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Cleaning Crow Creek

  • Published
  • By Glenn S. Robertson
  • 90th Missile Wing

The waters of the Crow Creek have been central to the city of Cheyenne and F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., for as long as the two have existed together.

 

A group of more than 50 volunteers from nearly 15 different organizations including the 90th Missile Wing came together May 11 to wade through those waters and clear it of litter as part of the Crow Creek Revival initiative.

 

The purpose of the initiative is to return the creek to a naturally functioning waterway, according to Brent Lathrop of the Nature Conservancy and the organizer of the event. By the end of the effort, more than 100 bags of trash were removed from the creek.

 

For some, though, it was the importance of volunteerism that brought them out early on a Saturday morning.

 

“It’s always good to get out and help the community to make it cleaner and more approachable,” said SSgt Joshua Midla from the 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron. “Volunteering is one of the easiest things we can do and it has the most impact.”

 

One team of five were asked to clean up a nearly half-mile section of the Cheyenne Greenway, filling six large trash bags of litter to ensure the walkway's cleanliness for pedestrians and cyclists.

 

"It’s important for base personnel to get involved with these events because we are located upstream from the City, meaning whatever flows through Crow Creek that is not intercepted before leaving base will travel through the rest of town ," said Nicole Ng, the Air and Water program manager for F. E. Warren and part of the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron. "With the Crow Creek Restoration (CCR) committee looking to restore sections of Crow Creek, our efforts to manage storm water effectively on base is critical to the success of the restoration."

 

Ng hopes to build off the success of the program to conduct more cleanup events on base.

 

“The Installation Management flight just kicked off the first cleanups of the year in April to commemorate Earth Day,” Ng said. “Typically, we select an area to clean up on a monthly basis until September when the weather starts to cool.”

 

If any personnel are interested in participating in the planned monthly base cleanups, contact Nicole Ng at nicole.ng.1@us.af.mil.