Cleaning streams: Cat-Griz Style

In the city of Bozeman, rivers like the Gallatin, Madison, and Yellowstone provide hours of entertainment to the people of the area. Whether you’re a fisherman or -woman, a rafter or simply a nature-lover, these rivers have something to offer. Bozemanites have an opportunity to give back to nature by participating in the Virtual Stream Clean-Up. This event has been organized by the Student Subunit of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) of Montana State and aims to facilitate the cleaning of Montana’s rivers so that they can be enjoyed for years to come.

The Virtual Stream Clean-Up will run from September 14 - 25 and is being held nationwide by the AFS in lieu of their 50th annual meeting. The society’s goal is to clean waters across the country without a confining schedule. “You can go wherever you want to and bring whatever you want to clean up trash,” said Ben Noble, MSU’s AFS Communications Director. The AFS asks that participants limit their groups to no more than 25 people and comply with CDC COVID-19 guidelines while taking part in stream cleanups.

With the current state of the pandemic, MSU’s AFS has introduced an incentive to encourage Bobcats to go out and clean. “This year we wanted to vamp it up by making it a competition between the University of Montana and Montana State in absence of the Cat-Griz [football] rivalry that’s normally going on,” Noble said. 

The AFS is asking participants to take a picture of the weirdest, coolest piece of trash they find, post it on Instagram and tag the club @afsmsustudent with the hashtag #afsvirtual2020 and #streamcleanafs. Make sure to comment what body of water was cleaned and on what days. You can also email the picture to afsmsu@gmail.com. By submitting a photo, participants will be automatically entered into a raffle with chances to win various prizes. Winners will be chosen for three categories: weirdest piece of trash collected in the entire competition, by a Bobcat and by a Griz. 

The event is open to the public and the club encourages everyone to join. “We want to get the entire community involved in protecting their resources,” Noble said. “A lot of people aren’t aware that they own the wildlife resources that are around them. If you use them you should be stewards of them.” 

These rivers are key aspects of the Bozeman outdoor experience. AFS asks us, MSU students, to do our part in helping keep Montana’s rivers and streams free of pollution.