BOISE (KIVI) — Our national forests are facing a growing problem: Abandoned RV’s.
Old and broken down, they are a potentially dangerous eyesore that needs to be cleaned up.
But the cost can be high.
A non profit called 208 cleanup is stepping up to help solve a problem that’s a lot bigger than just picking up trash.
—An eyesore on public lands: Abandoned RVs are a hazard and hard to remove—
Mike Long started the non profit 208 cleanup in an effort to remove garbage carelessly dumped on public lands.
He and other volunteers have cleaned up tens of thousands of pounds of waste in the past year.
But abandoned RV’s like this one are a whole new ballgame.
“There's some that are just blatantly dumped. We've cleaned up a couple that were clearly just somebody took them out and dumped them,” said Long.
In other cases, he says the RV’s are temporary shelters for the homeless.
“You know, a lot of low, super low income homeless people, recently homeless people just trying to hang on.”
But when the RV’s are abandoned, it’s no simple job to remove them.
“I can't just go get it, you know," said Long, "I have to get the law enforcement has to condemn it first.”
“Unfortunately some of these trailers or campers can't simply be hauled off and dropped off at a landfill. There's hazardous materials in some of them. There's the cost of special hauling equipment to get them off the forest, so it's not as simple as just taking them away,” said Mike Williamson, PIO for the Boise National Forest.
Turns out the forest service says it can cost thousands of dollars to remove each one. And it adds up fast.
“Over the last 12 months, our Forest Service law enforcement have recorded about 36 such items being left on the forest,” said Williamson.
Inside old RVs, Long says he finds batteries, refrigerant, tires, sewage, and sometimes asbestos which can send the removal costs spiraling.
Long specializes at organizing volunteers and getting businesses to help out. And he’s hoping the community will step up again to deal with this problem.
“I’m starting to figure out how to get an RV dealership partner. I'd like to get the RV community at the beginning of the supply chain that's bringing the RVs into the community and develop a partnership to help that exit process before they end up on public land,” he said.
And, Long says if you have an old RV and you care about public lands, don’t sell it to someone who doesn’t have the means to care for it. He says take it to the landfill instead.
