Despite the prolonged rainy season this spring and early summer, Missouri Conservation Corps managed to find a Saturday in early June with sunshine and blue skies. We used this sunny Saturday to organize a creek cleanup with the Missouri Scholars Academy on Columbia’s Flat Branch Creek. Founded in 1985, the Missouri Scholars Academy is a three-week residential program for more than 300 academically gifted rising Juniors from high schools across Missouri. The Academy is held each June on the campus of the University of Missouri and is administered by the University of Missouri Honors College. Our group of Scholars was 45 members strong, enthusiastic, energetic, and ready to clean a creek!
This is our second year to partner with the Missouri Scholars Academy on the summer Flat Branch Creek cleanup. Last summer we cleaned up a similar stretch of the creek with the Scholars, and this year we returned to collect and remove newly accumulated trash and debris.
We split our group of Scholars into four teams, and each team was assigned to a different area of the creek. We focused on the portion of Flat Branch Creek that stretches between MKT Bridge #1, and MKT Bridge #2, a beautiful segment of creek and trail. Heavy summer rains in downtown Columbia have moved trash in the creek downstream and have also forced trash high up into the surrounding forest. The scholars were more than eager to work in the creek, on the banks, and along the forested edge, collecting garbage and stuffing it into trash bags.
During this event we were assisted by several outstanding volunteers with more than a little experience cleaning up creeks, restoring native habitat, and managing volunteers. A big thank you goes out to Brenda, John and Matt! Without their help, Missouri Conservation Corps could not have pulled this off.
While our event with the Missouri Scholars Academy only lasted two hours, the Scholars removed more than 700 pounds of trash and debris from this cherished urban waterway in downtown Columbia, helping to improve the water quality of the creek. We look forward to another event on Flat Branch Creek next summer!
