A volunteer effort to clean up illegal dumping along Hoffman Road north of Buxton begins Saturday, December 10 at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to wrap up at 2 p.m.
“We need more volunteers to help,” said Ashlee Bowers, a Buxton resident who’s leading the volunteer effort in coordination with SOLVE and Weyerhaeuser.
Volunteers were encouraged to wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants, work gloves and sturdy shoes or work boots.
Depending on weather, rain gear and warm clothing were also recommended.
“Dump sites in the forest are a major issue in this area and on Weyerhaeuser property generally,” a notice for the event read. “We will be hosting forest clean ups in the area each month until we get a handle on all the dumping.”
“This is the first one, and I am holding the rest tentatively to see how much we accomplish this first clean up in December,” Bowers said in an email to the Banks Post.
Bowers noted that there’s a significant amount of garbage and items dumped on Hoffman Road and nearby Bacona Road.
“Garbage is harmful to plants and animals. It can pollute water sources and promote the growth of noxious weeds. Dumping on private forest lands has resulted in many land owners closing their lands to public access,” the event’s webpage read.
Bowers said that students in need of volunteer hours were welcome, and that volunteer credit hour forms could be emailed to parents or provided onsite. Those ages 13 and up can work without needing a parent present, while those younger do need a parent or guardian onsite.
More information and registration forms can be found on the event’s webpage.
Signs on Hoffman and Bacona Road will direct volunteers to the staging point for the cleanup at a white gate
Bowers noted that she was born and raised in the Banks, Buxton and Timber communities, and that she and her family live on Bacona Road.
“We use the woods up Bacona to hike, and hunt with our children,” Bowers said. “I feel it is our duty to nature to clean up our area in which we live in since we use it so much,” Bowers added.
“It’s like our big backyard.”
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.