Every year, tons of trash get left behind in the off-road areas we like to play in. The trash is ugly, smelly, hazardous, and gives the anti-off-road lobby more ammunition to use against us. Trashy OHV areas get shut down.
This year's annual Primedia Cleanup was held at the Stoddard Wells OHV area near Barstow, California. Five hundred off-roaders came together to remove debris left behind by people who don't care whether or not we'll have places to play in the future. At the end of the cleanup, six six-ton dumpsters were filled to capacity. Most of the trash was household waste; dead refrigerators and mangled living room chairs were in abundance. Most of the trash was left by non-off-roaders, but it doesn't matter -- we don't want to play in a trashy area.
Special thanks go to the Inland Empire Four Wheelers for keeping our stomachs full. As a group, we worked up quite an appetite in the process of picking up the trash. We downed 800 hot dogs!
Stay tuned. We're doing this next year too. As it becomes available, information about the date and location will be available on www.off-roadweb.com. We hope to see you there.