There's been a lot of talk about the trash problem on the Saco River recently, and yesterday I had a talk with somebody who's doing something about it: Fred Westerberg, canoe livery owner and supervisor of the Saco River Recreation Council.

Canoeing the Saco River is a very popular activity.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

Many canoeists head down the river and camp along the sandbars.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

But let's back up a bit. PaddleME's entries for Aug. 1 ("Sunny Day...") and Aug. 6 ("Adventure Club paddles..." included photos of disgusting trash piles left on the river's famously scenic, picnic-friendly sandbars.

Trash left on a sandbar by thoughtless paddlers.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

The Aug. 1 entry drew the following comment:

"LOL You post as if the people who litter will read it and learn! They don't care they won't be back til next year and we will have it cleaned by then. Here is a thought. There is a select group making good money off our river. How about they volunteer their employees to cruise the river every so often and clean up. I am sure they could barter for more help. They could hand out trash bags and set up trash dropoff points along the way that they could maintain. Seems only fair. Not saying their clients are the problem, just that they have a vested interest in a beautiful river."

Another pile of garbage left along the Saco River.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

Fred and Prudy Westerberg, owners of Saco River Canoe and Kayak, have been in the business for 35 years. Fred's an organizer and supervisor of the Saco River Recreation Council, an association of canoe liveries and related interested organizations.

SRRC hires a crew of teenaged trash picker-uppers throughout the summer months. Every Monday through Thursday these kids paddle one section of the river and pick up the trash left behind -- such as the piles in my photos.

Fred Westerberg has been in the canoe rental business for 35 years, and he's the supervisor of the Saco River Recreation Council, which hires a crew of teens to pick up trash each summer.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

The council also hires part-time patrollers -- off-duty police officers -- plus a number of "river runners" and other people who maintain a presence on the river, especially on the busiest weekends. But on the busiest weekends, the yahoos can still keep a few paddle strokes ahead of the good guys.

Fred told me that SRCC's efforts cost $46,000 each summer, with about 80 percent of that sum paid by half a dozen canoe liveries such as his own.

Fred emphasizes that the liveries only deal with a fraction of the people on the river. He says that 20 to 40 percent of the people bring their own canoes. But the SRRC picks up after everybody.

"Eighty-five or 90 percent of the people on the river are good people," says Fred. "But we're dealing with the 10 percent jerks and idiots."

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