Photo: Rich Vertigan

THE SUNDAY GAZETTE

June 3, 2001

Cleanup nets tires, freezer, trash Volunteers dodge poison ivy to improve Sch’dy bikepath

By DAPHNE STEIN Gazette Reporter

SCHENECTADY – Lugging tires and other debris is not Margot Burns’ idea of a good time. But knowing from previous years what the Schenectady bike path has the potential to look like, the 13-year-old pulled her weight and a bunch of waste-filled industrial-sized trash bags during the annual bike path cleanup on Saturday. The cleanup, sponsored by the Schenectady chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club, was organized to mark National Trails Day.

This is the eighth year the Schenectady ADK chapter has cleaned the mile-long stretch between Anthony and Nott streets. Elsewhere in the state and in the Capital Region, trail dedications, horse rides, canoe festivals and other events were scheduled to mark Trails Day 2001.

In a prepared statement, Gov. George Pataki said his administration is “committed to expanding and improving our trail systems for the enjoyment of tourists, hikers, bikers and families all across New York State.” Schenectady cleanup organizer Howard Halstead said the ADK sponsors the cleanup because the pathway is used for walking.

This year the ADK was joined by a new group, the Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Canalway Trail. A biker and jogger, Courtney Erickson said he joined the canalway trail group after seeing the plastic bottles and other junk along the trail in Rotterdam. “I hate garbage - I want to pick up the ‘crud people throw away,” Erickson said. “I am worried about runoff into the river and what it could do to the river.”

Clad in work boots or hiking boots and gloves, few people at the cleanup worried about injury from rusty nails or splinters. “The biggest thing I warn them about is the poison ivy just off the trail,” Halstead said. The refuse collected will be picked up Monday by city sanitation workers, Halstead said.

In about three hours, the group collected approximately 60 tires, two mattresses, an old freezer, several large pieces of wood and assorted small items, such as bottles. Ron Ramsey, an ADK mem- - ber from Burnt Hills who participated in the cleanup for the first time last year, was aghast at the number of tires. “It’s a little disheartening that the city provides us with this [trail] for recreational purposes and some people use it as a dump,” Ramsey said.

Margot’s father, Joe Burns, said it didn’t upset or anger him to see the trash. Rather, it confused him, he said. “I don’t understand why people [dump garbage],” Burns said. Halstead echoed that sentiment, saying that it makes little sense to him since, with the exception of tires, the city sanitation department will take away anything left at the curb. Happily, volunteers pointed out, the amount of garbage doesn’t seem to have increased dramatically.

Still, volunteer Tess Stoklosa said: “It is discouraging to come back year after year” and see that the grounds are still being used for dumping. “I worry though,” Stoklosa continued, “what it would look like if we didn’t come back and clean each year.”

“You can see the difference after we come,” Margot Burns said.