Hundreds of volunteers jump into Johnson Creek during annual ‘Clean-Up’

INCLUDES VIDEO TOUR THROUGHOUT OUR AREA | Find out just how much good these creek waders did in this year’s event put on by the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. What item won the annual ‘Golden Garbage Can Award’ this time? Check it out …

From the confluence of Johnson Creek and the Willamette River, eastward past Gresham, volunteers meet to take part in the 2024 Johnson Creek Clean-up event.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Ever since Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC) volunteers got involved in an in-water effort started by current co-organizer Melanie Klym back in 2010, wading the water to find and remove trash has become an annual late summer tradition.

This year, August 17 was the day chosen for the Johnson Creek Clean-up. Volunteers began arriving at one of a dozen sites along the creek at 8:45 a.m.

Along with a half-dozen volunteers, Friends of Tideman Johnson Park Chair Marianne Colgrove headed out along the banks of Johnson Creek.

This year, our tour of the Johnson Creek Clean-up began at Tideman Johnson Park at S. E. 45th Avenue trailhead, where the Friends of Tideman Johnson Park were being briefed by Marianne Colgrove.

Heading upstream from Johnson Creek Park, these volunteers were more than knee deep in the water, fishing out trash.

Next, we found a large contingent of volunteers meeting at Johnson Creek Park along S.E. 21st Avenue in Sellwood, where they slogged through the water at the confluence of Johnson Creek and Crystal Springs Creek.

On S. E. Johnson Creek Boulevard at Bell Road, these volunteers were smiling because they’d survived picking trash out of the creek without making any major missteps.

A sizeable band of creek-cleaners dutifully packed out trash along S.E. Johnson Creek Boulevard at Bell Road. Again this year, volunteers were working further upstream along S.E. Luther Road while others started on S.E. 82^nd Avenue of Roses to work their way both upstream and downstream.

Looking west from SE 82nd Avenue of Roses, we see these volunteers scramble down a steep bank to remove trash from Johnson Creek.

In the Lents neighborhood, volunteers wade into Johnson Creek near the TriMet MAX Light Rail station on SE Flavel Street near 92nd Avenue to pull out rubbish.

Venturing into outer East Portland, volunteers were creek-cleaning under the bridges near the intersection of SE Flavel Street and 92nd Avenue. This smaller band of folks found plenty of trash and rubbish to haul out of Johnson Creek.

Near the Foster Floodplain entrance, Nate Whirty shows off some of the trash that was picked up in the area.

And, on land, another group was picking up trash in the Foster Floodplain, along SE Foster Road.

Serving up hot tamales at the after-event gathering, it’s volunteer Jessie Davidson.

Participants from the teams talk with one another about their adventures in this Johnson Creek Clean-up.

Like in the “old days” before the pandemic, all of the volunteers who cared to do so gathered back at Johnson Creek Park around the noon hour, where they were treated to hearty warm tamales and cold beverages while sharing their experiences with one another.

From the confluence with Crystal Springs Creek, on out into the Lents neighborhood, watch volunteers pull rubbish out of Johnson Creek:

Participation grows
“Since the pandemic, we’d noted a drop in the number of volunteers coming out; so, seeing many more of our ‘creek-cleaners’ coming out this year made for a real feeling of community and coming together – it felt really special this year,” commented JCWC Volunteer Program Manager Marlee Eckman afterwards.

“In fact, we had 170 volunteers at this year’s Johnson Creek Clean-up – and together, they removed 4.9 tons of trash from this urban waterway,” Eckman said.

The rubbish that volunteers haul out of Johnson Creek keeps it safer for salmon.

“Removing trash from the creek is really important, from a water-quality standpoint,” Eckman told East Portland News. Our main objective for this is to remove trash that is posing the most harm – anything that consistently is leaching toxins into the creek – to give salmon the best chance of survival.”

Elected to this year’s “Golden Trash Can Award”, for the most unusual trash found during this year’s Johnson Creek Clean-up, was “Team Millport Downstream” and their leader, JCWC Board Member Jacob Neal – who shows off the winning item: Glittery “disco pumps”.

What won their “Golden Trash Can Award” for the most unusual item retrieved from the creek? This year it was a flashy pair of glitter disco shoes!

The JCWC holds volunteer events frequently. Find out what they’re doing this weekend by checking their website: CLICK HERE.

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