FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
CONTACT:
Tony Berwald, Director of Communications
TrailBlazers Adventure Racing Club
tberwald@racedayinc.org
http://www.TrailBlazerAR.com
 
Atlanta Area Adventure Racers to clean up Cobb County's Chattahoochee River as part of continuing statewide campaign to preserve Georgia's Waterways

ATLANTA, GA August 25, 2003 – Members of the TrailBlazers Adventure Racing Club and area residents will wade into the Chattahoochee in September as part of the continuing statewide campaign to clean and preserve Georgia's 70,150 miles of rivers and streams. The effort will be part of Rivers Alive, the Twelfth Annual Georgia River Cleanup, which is expected to once again be the largest single volunteer effort to beautify Georgia's water resources.

Volunteers in Cobb County will stage their cleanup at 8:30 am on September 27 at the West Palisades area of the Chattahoochee Recreational Area. They will be joining an estimated 20,000 other volunteers statewide participating in the Annual River Cleanup. During the fall months over 100 other cleanups will collect trash and other debris in streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands from the Coosa River in North Georgia to the Okefenokee Swamp in the South.

"The Chattahoochee River and the surrounding parks are a tremendous recreational resource that many of our members use for kayaking, trail running, mountain biking and rock climbing. This is a great opportunity for us to give back to the river, and help make it a safer, cleaner environment," said Chris O"Connell, TrailBlazer member and co-captain of team Water Turkey.

During 2002's River Cleanup, more than 16,000 volunteers cleaned over 750 miles of waterways and removed 301,891 pounds of trash and garbage from the state's waterways. Rivers Alive expects this year's River Cleanup to involve hundreds more volunteers and to continue to be the State's largest volunteer effort to beautify Georgia's water resources. The cleanup aims to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources.

Corporate sponsors include AT&T, BASF, BellSouth, The Coca-Cola Company, Direct Access International, FOX 5 News, Georgia Pacific, Georgia Power, The Home Depot, International Paper, Meadwestvaco, Miller Brewing Company, Mohawk Industries, Inc, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, UPS and Waste Management.

Other sponsors of the statewide campaign include: Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, Keep Georgia Beautiful and Affiliates, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Altamaha Riverkeeper, Bellsouth Pioneers, Columbus Waterworks/Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center, Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia Wildlife Federation, Lake Lanier Shore Sweep, Peavine Watershed Alliance, Georgia Project WET/River of Words, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Dozens of other local organizations will be sponsoring individual cleanups around the State.

To volunteer for the West Palisades cleanup, contact Namrita Kumar at 770-454-2748 or visit www.trailblazerar.com. For more information about efforts in other areas or the statewide campaign, call 404-675-1636 or go to www.riversalive.org.

TrailBlazers Adventure Racing Club is is one of the premier organizations devoted to promoting adventure racing in the southeast. TrailBlazers currently has active chapters in Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. For more information about TrailBlazers or to join visit http://www.TrailBlazerAR.com or contact Zach Doppel, Director of Membership, at zdoppel@mindspring.com.