ROLLA, Mo.— Arcadia Valley resident Dustin Hinkle was tired of seeing illegal trash dumps spring up along roads in and around Mark Twain National Forest, a place he likes to visit and enjoy. He put the call out and over 60 volunteers showed up at Mark Twain National Forest Road 2108 on a recent Saturday morning to clean up trash. By noon, these volunteers had picked up over six tons of trash that had been dumped along just four Forest Roads, all located in the forest’s Fredericktown Unit.
The volunteers gathered the trash by hand and loaded it into dumpsters that were taken to the landfill by Redline Junk Removal and Dumpster Rental. The household trash items included furniture, appliances, food waste, diapers, construction materials like shingles and drywall, tires of all sizes, and even hypodermic needles.
“Citizens like Dustin are amazing, as are all of the volunteers who joined in the clean-up project he organized.” said Becky Ewing, District Ranger for the Potosi-Fredericktown Ranger District. “We heard about Dustin’s clean-up day from a Missouri Department of Conservation agent and immediately sought out Dustin to find out how we could support him.”
Volunteers included neighbors and other concerned citizens and families, as well as individuals from various agencies and organizations such as Heartland Trail Trash, Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri Department of Conservation, Forest Service, and a group of young men from the Mineral Area DeMolay. Materials and supplies were provided by Missouri Department of Transportation, Shepherd Mountain Custom Cabinets and Hardware, and Impressive Farm & Home, LLC, and fun raffle prizes were donated by OnX Hunt. Additionally, Dustin Hinkle and local businesses donated pizza for lunch to feed volunteers for their efforts.
Trash in the forest is unsightly; and it poses a danger to humans, fish, and wildlife. Also, dumping trash on national forest lands is a federal crime. You can help spread the word in your community, just like Dustin, and let others know to stop dumping trash on public lands. Practice the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, and follow Leave No Trace and Tread Lightly! social media sites to learn more on how we can minimize our impacts to the natural world while enjoying time outside.
The Potosi Ranger Station is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. You can reach us by calling (573) 438-5427. To receive updates on Mark Twain National Forest events and happenings, like us on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/marktwainnationalforest.