Tires, Teamwork, and a Sinking Canoe: Cleaning Up the South Fork

The Kentucky River is at the heart of Three Forks Adventure Company, and taking care of it is personal to me. As both the owner of Three Forks Adventure Company and the Beattyville/Lee County Tourism Director, I was proud to help organize our recent South Fork cleanup alongside Firefly Hills Kentucky.

Volunteers removed 63 tires, 10 contractor bags of trash, and multiple large items from the river. We also cleaned up Fish Creek Boat Launch and Wolf Creek Boat Launch. It was a great event, with plenty of hard work, teamwork, and a few stories we’ll be telling for a while!

A Planning Paddle That Turned Into a Cleanup

In August, I joined Russ from Friends of Red River for an exploratory paddle along the same five-mile stretch we planned to clean. We went to check out the route and see what volunteers would be tackling, but we couldn’t leave all those tires behind.

By the time we finished, we had pulled out around 20 tires—before the main cleanup even happened!

Somewhere along the way, Russ lost his spud bar, a tool that came in handy for getting stubborn tires loose. After rain forced us to postpone the original August cleanup, we regrouped for the September makeup date. Beattyville/Lee County Tourism gifted Russ a new spud bar as a small thank-you for his hard work and generosity.

We’re grateful to Russ and Friends of Red River for also lending us inflatable kayaks to load tires onto. Having boats available to carry the debris made a big difference.

A Heavy Load—and an Unexpected Surprise

We also borrowed two canoes from the owner of My IGA, our local grocery store in downtown Beattyville. Those canoes gave us more room to haul tires and trash out of the river, and we appreciated having them.

With about a mile left to go, I switched with Tina Johnson and took over paddling one of the loaded canoes. It was a behemoth to manage, and I soon discovered why: the canoe was taking on water and sinking! We named the canoe Jack Sparrow. 

No wonder it was so hard to paddle! A canoe full of tires and trash is already a challenge. Add water, and you’ve got a workout you didn’t sign up for.

More Than 80 Tires Removed

Between the August planning paddle and September cleanup, roughly 80 tires were removed from this five-mile stretch of the South Fork. That’s a meaningful improvement for a river we love to paddle, fish, and share with visitors.

After years of kayaking our local waterways, I know how much beauty there is around every bend. As tourism director, I want visitors to experience that beauty. As a paddler and business owner, I want to help care for the river that makes those adventures possible.

A heartfelt thank-you to Firefly Hills Kentucky, Russ and Friends of Red River, the owner of My IGA, Tina Johnson, Lee County Solid Waste, Mitch Cornelious and every volunteer who helped make this cleanup happen. Whether you hauled tires, collected trash, lent equipment, or cleaned the boat launches, your contribution mattered.

This event took a lot of effort, but it also showed what people can accomplish when they care about a place. I’m grateful to everyone who helped leave the South Fork cleaner than we found it—lost tools, stubborn tires, sinking canoe and all.

—Dedra Brandenburg, Owner of Three Forks Adventure Company and Beattyville/Lee County Tourism Director