04/13/06 BLM and KAM team up to clean up trash

This spring and summer the Bureau of Land Management is trying to get all of us to be aware of a growing problem, illegal dumping on public lands. Teaming with Keep American Beautiful they have scheduled public land cleanup events in Jerome, Ada and Madison counties. BLM Environmental engineer Karl Gebhardt says they hired a contractor earlier this month to remove tires that were scattered over several miles of public land west of Caldwell. GEBHARDT "Have one little area that may start up and then other people see it and assume that it's okay. Then we have the other folks and this happens to us quite a bit, where people that maybe don't want to pay the high cost of disposing of hazardous materials puts that kind of waste out there too and so it endangers the public." On April 29th the BLM, the South Idaho Off-Road Association and volunteers will clean up tons of trash and debris along the north rim near Twin Falls. In Ada County BLM gets help from a prison crew that will pick up trash on a ten mile stretch of road south of Boise. A June or July cleanup is planned for Madison County west of Rexburg where fences will also be built to prevent further dumping. Gebhardt is always looking for volunteers and he can be reached in Boise at 373-3814 or check out the Keep America Beautiful website, www.kab.org. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott