By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Over a hundred people who love the outdoors, and are dedicated to preserving the beauty of Logandale Trails, showed up on Saturday to participate in the trails clean up project organized by local group Partners in Conservation (PIC).
PIC Administrator Elise McAllister was pleased with the enthusiasm and the large numbers of people who came to pick up trash and help keep the area beautiful.
“We were hoping about 75 people would come but we are guessing there are closer to 125 people that are here today,” McAllister said. “They are going to make a huge impression on the trails.”
The cleanup started at 8:00 am. PIC provided a breakfast of donuts, juice, hot chocolate, and other drinks for participants. People came, signed in, picked up maps of the trails and chose a route to work on. PIC provided all the equipment necessary from gloves to trash bags to grabbers, as well as maps and other literature about the area.
Volunteers also got a special limited edition Logandale Trails flag to fly from their ATVs. Cleanup was not limited to those in ATV’s. The well-groomed roads made the area easily accessible by car and several families came out to clean up on foot along the roadsides and hills. Even the parking lot was dragged with a magnet to pick up any loose nails or other hazards. Water trucks were provided by Moapa Valley wrestlers and made frequent passes to keep the dust down.
Several groups came all the way from Las Vegas to participate. Dennis Mann was one of the trail bosses and is a member of Vegas Valley 4-wheelers.
“We love to come out here,” said his Dennis’ wife Valerie. “We hold the Hump-N-Bump here every year and are so thankful for the great support we get and the people in this community so we wanted to take the opportunity to give back and help out. We love it here.”
Another large group from Vegas called “Total Karnage” were there as well. Their group specializes in rock crawling and they were also excited to help.
The cleanup was only scheduled to last from breakfast to lunch so that people could have a chance to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day. Lunch was at 11:00 am and was provided by PIC and Moapa Valley Rotary Club. They served hamburgers and hot dogs to participants as they came in from the trails with full trash bags.
“I have never been out here before,” said Deena Neal who came from Mesquite. “It is beautiful. I heard that Rotary was going to be here and I am a member of Lions so I wanted to come help out and meet other people.”
McAllister was pleased with the day. Participants brought in 50-60 bags of trash and some larger pieces of plastic and metal as well. People enjoyed the camaraderie and visiting with each other and lingered until after 1:00pm.
“We are grateful for everyone who came and to Rotary for their constant help with the trails and for cooking today,” McAllister said. “When people see you taking care of an area, they realize it is important and then they start to take care of it, too. It is very nice.”
