For the last two years, Thomasine Ross has organized volunteers for regular trips to 31st Street to remove trash from the Baker Wetlands.

“It’s not easy. You have to stoop down. You have to get down on your hands almost and pull things out,” said Ross, president of the Save the Wakarusa Wetlands group.

So imagine her surprise this summer when a new sign turned up giving Wal-Mart credit for the area’s cleanup.

“That was kind of upsetting,” she said.

The sign, which the county placed near 31st Street and Haskell Avenue, was based on outdated information.

Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug said he wasn’t aware of the mistake until asked about it. After checking, he learned Wal-Mart volunteers previously cleaned the stretch of road between Haskell and Louisiana Street, but Save the Wakarusa Wetlands adopted that section two years ago.

Thomasine Ross, president of Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, organizes cleanups along 31st Street near the Baker Wetlands. County employees recently installed a new sign based on outdated paperwork that credited the cleanup work to Wal-Mart. The signs have been taken down and the credit soon will go to the Save the Wakarusa Wetlands group.

Weinaug said that as soon as he learned of the mix-up he asked county workers to “get the Wal-Mart sign down as quickly as possible.”

Workers had removed the sign by 10 a.m. Thursday.

While Ross said she was pleased to see the incorrect sign removed, she still wants a sign giving her group proper credit.

“I’d like to see credit given where credit’s due,” Ross said. “We work pretty hard to keep this area kept up, so I’d like to see our sign back up and let people know that our Save the Wakarusa Wetlands group is interested in keeping this area pristine.”

Getting a new sign up won’t be as quick as taking the incorrect sign down.

“It’s not like a stop sign that’s already made,” Weinaug said. “We have the equipment to make signs, and we’ll get it up as quickly as possible.”

Weinaug said he expected a new sign, with the correct names, to be erected along 31st Street in a matter of days.

Ross said volunteers with Save the Wakarusa Wetlands and the Wetlands Preservation Organization from Haskell Indian Nations University participate in cleanups twice a year. They often remove pieces of plastic, glass, cigarette butts and building materials from areas along 31st Street.

“We’re concerned that these animals come out of the wetlands and cross the street and will get entangled in some of the trash,” Ross said.