Students will help install three new collection tubes at Lagerman Reservoir on Tuesday, March 19.

Boulder County, Colo. - On Tuesday, March 19, Westview Middle School students in Longmont will help install three new fishing line collection tubes at Lagerman Reservoir just west of Longmont.

The students wanted to make a difference in their community, according to science teacher Jayme Margolin-Sneider, and they wanted to help with conservation. They decided to focus on parks near their school, beginning with Pella Crossing Open Space. To accomplish this, they partnered with Boulder County Parks & Open Space and funded the project with grants from the Parks & Open Space Foundation and National Geographic.

The students worked together to create and build fishing line collection tubes, similar to those seen at other regional fishing sites, for Pella Crossing. They worked with staff to choose optimal sites and install the collection tubes. Students also monitored and mapped the locations to study how the tubes were being used, and where trash was being found.

Abandoned fishing line harms and sometimes kills wildlife when birds and other animals get tangled in line discarded at the site, or later, at landfills. Anglers are encouraged to use the collection tubes for used line, hooks, and sinkers to keep these items out of the landfill.

The collected fishing line is then recycled. The line is picked up by Parks & Open Space staff and mailed to a company that turns the old line into fish habitat structures and other products.

Westview students are continuing the project by building more collection tubes for other sites. Future plans include installations at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat east of Boulder and Stearns Lake (Carolyn Holmberg Preserve at Rock Creek Farm open space) in southeast Boulder County.

For more information, please contact Deborah Price at dprice@bouldercounty.org or 303-678-6215.