The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
PALOMINAS — There were empty tuna fish cans. There were empty juice cans. There were backpacks. There were toothbrushes and toothpaste. There were shirts and pants. And then there were the plastic bottles. Lots and lots of them.
Those are some of the items that a dozen volunteers picked up during a hike along a undocumented-alien trail on National Forest land west of Palominas on Monday.
Steve Willsey of Hereford, who organized the cleanup effort, said many of the participants are hikers and they can understand and appreciate the need to collect the garbage.
“When you see the trash strewn all over the beautiful mountainside, you think, ‘What’s up with this?’ ” he said.
  
|
Willsey observed the trash during a recent hike, and he decided to so something about it. He asked some volunteers to help out.
He told the participants to do a good job on the cleanup. He said they should try not to leave anything behind, like can tops.
“Hopefully when we are done, it is going to look like no one has ever been there,” he said.
Steven Gibb of Tucson said he was more than willing to help out.
“It’s all about nature. I am an avid hiker. I have never seen any trash in Tucson, but I saw pictures and that was very compelling,” he said.
Chuck Tuzil, Cochise County’s solid waste inspector, said the illegal immigrants toss their belongings along the trail because they are tired of carrying them. But trash also accumulates near pickup points.
“They pack as many people in the vehicles as possible, so there is no room for backpacks or extra clothes,” he said.
Tamela Turtle, 27, of Sierra Vista said she collected a lot of water bottles.
She also picked up a 50-foot-long string of plastic flags. She was not certain why illegal immigrants would travel with that.
“We were thinking maybe they could hold onto the line while they are walking so they won’t get lost, or for support,” she said.
Doug Noble, chairman of Cochise County Cavers, a local caving group that hosted the event, said he is amazed by some of the items that are discarded.
“Finding the backpacks and food and shoes is expected. But some of the other stuff, it makes no sense,” he said.
The litter was well dispersed throughout the terrain. One volunteer spotted an empty Electrolit plastic bottle near a rock and as he bent down to pick it up, he noticed an empty Tostachos bag and a Del Valle juice can under some nearby brush.
“All you have to do is start reading the labels, and there is no doubt where this stuff came from,” said Bill Bens, 57, of Tucson.
Some of the littered items were good enough to keep. Turtle found a maroon and white dress shirt and a pair of stretch jeans. She took them home.
By the end of the day, the volunteers had loaded up 26 large lime-green-colored bags. They carried them up to a peak and dropped them off.
Later, five pack horses will be brought in to pick up the trash and haul it down to the trailhead, where a vehicle can access them.
Willsey said he thought the effort was successful. He said it is commendable that everybody worked well as a team.
“The people were really willing and they worked hard. My fear was that maybe people would get angry with me because it was so hard, but they didn’t,” he said.
Herald/Review reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
I love it! wrote on Nov 20, 2007 3:54 PM: