PAYETTE COUNTY, Idaho — Huge piles of garbage are littering the high desert west of the Treasure Valley, and one Idaho man is organizing a massive volunteer effort to clean up the 20,000-acre area.
Mike Long started the Facebook group 208Cleanup to organize volunteer cleanups across the state. He is hoping to get volunteers to join him on Saturday, April 11, to help remove the trash.
"This one is huge, it’s 20,000 acres," Long said.
No one hired Long to clean up the desert. He took on the mission because he could not stand to see his home state desecrated.
"There's more trash in this area than I have picked up in the two years that I've been doing this as 208Cleanup," Long said.
The debris includes mysterious items, like an inflatable, and ordinary household trash.
"This is a bunch of household trash. This was someone’s house that got cleaned up. Clearly, you can see that someone dumped out here thinking no one cares about this land," Long said.
Some of the garbage contains names, which has prompted an investigation.
"This pile's been picked over by the BLM law enforcement. They've pulled out names and addresses from pieces of mail, so they're investigating," Long said.
Long believes community involvement is the key to keeping public lands pristine.
"If we as the community as the actual owners of this land, take care of it, it's a lot cheaper, plus we're invested in it, so when people come out to abuse it, it's us, it's the people that are seeing them and correcting each other and ourselves," Long said.
Again, the cleanup is set for Saturday. Long has secured donations of garbage bags and huge dumpsters. He says the landfill has waived its drop-off fee for whatever is collected.
He adds that there are a lot of old, used tires in the area. The landfill will not waive the fees for them, so any donations are welcome. Otherwise, the tires will have to be gathered to one spot until the funds can be raised.
If you plan to volunteer, go to 208Cleanup on Facebook to sign up and learn more. Also, make sure to wear thick gloves and heavy-duty shoes.
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