Volunteers continued Missouri River Relief
The Missouri River has long been a popular destination for adventure seek- and everyone in between. By the year 2001, however, improper stewardship had led to pollution and trash in and along the river, threatening the ability of Missourians to enjoy this natural won- der, and causing harmful impacts on both wildlife and the environment. Out of this need for a cleaner river the Missouri River Relief organization was founded. Created by a coalition of can-do pioneers, who saw a problem and knew they could be the solution, the organization started organizing massive river cleanups, which to date have engaged over 20,000 volunteers and removed over 900 tons of trash from the river corridor. In 2016 the organization was
awarded Recreational Trail Program funds by the State of Missouri in order to host four river trail cleanups, along with educational sessions about the Missouri River Water Trail for students and teachers. As part of their mission,
Kansas City WildLands volunteers gathering grass seed for revegetation projects Kristen Schulte, the Education
Missouri River Relief seeks not only to clean up the river, but to teach about the importance of the river to the eco- system and why it’s so necessary to respect the river while using it. To do this they engage school teachers in workshops, both in class- room settings and out on the river. The goal is to enable them to commune directly with what is so special about the Missouri, and to give them tools to take back to their students.
Coordinator for Missouri River Relief, has said, “The Missouri River is a huge component to a lot of communities and it is highly ignored. Our mission is to connect people to the Missouri River. people caring and feeling more respon- sible for the river.”
By engaging teachers in this way, and making sure they are taking lesson plans back to their classrooms, Missouri River Relief is helping to ensure that the youngest generation of Missourians understand their role in keeping this river in good shape for all future gener- ations as well.
One of the mantras repeated at Missouri River Relief is, “We all live downstream.” As Steve Schnarr, their executive director, has said, “Everything that you do in your community is going live upstream.”
Bridging the Gap
Students from City Garden Montessori School explore the rivers during Missouri River Relief’s “Investigating the Confluence” education program; photo by Kristen Schulte
8 SPRING 2019
AmericanTrails.org
based in Kansas City with the express goal of making the Kansas City region sustainable by “connecting environ- ment, economy, and community.” To that end they focus heavily on both pro- viding environmental education and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
