Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who spent time cleaning up our nation’s waterways in 2015, and a special thanks to those who submitted their cleanup photos for the 2015 National River Cleanup Photo Contest! This year’s contest saw some impressive submissions as well as a tremendous number of votes (over 1,500!).

Congratulations to the Montreal River Cleanup for winning the 2015 National River Cleanup Photo Contest with a whopping 688 votes! I asked Rob Hanson, the photographer and a volunteer at the cleanup, to share this cleanup and this photo’s story.

These days, the Montreal River is known to most as the dividing line between Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the northernmost portion of the border, as well as a tributary of Lake Superior....