THE SHOALS-Tammy Becker looks forward to the day she no longer has a job, but for the time being there is plenty of work left to do on the nation’s waterways, including the Tennessee River.
Becker is programs manager for Living Lands and Waters, an Illinois-based non-profit organization that will travel down the Tennessee River this spring, picking up litter and touting the importance of protecting the waterway.
“We’ve been working 17 years on the upper Mississippi River, between St. Paul and St. Louis,” Becker said. “When we first started, the litter along 
the river there was really bad. Now, when we have a cleanup up there, we have to spend two days looking for garbage that the volunteers can pick up.”
Becker met with Shoals elected officials and community leaders Monday to discuss the down the Tennessee River that begins April 9 in Knoxville, Tenn. After stops in Chattanooga and Decatur, the four-barge flotilla, which includes a 
floating classroom, arrives in the Shoals for a community cleanup of Pickwick and Wilson lakes on Saturday, May 9. An open-house is Sunday, May 10, with workshops for students and adults May 11-12.
James Adams, manager of public outreach and recreation for the Tennessee Valley Authority, said the river is a valuable resource. “It’s the artery, the lifeblood, of the Tennessee Valley.”
TVA is partnering with Living Lands and Waters for the upcoming 
Tennessee River journey. It is the first time Living Lands and Waters has visited the Tennessee River. Keep the Shoals Beautiful and other local agencies and organizations are assisting with the Shoals visit.
Details of the journey, including where the floating classroom will be moored while in the Shoals, have not been finalized. That location, and other details of the trip will be posted online at www.livinglandsandwaters.org/tennessee-river-tour.
