CANAAN VALLEY, W.Va. — The volunteers who help keep West Virginia’s roads looking good will be recognized in Tucker County on Saturday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Transportation were hosting a day of events for the 30th Annual Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer Appreciation Day at Canaan Valley Resort.
Events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator Kim Smith said there’s something that celebrates the volunteers.
“I think they are like most people that have a sense of community. They have a sense of wanting to make sure that their environment that their community is clean,” Smith said.
On Saturday afternoon, the Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer of the Year will be named and those with 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of road-clearing service recognized, Smith said.
“These people are just extra special speaker,” Smith said. “They care about those that they live with and the world around them.”
Currently, there are 40,000 volunteers representing 1,400 groups in the Adopt-A-Highway program. Smith said the state is a lot cleaner than it was 30 years ago. She said their efforts reproduce themselves.
“If the highway is cleaner they tend not to want to throw things out,” she said.
Every year, DEP officials estimated those volunteers remove four million pounds of trash from along upwards of 3,300 miles of the Mountain State’s roads and save the state more than $1 million.
The Adopt-A-Highway program in West Virginia dates back to the 1980’s.
Individuals, families, churches, businesses, schools, civic organizations, government agencies, fraternities and communities can opt to adopt any state-maintained road. That does not include interstate highways or private roads.
It’s up to volunteers to bag trash along their designated and marked routes.
The state provides the supplies and disposes of the bagged trash.
More information is available here:
Additionally, there is the Adopt-A-Spot program for road areas less than .25 miles in length.