Slew of volunteers chip in during day-long cleanup
Lake Santeetlah – More than 70 people combed the shores of Lake Santeetlah on Saturday, collecting enough garbage, debris and discards to fill two large industrial garbage containers.
Spearheaded by Jared Schuster of Smoky Mountain Kayak Fishing and Randall Veal of Santeetlah Marina & Outfitters, the effort brought together dozens of volunteers and numerous groups – including the Robbinsville High School wrestling team, whose members unloaded filled trash bags from boats, kayaks and barges and carried them to industrial garbage containers.
Participants came from around the county and around the region just to help.
Brothers Matt and Ryan Zeunen have been visiting Lake Santeetlah for many years and said they just wanted to pitch in.
Matt deployed his 1983 Lund fishing boat (with a 1978-vintage outboard motor), filling their boat nearly waist-deep in bagged debris on their first trip. They knew just where to find those places where trash collects along the lakeshore.
“Over 32 years, we know the lake pretty damn good,” said Matt Zeunen.
The main trouble spot is around – and on – the Robbinsville side of the Cheoah River, which enters on one side of Lake Santeetlah and empties out on the other side, through the gates at Santeetlah Dam.
Upstream, Tallulah Creek passes through some of the most densely populated areas of the county, including Robbinsville.
Windblown litter – some left accidentally and some deliberately – blows into the creek from off the roads, streets and highways, from the neighborhoods and business districts, and from popular illegal dumping sites in the woods. Where Tallulah Creek meets Sweetwater Creek, it becomes the Cheoah River, carrying litter along the way.
Several other creeks – Long Creek, Mountain Creek and smaller streams – suffer the same consequences of human habitation, contributing their part to the litter problem.
As the Cheoah River winds its way toward Lake Santeetlah, more trash finds its way into the water from U.S. Highway 129, Old U.S. Highway 129 and Massey Branch Road.
The impact is cumulative and – for those who care – disturbing. Some trash sinks to the bottom, while much of it gets snagged and winds up on the river banks and lake shore, mostly in the coves.
The amount of trash collected over the weekend was bad enough, but much more was collected by volunteers during a pre-cleanup the week before.
Originally from Wisconsin, Schuster established his kayak fishing business in Lake Santeetlah in spring 2020 and said this was the largest turnout for a Lake Santeetlah cleanup that he has seen.
Participants started showing up at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to sign up at the Cheoah Point boat ramp. Kayaks were loaned to those who needed them. Others joined the effort from the Massey Branch side. The total number of participants is estimated and could be conservative, given that some people joined in without signing up.
Schuster ferried the volunteers on his pontoon boat to the areas in the lake most in need of attention, while Veal operated the trash barge, collecting bagged trash from volunteers on the water and on the lake’s edge, to the Massey Branch Boat Ramp where the bags were transferred by Robbinsville High wrestlers into the industrial trash container.
Edd Satterfield, another volunteer, helped deliver extra garbage bags and bagged lunches paid for by Avis Phillips.
Garbage containers were positioned at the Cheoah Point and Massey Branch boat ramps. At the Massey Branch location, where the wrestlers were stationed, one industrial garbage container was filled to near overflowing before it was replaced with an empty container. Graham County waived the dumping fee for the garbage collected during the day’s effort.
Remarkably, weather cooperated all day.
New event
One group that participated in the lake cleanup is relatively new on the scene, but hopes to help make preservation of the lake a continuous effort.
Lake Santeetlah Preservation Group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit established in March 2021, was created to protect and preserve the ecology of Lake Santeetlah, its tributaries and watershed through advocacy and program development. According to its mission statement, it does this by operating in a transparent, professional and neighborly manner.
“Our goals (are) critical to maintaining Lake Santeetlah’s natural features, ensuring its sustainability, and the investment in and enjoyment of our lake and its watershed,” the group’s mission statement states.
“The right time to preserve and protect the lake is when it is healthy because there are few practical ways to restore a lake once it is impaired,” according to the group’s guiding principle. “Our goal is to evolve a culture of awareness and caring about the decision and habits that we, as users and property owners around the lake, make that affect the health and sustainability of the pristine, natural lake experience that we share.”
The board of directors includes Randall Veal, along with Dirk Cody (executive director), Avis Phillips (managing director), Maxine Bahr (co-managing director), Willa Mae Passmore, with Tyler Bragg representing Brookfield Renewable (which owns the lake), and Nantahala National Forest Cheoah District Ranger Andy Gaston.
Contributions to the non-profit are tax deductible and help fund future work to preserve the Lake. Checks can be sent to P.O. Box 604, Robbinsville, 28771, with checks made out to Lake Santeetlah Preservation Group.