Marysville - The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 3 office is soliciting volunteers to help with its Adopt-A-Highway program in Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

The Adopt-A-Highway program was started in 1989 and has been one of the truly successful government-public partnerships of our time. Since 1989, more than 120,000 Californians have kept over 15,000 shoulder-miles of roadside clean statewide.

Participation can include one or more of the following activities:

• Removing litter (work frequency varies with location)
• Planting and establishing trees or wildflowers
• Removing graffiti
• Controlling vegetation

Adoptions usually span a two-mile stretch of roadside and permits are issued for five-year periods. Groups may apply for additional five-year permits. Volunteers work between 6 to 24 times per year, depending on the location and most work is done on weekends. Groups who want to participate in the program can be as small as one individual or as large as 100 persons.

Caltrans provides the safety training, equipment and trash bags necessary to do the work.

Each district within Caltrans annually recognizes outstanding organizations and makes an award for a Volunteer of the Year. Caltrans District 3 recognizes two organizations annually. Additionally, Caltrans recognizes each individual/organization by erecting a sign within the adopted segment of highway with the volunteer individual/organization's name.

The following is a list of counties and the number of adoptable highway segments needing volunteers within the boundaries of District 3.

County Number Avail.

Butte 21

Colusa 22

El Dorado 4

Glenn 21

Nevada 10

Placer 8

Sacramento 27

Sierra 5

Sutter 11

Yolo 34

Yuba 0

Caltrans is a department within the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency that operates and maintains California's transportation system under the direction of Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. For more information about the department, please visit its Web site at www.dot.ca.gov. Information about the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is available on the Internet at www.bth.ca.gov.