Debris like this will be removed from the lower river on Saturday. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)

Earlier this year, Unalaska rejected a state-funded plan to restore the lower Iliuliuk River. Now, locals are mounting a clean-up on their own terms.

The Qawalangin Tribe, Unalaska Native Fishermen’s Association and others will pull an estimated five tons of debris out of the river on Saturday. They’ll use heavy equipment and help from local divers to remove derelict skiffs and sunken trash.

UNFA and the tribe got a state permit for the project, and are contributing $15,000 each. The city, Ounalashka Corporation and other local companies are donating time and tools.

The clean-up will center on the boat launch at the mouth of the creek. UNFA’s Walter Tellman says active skiffs and docks will be left alone. But he’s flagged at least 25 big items for removal, using blue ribbons.

"We pretty much just marked what looked obviously beat-up and needed to go," Tellman says. 

That includes sunken docks, boat hulls and crab pots. And Roger Defendall of the Unalaska Divers Association says they surveyed for debris beneath the water, too.

"We swam all the way up to the church hole, and other than a piece of plywood here, a garbage bag there, it was really nice," he says. "The major debris is where the float is at ... but I don’t see it being as bad as we thought."

Anyone with items they’re still using in the river can remove the UNFA ribbon. But Defendall still hopes people will tidy up.

"What we see as trash, things that need to be cleaned up, they might think it’s good stuff, and they’d want it forever," Defendall says. "So they should really go down there and kind of police up their area before we come and police it up."

The debris that’s left will be plucked out of the water and off the riverbanks and trucked over to the city landfill.

The creek will be closed to boat traffic and the road above will be down to one lane from the Russian Orthodox Church to Alyeska Seafoods during the clean-up. It'll last from 9 a.m. to early afternoon on Saturday, barring high winds.

Locals are welcome to lend a hand starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. They can check in with a flagger near the church to find a station.

Anyone with questions should contact the Qawalangin Tribe at 581-2920.