Browns Creek Alliance, a Chaffee Recreation Adopters group, cleaned up 160 campsites in the Browns Creek/Raspberry Gulch dispersed camping and recreation area west of Nathrop, at the base of Mount Antero. More than 30 people attended the event.
If a visitor arrives at a clean, well-maintained area they are more apt to keep it that way, and now the Browns Creek Recreation Area is ready for Memorial Day guests!”
Browns Creek Alliance spokesperson Rick Berckefeldt
Volunteers collected trash and fire pit ash, dismantled inappropriate fire rings, and downsized fire pits that were too large or too tall. While the majority of the material collected was fire pit ash, some trash was collected as well as an abandoned bucket of human waste.
Volunteers used heavy-duty, biodegradable lawn and leaf bags to collect the ash with shovels, buckets and trash cans, dumping the refuse into a trailer provided by Chaffee County Fire Protection District. Wheelbarrows were used to disperse rocks from dismantled or downsized campfire rings.
The trailer was dumped at the Chaffee County Landfill, registering 2,050 pounds of material on the scale. That’s over a ton of material removed from the area!
I appreciate the community coming together to care for these areas. Cleaning out fire rings and removing excess rings helps keep everyone safer.”
Chaffee Fire Chief Robert Bertram
Chaffee Recreation Rangers, from the U.S. Forest Service Salida Ranger District, Chaffee Recreation Adopters Event Coordinator Joe Greiner, and Chaffee Fire staff joined 27 volunteers on the clean-up day.
Chaffee Recreation Adopters’ mission is to help the community care for all lands in the county. Volunteers use a mobile app to assess areas, report problems to land management agencies and take action such as the clean-up day.
Greiner praised the initiative of the homeowners of the Mesa Antero area and their Browns Creek Alliance organization that led the cleanup. Greiner offers resources to help with similar cleanups and said he is eager to help more organizations plan cleanup events. Contact adopters@envisionchaffeecountry.org.
Chaffee Recreation Adopters is funded by Chaffee Common Ground, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and the Chaffee County Visitors Bureau.