A few beaches on the Pacific Coast and the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Thursday still lacked volunteers registered to clean them during the annual Washington Coast Cleanup on Saturday.
Volunteers can sign up to clean specific beaches, donate or get more information, at www.coastsavers.org.
Registration is still open for Shi Shi Beach, Ozette River South, Cape Alava, Sand Point South and Rialto Beach North for the North Olympic Peninsula’s Pacific Coast.
Volunteers were still needed Thursday for Strait beaches Shipwreck Point Beach, Chito Beach, Sekiu River, Hoko River, Deep Creek and Port Townsend area beaches.
Volunteers also can just show up. The timing of the cleanup differs for each beach, since it is dependent upon the tides.
Registration along the Strait tends to open late morning, said Liam Antrim, interim coordinator of Washington CoastSavers. Like the former coordinator, Jon Schmidt, Antrim lives in Sequim. Schmidt has moved to Portland, Ore.
“Pacific Coast cleanups tend to be earlier, but are at different times,” he said.
To find the time and place for registration for a particular beach, go to the Washington CoastSavers’ website and click on the beach’s name.
In Port Townsend, volunteers can register from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s Natural History exhibit building at Fort Worden for work on beaches at Fort Worden State Park, Fort Flagler State Park, Fort Townsend State Park, Railroad Beach, Chetzemoka Park and North Beach.
The Food Co-op is co-sponsoring the Port Townsend area effort and will provide $5 gift cards to volunteers.
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.
Several barbecues, meals and snack tables will be provided by the Surfrider Foundation, Washington State Park Ranger Association, Friends of Olympic National Park, Chito Beach Resort, Lions Clubs and other organizations.
The Surfrider Foundation will host barbecues at Hobuck Beach, Three Rivers and Twin Harbors State Park, Antrim said. The Kalaloch Lodge will host one at its campground. And Lions Club International is offering a barbecue at Chito Beach, west of Clallam Bay.
Following this year’s cleanup on Saturday, volunteers at beaches near Forks can join other residents and visitors for a special movie night.
The 5th annual River & Ocean Film Festival will be at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 N. Forks Avenue, starting at 7 p.m.
The festival will feature short films that highlight the beauty of the region as well as raise awareness of the threats facing its aquatic life and human communities, said Ian Miller of Washington Sea Grant.
Admission is free and open to all ages; all films are family-friendly.
The River & Ocean Film Festival is sponsored by not only Washington Sea Grant but also the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the North Pacific Coast Marine Resource Committee, the North Pacific Coast Lead Entity, the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and the West Olympic Council of the Arts.
For more information about RainFest, see Arts & Entertainment in this edition of the Peninsula Daily News.
Razor clam digs also are planned on the outer coast to complement 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 tonight and Saturday night during the beach cleanup weekend.
Backcountry camping fees also will be waived for volunteers staying overnight on wilderness beaches of Olympic National Park.
At some locations, such as Ozette and Shi Shi, dedicated volunteers hike several miles just to reach the beach. Then they gather the trash and haul it back to the trailhead or road.
Besides using garbage bags to haul out debris, some volunteers tie multiple buoys or floats to their framed backpacks. Other volunteers roll tires out one by one.
Kelsie Donleycott was selected as the 2017 Washington CoastSaver of the Year for her efforts in cleaning the beaches around Ozette every April and September.
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.
