The last weekend in March will mark the date for volunteers to converge on one of the region's most pristine rivers for cleanup efforts to help keep it that way.
On March 25, cleanup volunteers' target will be the Hiwassee River in Polk County, Tenn.
Bo Reynolds, a forest service wildlife biological technician, is overseeing the event that is now entering its third decade.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/15/17. Appalachia Powerhouse and the Hiwassee River on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. 
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/15/17. Shannon Smith from Georgetown, Tenn, fishes for trout on the Hiwassee River on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. "We've been doing it for over 20 years," Reynolds said. The event began with devoted outdoor enthusiasts and passionate local sponsors such as Trout Unlimited, he said.
The U.S. Forest Service, Tennessee State Parks, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Valley Authority and Trout Unlimited are sponsoring the event in conjunction with the Springtown Community Support Group cleanup project, forest service officials said.
Volunteers and event organizers will meet at 9 a.m. March 25 at the Ocoee/Hiwassee State Park Office on Spring Creek Road, on the north side of the Hiwassee River and east of U.S. Highway 411.
Trash bags will be provided to participants, but all volunteers should bring long-sleeve shirts and leather gloves and wear safety glasses and boots or sturdy shoes, event organizers said.
Event sponsor Trout Unlimited will host a cookout for participants after the cleanup is finished, Reynolds said.
Last year's event volunteers gathered up more than 100 bags of trash, he said.
Depending on the weather, between 20 and 60 volunteers usually turn out to clean up the river.
The upper Hiwassee River is designated as a State Scenic River and managed by the U.S. Forest Service, TVA, TWRA and Tennessee State Parks, officials said.
The river originates in Towns County, Ga., and flows from the Peach State into North Carolina before entering Tennessee where it weaves through Polk, creates the border between Bradley and McMinn and then flows through Meigs where it meets up with the Tennessee River.
For more information on the cleanup event or other ways to help, call Bo Reynolds at 423-338-3319.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.