{"id":134929,"date":"2024-03-04T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134929"},"modified":"2024-03-06T00:43:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T00:43:26","slug":"fort-cavazos-community-volunteers-collect-920-lbs-of-litter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134929","title":{"rendered":"Fort Cavazos community volunteers collect 920 lbs of litter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Christopher Richter, a 17-year-old volunteer, shows off a skateboard he found near a stream bed leading into the pond. (U.S. Army photo by Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW Environmental)
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 <\/strong>In a battle to fight against litter, volunteers from Texas A&M University Central Texas Science Club, Central Texas Chapter Texas master naturalists and Soldiers from Bravo Company, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, stepped up to the challenge Feb. 23.<\/p>\n

Brad Burden, biologist for the Adaptive and Integrative Management Team, recognized the fields and stream beds surrounding Cantonment E pond here were overwhelmed with litter ranging from plastics and glass bottles to metal poles and hubcaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe noticed that a large majority of trash was freshly being blown into the stream beds, which empties out into Cantonment E pond,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to prevent this from happening and saw an opportunity to continue our impact from last year\u2019s trash-off event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burden explained the significance of keeping the installation\u2019s ponds clear of litter benefits the environment and wildlife like birds, otters and beavers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFort Cavazos ponds play an important role in the safety and health of wildlife,\u201d he said. \u201cCantonment E pond is a major area for our Christmas Bird Count because of the avian diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Fort Cavazos biologists, community volunteers, Texas A&M University Central Texas Science Club, Central Texas Chapter, Texas master naturalists and Soldiers from Bravo Company, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, gather to kick off the Adaptive and Integrative Management Trash-Off event. (U.S. Army photo by Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW Environmental)
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Armed with grabbers, trash bags and gloves, a group of 14 volunteers joined Fort Cavazos biologists at the pond adjacent to Kouma Village for a trash-off event.<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Anna Wagner of 615th ASB, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, who is from Killeen, felt good about giving back to a place she calls home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvents like this is a great way for Soldiers to get out of the barracks and motor pools to meet people, help others and do something great in the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sara Richter, president of the TAMUCT Science Club, attended the litter cleanup event for a second-year. During last year\u2019s event, she came across wildlife remains with plastic waste that had not biodegrade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt bothered me that there was plastic where their intestines would be,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like the fact that their habitat was being destroyed by what we use on a daily basis, and individuals not thinking about recycling or throwing it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richter encouraged her peers from the Science Club to attend, along with her 17-year-old son, emphasizing the importance of community stewardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to give back to the community, and to also leave places that you go better than you found it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s an eye-opening experience so people can see the impact we have on the environment and other species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helping to improve wildlife habitat, the small group of volunteers collected 760 pounds of trash and 160 pounds of recyclables in a little less than three hours. A trailer was loaded up with trash and interesting finds ranging from a skateboard and an inflatable Santa Claus to orange fencing and batteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not get all the trash, but every effort that we can do to help maintain the environment and pick up after ourselves is a huge impact,\u201d Burden said. \u201cWe thank our community partners, university students and Soldiers for coming out and making today a great success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christopher Richter, a 17-year-old volunteer, shows off a skateboard he found near a stream bed leading into the pond. (U.S. Army photo by Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW Environmental) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 In a battle to fight against litter, volunteers from Texas A&M University Central Texas Science Club, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134931,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134929"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134934,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134929\/revisions\/134934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}