Scouts fight litter

Scout combats litterbugging
Jon Meyerjmeyer@idahopress.com
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
MARSING— In the foothills south of Marsing, miles from anything resembling a major road and in an effort many will never be able to see to appreciate, 27 volunteers of all ages came together Saturday to help a friend reach a goal. They also came to set an example and affect change regarding a growing and disturbing trend.

It was the joint effort of a young Scout, Landon Watts, 15, beginning his Eagle Scout project, and local environmental groups that drew parents, young children and teens to a deserted field littered with rusty cans, broken bottles and the occasional rotted barrel.

“We’re after illegal dumping, litter and irresponsible off-road use; it’s really a big problem,” Fred Christensen, one of the corroborators behind Operation TRASH, said. “TRASH is for Teach Responsibility And Save our Heritage. Since last December our major emphasis has been on education and organizing cleanups.”

Operation TRASH, a local effort to clean up parts of the state, teamed with the Bureau of Land Management to help organize the clean-up effort.

It was all a part of Clean-up America, a national campaign put forth by the Department of the Interior to stop this kind of abusive behavior around the country, M.J. Byrne, spokesperson for Boise district of the BLM, said.“Lots of areas hold one big area clean-up weekend for the campaign, but we decided to keep it going year-round. This is our second one,” Byrne said. “Our goal is to put the message in people’s heads that there’s lots of trash out there.”

However, even with the joint efforts of Operation TRASH and the BLM, Saturday’s clean-up wouldn’t have become a reality without the efforts of Landon Watts. A Scout since age 11 from Star, Watts’ motivation to achieve the organization’s highest rank possible brought many of the people out to pick up rusty and decrepit waste on their weekend.Watts recruited the more than two-dozen volunteers from his local church and Scouting group to help him work towards a good cause and contribute to the 80 hours of service required for his Eagle Scout project.

“The project is focused in leadership. That’s why you become an Eagle Scout,” Watts said. “I knew I wanted to do something with the outdoors, and the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) led me to the BLM. It feels good, positive to do something.”

Watts hasn’t yet decided if he’ll take part in any future clean-ups.Operation TRASH, however, plans to educate even more young people around Idaho with an $11,000 grant from the BLM that they will use to distribute educational material about littering and dumping to schools around the state, Christensen said.

“We want to get the message out that it’s not cool to dump on your local lands, cause that’s what they are — your local lands,” Byrne said of the educational effort.