This sand is your sand

At this time of year, many are strewn with Styrofoam, bottles, and other debris. There may be signs of erosion and invasive weeds. Poor water quality is another issue.

At Forest River Park in Salem earlier this month, Alan Young stood over a stream of water that traveled from the retaining wall down the beach to the ocean, fed by a reed-filled duck pond. When the weather gets warmer, the algae in the outflow will be identifiable by the color.

“At this time of year it’s cold, and things haven’t started growing,’’ said Young. “If you come back in August, it will be green.’’

Young, a Salem State College biology professor, also heads the board of directors for Salem Sound Coastwatch, a coastal watershed association. Small teams of volunteers are surveying area beaches, developing a game plan as part of the organization’s new Adopt a Beach program.

Modeled after programs that allow individuals or teams to maintain a traffic island or stretch of highway, the initiative unites volunteers to provide regular care for a favorite beach.

It already has drawn much more interest than organizers expected.

“Our goal was to have 10 beaches adopted this summer,’’ said Barbara Warren, CoastWatch executive director. “We already have 35.’’

From Marblehead Neck to Manchester-by-the-Sea — covering the organization’s service area — there are 52 beaches, Warren said.

“Some are really pocket beaches and some are private, but that’s fine — they can adopt their own beach,’’ said Young.

Eight beaches have been adopted in Beverly, eight in Salem (including Coney Island), seven in Manchester, six in Marblehead, three in Swampscott, one in Danvers, and two in Nahant. More are being added, although Warren said she’s cautious about overextending resources in the program’s first year.

The Adopt a Beach teams have met for on-site surveys — sessions to determine each beach’s needs — and for classroom training sessions. Following some on-site training, members have reported recent sea wall storm damage to their local municipalities.

Generally speaking, Warren said, if 20 to 30 people show up for a volunteer training program, it’s considered successful. The first three classroom sessions for this program drew a total of 115 participants. Warren said a fourth session will be scheduled in Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Beach survey sessions have drawn as many as 14 and 15 (to Dane Street Beach and Independence Park in Beverly, and to Tudor Beach in Nahant) and as few as two people to little Gillis Park in Beverly, also called Pleasant View.

A key to the program is letting people select the beaches where they want to volunteer. For example, Forest River Park is near the Salem State College campus, and is a resource for both lessons and leisure.

“The population is always increasing and always creating more trash, so it’s good to keep the beaches clean,’’ said Greg Bingham of Saugus, president of Salem State’s Biological Society. “People enjoy coming here with their families, so we want to keep it nice. Some professors come down here with their classes, to teach out here. It’s nice to come out and not have all kinds of trash around.’’

Friends Janice Bzura and Jay Marie Palermo, who live nearby, joined with members of the society to form the Forest River Park team. They describe themselves as the type of people who will come to a favorite beach and sometimes scoop up trash left behind by others.

“I moved here from Acton because we wanted to be near the ocean,’’ Bzura said. “This is a way I can be near the ocean and contribute at the same time.’’

Warren noted that there are many who will pick up after others because they care about their beach.

“A lot of people feel they’re alone doing it,’’ said Warren, who thinks people will enjoy the community atmosphere of the program. Reporting will be done online, and an interactive website will tie the communities together by allowing beach keepers to post notes, observations, and pictures.

Funded by an $18,500 grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the program is designed to be flexible. Each team will determine its own structure, as well as the priorities for its beach.

While most are primarily groups of neighbors, the Forest River team has a college-neighborhood partnership, and fifth-grade science students at the Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea have adopted Black Cove.

While Nahant is out of the Salem Sound Coastwatch service area, Carole McCauley, the Northeastern University Marine Science Center outreach coordinator, is organizing beach teams in Nahant in collaboration with Coastwatch.

“People love their beaches,’’ Warren said. “This gives them a way to learn more about it, to become more invested, and to be in a group.’’

Beach surveys have been scheduled, weather permitting, at Gas House Beach (Marblehead) at 3:15 tomorrow; at Stramski’s Beach (Marblehead) at 11 a.m. Saturday; at Sandy Beach at Tuck’s Point (Beverly) at 2 p.m. Sunday; and at Lynch Park (Beverly) at 4:30 p.m. April 30. For more information on the Salem Sound Coastwatch Adopt a Beach program, call 978-741-7900 or go to www.salemsound.org.