Every year, the Wood River Land Trust hosts the Big Wood River Clean Up. This is an awesome way for the community to spend the morning with friends and family, giving back to the river that gives our community so much. We staff three locations - the Howard Preserve in Bellevue, the Draper Preserve in Hailey, and Towne Square in Ketchum. We also host a celebration after the clean up at Ketchum Towne Square. Volunteers are encouraged to come and enjoy music, brunch foods, and drinks as our “thank you” to you for helping clean up our beloved river!
Clean-Up from 9-11am, followed by a party in Ketchum Towne Square from 11am-1pm
Giving Back
All funds raised through the Big Wood River Clean Up event go directly to protecting and restoring the Big Wood River, its floodplain, and its tributaries. By reinvesting the dollars that we raise through this event into projects to maintain and enhance Big Wood fishery, we are ensuring that world class fishing will be sustainable into the future.
During the 2022 event, over 1,440 pounds of trash was removed from the Big Wood River and its banks. Many volunteers came back to the party with a single bag of trash and exclaimed that “I didn’t find that much trash!” But, when combined with the other 75 volunteers working along the river that day, the impact was huge! It offers a great opportunity for community members to feel part of a larger movement of stewarding the river while also allowing younger participants to learn about river stewardship early in life.
The Big Wood River Clean Up is an exciting volunteer event that gives a voice to the needs of the Big Wood River. This event has regularly pulled thousands of pounds of trash out of the river!
Inclusivity
The Big Wood River Clean Up is designed to be largely inclusive to all members of our community, and Land Trust staff works hard to find projects that can be tackled by any volunteer - from highly energized high school students to easy access spots for kids and families.
Fun
The party at the Ketchum Towne Square was a super fun way to thank the volunteers for their help stewarding the river, and had the added benefit of bringing a ton of visibility to the river for people just passing through the event. This event is truly allowing us to give the river a voice.
Step 2
On The Day, Head To Your Preferred Location And Grab Your Clean Up Supplies
Step 3
Walk Along The River, Filling Up Your Trash Bag
Step 4
Bring Your Trash Back To Check-In Table, Where We Will Load It Into The Truck
Step 5
Hang Out & Enjoy The Party While Our Staff Run The Truckloads To The Dump
Step 6
Final Weight Is Announced At The Party & On Social Media
Last Years Promo Video:
Sponsorship Packages
As a sponsor of the Big Wood River Clean Up, your logo would be featured prominently on all of our advertising and outreach for the event. We offer one opportunity for a Title Sponsor to be featured on the banner above Main Street.
Title Sponsor
$2000
- Logo on Banner Above Main Street
- Logo on Posters & Ads
- Logo on T-Shirt
- Social Media Shoutouts
- Live Onstage Recognition at Event
Gold Sponsor
$1000
- Logo on Posters & Ads
- Logo on T-Shirt
- Social Media Shoutouts
- Live Onstage Recognition at Event
Silver Sponsor
$500
- Logo on Posters & Ads
- Social Media Shoutouts
- Printed Name of T-shirt
- Live Onstage Recognition at Event
IT’S MORE THAN AN EVENT SPONSORSHIP IT’S AN INVESTMENT IN THE BIG WOOD RIVER
For the past 27 years, the Big Wood River has been an essential part of the mission of the Wood River Land Trust. From our very first project of protecting and restoring the Boxcar Bend Preserve, we have now preserved over 19 miles of the Big Wood River and its tributaries. We have engaged in major reach-wide restoration on projects in Bellevue, Hailey, and now, at the City of Ketchum’s new Warm Springs Preserve.
And our work is ongoing. As the Valley grows and expands, the preservation, restoration, and collective community stewardship of our home river becomes more and more critical.
Your Sponsorship Helps Restore Warm Springs Creek
The City of Ketchum is partnering with the Wood River Land Trust to restore Warm Springs Creek. This will entail enhancing both floodplain and in-stream habitat while increasing the irrigation efficiency of the recently acquired Warm Springs Preserve. This is the last major restoration opportunity on this important tributary to the Big Wood, and your sponsorship ensures that we have the staff and organizational capacity to implement this project.
Your Sponsorship Supports Restoration Of The BWR
We recently completed the Colorado Gulch river restoration project, which allowed us to enhance floodplain habitat and reconnect historic side channels by removing hundreds of cubic yards of rip-rap and artificial fill. This project was a great example of how we can reverse decades of bad practices such as channelization, bank hardening, and disconnecting habitats through infrastructure, and enhance salmonid habitat and recreational access.
Your Sponsorship Ensures Restoration Is Working
Nationally, more than $1 billion is spent each year on stream restoration projects, though only 10% of projects report post-project monitoring and assessment. The Land Trust has launched a pre/ post monitoring program, that allows us to take a scientific look at the efficacy of our own restoration efforts. Your sponsorship of our river events helps us purchase equipment, pay lab fees, and continue this valuable monitoring.
Sign up to help here!