At a press conference held Wednesday at the riverfront park, Volunteer Landing, in Knoxville, Tenn., Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful® (KTnRB) announced alongside local, state, and federal officials that their volunteers will reach this month the milestone of 1 million lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed by more than 5,000 volunteers.
The announcement came on the celebration kickoff of the 8th annual ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month® presented by TVA’ that was declared in proclamations made by both Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Later this month, proclamations will be announced by a growing number of governors, mayors, and elected officials within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed.
This year also marks the ten-year anniversary of the 2015 Tennessee River Tour, which led to the creation of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. The Tennessee River Tour was put on by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, who traveled with their barge, hosting river cleanups in the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River from Knoxville, Tenn. to Paducah, Ky. The idea for the Tennessee River Tour was sparked and championed at the City of Knoxville who invited Living Lands & Waters to come with their barge. It was Ijams Nature Center who kicked off the cleanup tour with their annual powerhouse, multi-county cleanup known as the Ijams River Rescue, an event that many river officials refer to as the first organized river cleanup effort known on the Tennessee River…