(L) Maintaining a Healthy River – Nearly 40 volunteers worked together to collect over 2,000 pounds of litter and debris in the first Salmon River Cleanup Day, Saturday, April 11. The event was hosted by New York Sea Grant and Oswego County Tourism. Pictured is Stacy Furgal of New York Sea Grant filling a trash bag.; (R) Community Comes Together for Salmon River Cleanup – Participants in the first Salmon River Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 11, filled three dumpsters with trash and debris, including a couch and tires. Pictured are Garrett Brancy of Douglaston Salmon Run with his crew loading trash bags into a trailer.
Contact:
Stacy Furgal, NYSG Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist, E: slf85@cornell.edu, P: (315) 234-1329
Oswego, NY, April 17, 2026 - New York Sea Grant and Oswego County Tourism partnered to host a Salmon River Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 11. Nearly 40 volunteers gathered to collect trash and debris from the banks of the Salmon River and surrounding areas.
“This event was a great success,” said New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist Stacy Furgal. “It was wonderful to see such a diverse group of fishing and community members joining forces to clean up the river."
Oswego County Deputy Director of Tourism Daniel Breitweg added, “We’re proud of what was accomplished at our first Salmon River Cleanup Day; and very grateful to the volunteers for their hard work. We look forward to holding another successful event next year.
“This is a major destination for anglers,” he added. “It’s important to keep our waters pristine for residents and visitors to continue enjoying such a superb fishery.”
The cleanup focused on the Salmon River corridor including parking areas, boat launches and heavily fished sections of the river. Over 2,000 pounds of litter and debris were collected during the event.
Participants included individuals, licensed fishing guides, anglers, local educators, high school students and members of various community organizations, such as New York Sea Grant, Syracuse University, Tug Hill Home Inspections, Trout Unlimited, Douglaston Salmon Run, Scouts of America and Village of Pulaski and Pulaski Tree Committee.
Following the cleanup, volunteers were invited to a complimentary luncheon at Tailwater Lodge in Altmar.
For more information about the Salmon River and other county recreation opportunities, visit the Oswego County Tourism website.
More Info: New York Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is a university-based, statewide Federal-State collaboration between the State University of New York (SUNY), Cornell University, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is one of 34 university-based programs that connects research, extension, and education with the needs of coastal communities, environments, and economies through NOAA.
Since 1971, NYSG has supported science-based solutions for a wide range of water-related challenges and opportunities across the state. Through NYSG’s efforts, university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science and technical information to educational institutions, businesses, agencies, and industries; federal, state and local governments; the media; and the interested public. The program is administratively based at Stony Brook University (SBU) and Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
NYSG historically leverages on average a 5.5-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. The State benefits from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes quarterly.