Photo Gallery of Prescott National Forest Cleanup, Old Highway 279 and Ogden Ranch Area, Jan. 14, 2006.
In January the Stewards piled illegally dumped vegetative debris for the Forest Service to burn. The Stewards highly encourage the public to dispose of landscaping and vegetative debris in an appropriate manner. It takes up to 40 years for these materials to return to natural. Meanwhile, the materials are clogging up our forests, affecting our watershed, and increasing wildfire risk on our rural-urban interface lands. Please keep our public lands clean!
We were pleased to have our new Verde District Ranger, Dee Hines, as part of our leadership and work crew. Participants for this cleanup were Debbie LaFrance, Phil Hinks, Chris Boothe, Charles Mackey, Verde District Ranger Dee Hines, Cottonwood Council Member Bob Rothrock, Bob Formhals, Maggie Formhals, Cottonwood Public Works Director Tim Costello, Judy Miller, Dave Miller, George Lambert, Roy Buck, John Willeford, Tom Bagley, Steve Harbison, Colleen Harbison, Mike Reamer, Stewards Co-chair Diane Joens, Clarkdale Council Member Pat Williams, Clarkdale Police Chief Patrick Haynie, Karl McCormick, Greg Page, Warren Dendekker, Jodi Allen, and Dexter Allen. The Yavapai County Juvenile Community Services brought 11 young people to help. Gardenscapes (the Harbisons) brought a truck and trailer. The City of Cottonwood furnished the loader/backhoe, the Town of Clarkdale a dump truck, and the Forest Service furnished plenty of manpower and pickups. The Verde Independent and Journal Extra helped with pre-cleanup publicity. Thanks to Debbie LaFrance for furnishing the refreshments for all of us. Photographer Keith Anderson of the Journal/Journal Extra covered the event. Pat Williams directed volunteers from the Allen Springs meeting place to the Ogden Ranch area. If we have inadvertently forgotten anyone or anything, please email webmaster dianej@sedona.net. The Stewards work diligently to prevent wild land fires on the rural-urban interface of Verde Valley communities. The volunteers also strive to make a positive difference on behalf of the Verde Watershed.
