Hundreds clean up trash near China Hat Road
Hundreds of people with several local groups partnered to do a cleanup off China Hat Road south of Bend on Monday. Organizers said it’s the first large-scale cleanup in an effort to restore the area.
More than 350 volunteers from Discover Your Forest, the Deschutes National Forest, The Broomsmen and REI Co-op are removing trash from the Cabin Butte Pit, Horse Butte trailhead and other spots nearby.
” It’s just such a beautiful area, but this particular use here could use a lot of cleanup, ” said Chris Puter , executive vice president of technology and operations for REI.
Organizers said they want to restore the area by cleaning up the accumulation of trash, bullet shells and drug use materials.
” I found a lot of shell casings, duct tape, glass, plastic, even some old speakers, furniture and a couple of cars, ” said Michelle Walters, an REI store manager in Indianapolis who traveled all the way to Bend to assist with the cleanup.
They want to encourage plant regrowth and increase activities such as biking, hiking and cave exploring in the area.
” This is a place that I come and recreate, ” said Shelby Vorwald , a cleanup volunteer. ” Seeing the impact of a whole bunch of people getting together and making sure that it’s a safe and clean place for everyone to enjoy — this is awesome! ”
Dennis Benson, recreation program manager with the Deschutes National Forest, said there are plans over the next five years to permanently close some access roads to Cabin Butte Pit, to reduce traffic and promote restoration.
” The idea is ultimately to have some shooting areas for the public to use, and this would be a great one, it’s just we want to promote sustainable recreation by keeping it clean and neat and tidy, ” Benson said. ” Then we’re going to be doing some forest restoration out here, as well as burning. We really want to get this under a sustainable management regime. ”
Volunteers also plan to add rail fencing and signs in the area explaining the project.
The Broomsmen , a Bend organization, is teaming up with Seattle-based Human Eco Consulting to reuse the metal, brass and plastic that’s found.
” Typically, those would be trash, ” said Hannah Johnson, owner and founder of Human Eco Consulting. ” There’s not a lot of recycling that you could do with those. But we’re separating the metal from the plastic, and we’re actually going to grind back down that plastic into pellets, and then sell it back into the community, donate it to local artists, and try and repurpose it. ”
Benson said the rest of the trash will go to the Knott Landfill. He also said those who use public lands should take out what they bring in.
