Earth Day 2022, Friday, April 22, 9 am to 3:00 pm
What: An Earth Day celebration of “Our Ohio River”, Exploring by paddle craft and cleaning up the Islands of the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area.
Who: Earth Day and Ohio River enthusiasts
Why: To celebrate the beauty of the Ohio River and Earth Day
Earth Day, Friday, April 22. 2022:
9 am: Shawnee Park Boat Ramp – registration, safety talks, and launching the boats.
9:30 am: Earth Day Send-Off Press Conference at Shawnee Park Boat Ramp
10 am: Paddle 2.5 miles upstream to Sand Island.
10:45: Arrive at Sand Island
11 am: Clean up the island and load trash into the boats.
1 pm Lunch and celebration
1:30 Paddle back to the Shawnee Park Boat Ramp, unload trash, and admire our work
How: We encourage Ohio River enthusiasts to join the flotilla of large canoes in their own boats to paddle up to Sand Island or join us on the shore at the 9:30 earth day send-off celebration at Shawnee Bark. The event is free, run by volunteers, but we encourage all of you to join and support our co-sponsors. All registrants receive a free Ohio River Sweep T-shirt.
Note: The canoe trip is weather and river condition-dependent – a go or no-go decision will be made the day before. On shore or at The Falls of the Ohio State Park is the alternative site in case of poor river conditions. All participants must adhere to the special use USACE special event permit. Many thanks to our Co-Sponsors. The event is free, run by volunteers, but we encourage all of you to join and support the following.
The Sand Island earth day event is a celebration of the Ohio River, the biodiversity of its islands, and the organizations dedicated to Our River and The Falls of the Ohio. Keeping our rivers and creeks clean is a community-wide effort. The event is free and open to the public, we encourage all participants to support our co-sponsors.
For information on the celebration and talk about why we do what we do contact the Co-Sponsors:
| Salt River Watershed Watch: Citizen Science Network monitoring our creeks and rivers | Becca Trueman Chair, Salt River Watershed Watch 502.644.4009, beccatruemanky@gmail.com |
| River City Paddle Sports: A paddlesport education center in Louisville’s Waterfront Park. | David Wicks, River City Paddle Sports dwicks1@gmail.com, 502-671-3595 |
| Metro Parks Division of Natural Areas Metro Parks – developing the Shawnee Park Outdoor Learning Center and the ECHO program | Jessica Kane, Program Manager Natural Areas Division 502.368.6856, Jessica.Kane@louisvilleky.gov |
| The Ohio River Way: Connecting Communities and promoting outdoor recreation | Brewster Rhoads Ohio River Recreation Trail BrewOhio@gmail.com, (513) 324-1678 |
| USACE Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area: The U.S. Army Corps manages the National Wildlife Conservation Area. | Lisa Freeman, Natural Resources Specialist Louisville District Locks & Dams (502) 315-6714, Lisa.A.Freeman@usace.army.mil |
| Falls of the Ohio Foundation: The Falls of the Ohio Foundation, Inc. supports the natural, cultural and historic resources of the Falls of the Ohio Area. | Kenton Wooden, Director Falls of the Ohio Foundation kenton@fallsoftheohio.org, 812-283-4999 |
| Origin Park: An iconic public park in the making along the Ohio River Louisville Southern Indiana metropolitan area. | Doug Scott, River Heritage Conservancy doug@riverheritageconservancy.org (812) 463-3553 |
| Brightside: uniting people in clean and green activities that beautify and foster pride in our community through volunteerism, planting, sustainability, & education. | Lorri Roberts, Interim Director Brightside, (502) 574-4167 Lorri.Roberts@louisvilleky.gov |
| Foundation for Ohio River Education (FORE): Ohio River Sweep: The River Sweep is the annual, volunteer cleanup for the length of the Ohio River. | Nick Callahan ORSANCO and FORE ncallahan@orsanco.org, 513-231-7719 |
| Kentucky Division of Water: serve as facilitators for agency activities and for local organizations interested in addressing clean water issues. | Perry Thomas, Salt River Basin Coordinator Kentucky Division of Water 802.279.5865, perryt@ky.gov |
| Kentucky Waterways Alliance: Protecting, restoring, and celebrating Kentucky’s Waterways. | Susan Griffin Ward Kentucky Waterways Alliance susan@kwalliance.org, (502) 589-8008 |
| Louisville MSD: The innovative regional utility for safe, clean waterways | Erin Wagoner, MSD Community Benefits and Partnerships Manager 502.540.6307, erin.wagoner@louisvillemsd.org |
| Ripple Effects: A community colation to promote the connection between art, culture and the environment focused on Urban water. | https://www.lfpl.org/photocontest/ |
| Afloat: An Ohio River Way of Life: A mutually supportive group to call attention to the river, its beauty, needs, and unmet potential. | John Begley, Afloat steersman jpbegley@bellsouth.net |
| Wilderness Louisville: mission is to be champions for Louisville’s natural areas, from Jefferson Memorial Forest – the nation’s largest municipally-owned urban forest – to the ones in your neighborhood | Bennett Knox, Metro Parks, Division of Natural Areas. (502) 366-2913, Bennett.Knox@louisvilleky.gov |
| Event Information: www.rivercitypaddlesports.org David Wicks, River City Paddle Sports David.wicks@louisville.edu – 502-671-3595 |
rivercitypaddlesports.org 