taking part in organizing the Saturday event, including the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service, Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, Arkansas Canoe Club, and Watershed Conservation Resource Center. All organizations that have currently adopted sections of the Scull Creek Trail, as well as other organizations from the community and members of the general public and trail users are also welcome and encouraged to participate.
Scull Creek Cleanup

When: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 12

Where: Wilson Park, Sycamore Apartments, or the parking lot on Appleby and Gregg St.
For more information contact John Pennington at the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service at 479-444-1755 or emailjhpennington@uaex.edu.