2019 Strawberry Reservoir Cleanup

June 29, 2019

Based on the success of recent cleanup events and suggestions from participants to expand outside the Wasatch Front we searched for a new cleanup location that sees a fair amount of traffic from outdoor enthusiasts. We also wanted to find a still water location and the natural choice was Strawberry Reservoir, located 65 miles east of Salt Lake City in the Uinta National Forest. Instead of offering a one-day cleanup event, we encouraged all volunteers to camp out with us on Saturday night to both enjoy the reservoir all weekend and get to know their fellow event participants. The goal was to use this event as a way to build a stronger sense of community within the angling and outdoor recreation communities.

Once again, a great litmus test of an event is when you see participants showing up on Friday afternoon until the early morning hours to help with event set up. Steelhead legend, Marty Howard, had his extensive cooking station ready at sunrise to cook pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee for all our volunteers.

The large sum of volunteers started to flow into the Chicken Creek East parking lot on Saturday morning with industry veterans like Rising Nets’ marketing manager, Dalton Smith, and the owner of DropJaw flies. A huge highlight of volunteers was Vivint Smart Home carpooling to the cleanup in an attempt to keep their carbon footprint as small as possible. The day saw much of the usual trash but some unique highlights to still water such as large sections of docks, boating buoys and even parts of old float tubes. Again, Marty Howard with the assistance of SLC Trout Unlimited President, Scott Antonetti, prepared lunch for all the hungry volunteers returning with their loads of trash. As the last of the volunteers returned, we began our end-of-day opportunity drawing by giving away a hefty amount of prizes from all of our generous sponsors.

The majority of our participants departed after our mid-afternoon lunch and drawing. However, a core group of individuals stuck around to enjoy some early evening fishing and comradery by rejoicing in the event success, telling old fishing stories and feasting on ribs and burgers.

For our first year at Strawberry Reservoir, we had roughly 100 volunteers show up on this mid-summer day, with roughly 25 people camping overnight. We filled one large flatbed trailer and one dumpster with roughly 2,500 pounds of trash. We want to thank everyone for taking the time to come out for our inaugural cleanup at Strawberry. We had a great time seeing many new faces, and are always pleased to see our dedicated volunteers return year after year. We look forward to hosting again in Summer 2020!

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