Our History
The Russian River Watershed Cleanup (RRWCU) started 20 years
ago as the Russian River Cleanup a conservation activity
co-sponsored by the Sequoia Canoe Club (later to become the
Sequoia Paddling Club and now Sequoia Paddlers) and the Redwood
Paddlers, both sections of the Sierra Club.
The first year, 40 people cleaned the river from the
Alexander Valley Campground to Healdsburg, picking up bags of
garbage and a dozen tires in canoes provided by Trowbridge
Recreation. In recent years, 80 canoes and hundreds of
people from around the Greater Bay Area have participated in the
cleanup. The operation was expanded to include tributaries
of the Russian River in 1999. The RRWCU has assisted Monte
Rio School in their efforts in cleaning the lower section of
Dutch Bill Creek and the Upper Dutch Bill Creek Watershed
Stewardship group with supplies. This assistance has also
extended to the Fife/Hulbert Creeks group and a group in the
Hobson Creek Watershed. Participation of school students
has increased each year. Since 2000, students from biology
classes at Healdsburg High School have assisted with the sorting
and recycling of trash on Sunday following the cleanup.

Healdsburg High School Students on the Healdsburg Beach, 2007
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