North Bend part of clean up initiative

(Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)

PARKERSBURG — Ten state parks in West Virginia including North Bend at Cairo and Tu-Endie-Wei at Pt. Pleasant will participate in the first Tread Lightly! Day WV on Saturday.

The program is a statewide effort to clean up public lands.

In addition to North Bend and Tu-Endie-Wei, state parks in the program are Bluestone, Cacapon Resort, Canaan Valley Resort, Cedar Creek, Chief Logan, Tomlinson, Twin Falls Resort and Tygart Lake.

“West Virginia’s natural beauty is a treasure that belongs to us all and Tread Lightly! Day WV is an opportunity for us to come together and show our commitment to preserving these lands for future generations,” Brett McMillion, director of the Division of Natural Resources, which oversees the state parks system, said.

Participants are asked to pack one bag of trash during an outdoor adventure on Saturday and dispose of it with their regular trash. Participants also are encouraged to post a photo to social media with the hashtag #WVTLDAY so organizers can estimate the amount of trash that gets cleaned up.

“With tourism booming, a lot of people are coming to West Virginia and we want to set an example for how to take care of our public lands,” Jerry Bain, chairman of the Country Roads Coalition, said. “If people visiting our state know that we work this hard to take care of our public lands, they will respect it too and it will make more people want to come to West Virginia because they will see that we are stewarding something truly special here.”

The project is a partnership led in part by Tread Lightly!, a national group promoting responsible recreation through stewardship programs and ethics education. Other partners include Rodney Loftis and Son Contracting, the Country Roads Coalition, BF Goodrich and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Loftis, the state-level sponsor, is helping transfer and properly dispose of debris, the Country Roads Coalition is providing volunteers, BF Goodrich is providing funding through its Outstanding Trails Program, and the WVDEP is providing trash bags and drop offs through its Open Dump Cleanup Program.

For more information about stewardship and conservation at West Virginia’s state parks and how visitors can help keep parks clean, go to WVstateparks.com/leave-no-trace. To learn more about Tread Lightly!, go to treadlightly.org.