BOISE, Idaho — Mike Long, founder of 208Cleanup, is the July recipient of the Shine a Light award.
Long says he founded 208Cleanup in 2022, after the state planned to shut down public access to an area of land near Mountain Home due to excessive dumping.
"I put out the word and we all met up out there on a Saturday," Long said. "We cleaned it all up in one day, and it's still open."
The volunteer-led group has since cleaned up public land and urban spaces throughout Idaho.
"There's almost 12 million acres of public land in Idaho, and almost everywhere has trash," said Luke Jensen, a 208Cleanup volunteer. "So the biggest thing is just going to have more people come out, find that trash, pick it up, and take it to the dump."
