‘Take this a piece at a time’: BLM, partnership, volunteers clear trash in woods near La Pine, with much more to do

LA PINE, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Sixty volunteers, five dumpsters and hundreds of pounds of trash. That's what one Saturday in August looked like for volunteers who helped clear the trash left behind at an abandoned homeless camp off Jackpine Loop south of La Pine,

"It's easy to get angry. It's harder to get out there and do something," volunteer Fallon Bandemer said Tuesday.

Bandemer and her family were less than a mile away from the Darlene 3 Fire in June, which burned nearly 4,000 acres and threatened the town.

They felt frustrated with the continued homelessness issues, but wanted to be part of the solution.

"I really think that that could be the beginning of accountability-based help, where it could start with them cleaning up trash, giving garbage bags to them," Bandemer said Tuesday.

The Newberry Regional Partnership approached the Bureau of Land Management earlier last month for help with the cleanup. 

Community Coordinator Kathy DeBone said, "When I called BLM and asked for about six things, they said yes to all of them."

BLM Prineville District Deschutes Field Manager Lisa Clark said, "We had a site that we had already identified. They saw the same area and came to us. We're doing the best we can, and any time we can grab a partner with us, it's just a phenomenal way to add to our resources and our capacity. "

The Newberry Regional Partnership says even if small, cleanups like this will continue to bring more attention to the problem. 

"It's a complex issue. It spans public safety, environment, health, and human services, economy. So let's just take this a piece at a time and get it done and make a difference," DeBone said.

If you're interested in volunteering, you can go to their website.