Beaches are filling up with volunteers ready to clean them during the annual Washington Coast Cleanup on Saturday.
Volunteers can sign up to clean specific beaches, and get more information, at www.coastsavers.org.
Registration already is full for Hobuck Beach, Point of the Arches, Sand Point North, Hole in The Wall, Rialto Beach, First Beach, Second Beach, Third Beach, Oil City, Hoh Reservation, Ruby Beach, Kalaloch Lodge and Kalaloch Campground and other beaches in that area on the Pacicifc Coast.
On the Strait of Juan de Fuca, registration is full for Dungeness Spit, Ediz Hook, Freshwater Bay, Lyre, Murdock Beach and Pillar Point.
But seven beaches on the Strait of Juan De Fuca need volunteers as do about eight Pacific Coast beaches within the North Olympic Peninsula.
Every April, Washington CoastSavers, its partners and volunteers join forces to clean plastics and other debris from the state’s shores, to reduce injury to wildlife and pollution and to remove the unnatural garbage.
The effort aims to help remove tons of trash over 300 miles of Washington’s shoreline.
The event will include several barbecues, meals and snack tables provided by the Surfrider Foundation, Washington State Park Ranger Association, Friends of Olympic National Park, Chito Beach Resort, Lions Clubs and other organizations.
On Saturday, participants also will find the River and Ocean Film Festival and other RainFest events in Forks, as well as razor clam digs on the outer coast and the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival.
Camping in the coastal campgrounds of Olympic National Park — at Kalaloch, Mora and Ozette — will be free for volunteers on the nights of Friday and Saturday during the beach cleanup weekend. Backcountry camping fees also will be waived for volunteers staying overnight on wilderness beaches of Olympic National Park.
Washington CoastSavers is an alliance of partners and volunteers dedicated to clearing trash from the state’s beaches.
The alliance behind the CoastSavers program includes representatives of Clallam County government, Discover Your Northwest, Grass Roots Garbage Gang, Lions Club International, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Olympic National Park, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Surfrider Foundation and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.