Clean Water

Stream Team

Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club

• Stream Team #: 41
• Date formed: June 13, 1989
• Location: Blue River, Jackson County
• For more info about Stream Teams: see links listed below

The Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club (OWWC) was formed in 1956, and began conducting river cleanups long before becoming one of Missouri’s first Stream Teams in 1989. Since joining Missouri Stream Team, the OWWC has removed nearly 19 tons of trash from the Black, Blue, Eleven Point, Indian, Jacks Fork, Missouri, Niangua and North Fork rivers. Members have devoted more than 300 hours to water-quality monitoring and have worked more than 360 hours at educational displays for schools, fairs and malls. They write articles, conduct educational programs and hold and attend workshops. In all, they have contributed 7,749 hours—nearly four person-years of full-time labor. “It’s hard work,” said team member Judith Guyn, “but we are blessed with such beautiful streams in Missouri; it is easy to give back by taking care of a few of them.” Visit online for more information about the OWWC.

Stash Your Trash!

Mesh bags help keep streams clean.

Missouri streams attract hundreds of thousands of floaters and anglers annually, and with that popularity comes a challenge—how to prevent drink containers, sandwich bags and candy wrappers from ruining scenic landscapes. The Stash Your Trash Program helps meet that challenge. Each year, the Conservation Department provides more than 300,000 litter bags through canoe outfitters and Stream Teams to ensure that litter doesn’t escape. The mesh bags don’t collect water like plastic trash bags do. The bags’ drawstring tops make it easy to keep trash contained, even if your canoe or raft swamps. Don’t shove off without one!

Recycle Your Fishing Line

Use recycling bins to help protect wildlife.

Discarded nylon fishing line is bad news. It gets caught in boat motor propellers, traps birds and other wildlife and makes fishing spots look ugly. You can ensure that used fishing line doesn’t harm nature and contributes to better fishing through the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program. The program offers plans for simple, inexpensive, easily installed recycling bins made of PVC pipe. You can send line collected from the bins to Pure Fishing, a fishing equipment manufacturer. The company recycles used line to create artificial fish habitat structures. The program is a perfect fit for Stream Teams that conduct stream cleanups, since it prevents waste fishing line from becoming litter in the first place. It also fits well with No More Trash!, a cooperative effort of the Missouri Conservation and Highway and Transportation departments, that aims to reduce litter. To order recycling bins and learn more about the program, call 800-781-1989 or visit online. After removing hooks, sinkers, vegetation and other debris, send monofilament fishing line only to Pure Fishing Inc., 1900 18th Street, Spirit Lake, IA 51360-1041.