The “weight” is over. Get the Lead Out is back and better than ever! Join us by removing derelict fishing gear from the Maumee River this summer. We have over three miles of the Maumee River between Perrysburg and Maumee to cover and remove fishing line, lead, lures, and hooksthat have been left behind bythe anglers. Just last year, PCS volunteers collected 41 pounds of lead sinkers from this 3-mile stretch of river. Groups have already signed up for this volunteer program.

During Get the Lead Out, groups or individuals go out into the Maumee River starting in early June (water level dependent) through August.Everyone is welcome! Bring friends, family, kids, significant others, co-workers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and neighbors. Plan to walk in the Maumee River, along its banks, over logs, through tall grasses, and over rocks collecting lead, line, and trash that have gotten snagged on rocks, branches, and grass. PCS will be planning for large group and staff organized outings in June, July, and August. These events are open to everyone; all experience levels welcome. But you don’t have to wait for one of our outings. Sign your group or family/friends team up for a personalized time that works for you.

Not only do we remove the lead and line, but the material also gets recycled. All collected lead will be reused by ZAP Lures, while the collected fishing line will be recycled with Berkley Fishing and Bass Pro Shops. If you independently collect fishing line or lead and would like it to be recycled, we are happy to process and recycle it for you.

For more information, check out the Get the Lead Out webpage. To get started, sign up your group with Ava at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 419-874-0727.

Hello everyone! My name is Casey Fuleky and I am Partners for Clean Streams’ new Outreach Intern. In addition to becoming a

new PCS team member, I am approaching six years with The Olander Park System. From a young age, I embraced a passion towards protecting Earth’s beautiful and natural environments. My growing appreciation for a clean, safe, and healthy planet developed into a priority that I wanted to share with the world around me. It was a very easy decision of mine to pursue a lifelong career in the environmental field. Following my dream, this past spring I graduated from The University of Toledo with an Environmental Studies Degree and a Political Science Concentration.

I am very eager to begin this new and exciting chapter in my life with Partners for Clean Streams. Although I have participated in Clean Your Streams by assisting the Kickoff Coordinator on the day of the event in years past at The Olander Park, I am learning so much more about Clean Your Streams already. I am looking forward to not only expanding my understanding of the ecological services that clean streams, rivers, and lakes provide, but also to helping motivate the public with this newly acquired knowledge. Living out a sustainable and efficient lifestyle is something that all human beings should practice for the happiness of their own future generations and for the wellbeing of Plant Earth as a whole. Partners for Clean Streams works vigorously to promote environmental awareness and make a positive impact on the local waterways, which is why I am very fortunate and excited to be personally involved in this inspiring initiative.

Not everyone gets excited about sitting in conference rooms for three and half days discussing how to run a non-profit organization dedicated to clean rivers. But we (Kris and Ava) did! And so did over600 other dedicated river lovers from around the world. This time, it was for the National River Rally Conference with River Network in Pittsburgh. We had the chance to join professional river experts and learn countless techniques for preserving our rivers here in our corner of northwest Ohio. Sessions included tips on how to raise money, plan river cleanups, utilize our resources better, involve board members in daily activities, and how to tell others about our unique story. But theoretical learning just didn’t cut it! We, Kris and Ava, also did a trash cleanup (from a kayak) lead by Paddlers without Pollution and discovered that Pittsburgh has much of the same type of urban trash as Toledo does. But as the old adage goes, we “left it better than we found it.”

Not only did we explore ways to improve our waterways,we had the chance to reflect on and celebrate our accomplishments in recent years. Throughout the conference, we networked and shared stories with groups from small rivers in the Appalachian Mountains recovering from mining issues, to groups from the west coast with heavily polluted rivers facing fish population declines, to groups with restored urban rivers in major metropolitan areas, all while putting our Toledo rivers and stories into perspective. We also saw, firsthand, the amazing economic and downtown revival that Pittsburgh has undergone and how central their three rivers were in that revitalization. We realized that although we have a lot of wonderful projects happening here, we still have a ways to go in protecting our rivers and making our abundant water resources central to driving a downtown renaissance. Coming back to Toledo and our precious “Muddy Maumee”, we feel a new sense of stewardship, dedication, appreciation, and hope for the future.