KUNA, Idaho — Mountain West Recreation Alliance is holding a community volunteering event on Saturday, April 27 to help cleanup clothes, trash, and debris from public lands.
- Saturday, April 27, 9 am-3 pm
- Meet at Swan Falls Rd and Initial Point Rd
- They will sign off on volunteer hours
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
“I’ve seen a lot of chunks of cement, car parts, tires, camps..." said Kristina Schmid with Mountain West Recreation Alliance. She has seen firsthand the trash left on Idaho’s public lands while recreating.
“If you can go this far, you can go just as far to the dump,” said Schmid.
With Initial Point being in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, the volunteer team is educating the public on why upkeep is so important.
“All of these lands are homes for so many animals and so much wildlife, and very often these areas also have some sort of historic value,” said Schmid.
The garbage can fuel wildfires... another reason the team is coordinating this spring clean-up ahead of fire season.
Those looking to volunteer will clean up clothing, trash, and debris… to make the land safer.
“We are going to be very mindful of what we ask people to pick up, we want everyone to remain safe. We are going to ask that no one picks up, for example, it looks like we have some paint thinner over there,” said Schmid.
The team also works closely with state and federal agencies… like the Bureau of Land Management.
“They're the ones that gave us the trash bags. We also got some gloves from them. We also work with Idaho Parks and Rec, and we are also on a couple of forest collaboratives to advocate for trails in the forest 30-year plan,” said Schmid.
Those agencies have the power to close access to public lands if they're misused.
“It is everyone's job to clean up your [their] stuff,” said Schmid.
