Box Canyon ready for another good cleaning

Picking up where an Eagle Scout left off, a collective of outdoor enthusiasts will be cleaning up Box Canyon on Saturday.

Last year, Rion Radford was working for the ultimate scouting prize when he organized volunteers and organizations to haul out trash from the popular desert recreation area west of Maricopa. This year, many of the same groups want to make it an annual event.

“It is an opportunity to get the community together to clean up a popular recreation site,” said Gina D’Abella, executive director of Environmental Concerns Organization, Inc. (ECO) and a co-coordinator for this year’s event. “It’s popular for shooting, off-roading, hiking, horseback riding, almost everything recreational.”

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) range stretches across 21,000 acres on the Pinal side of the county line. For the cleanup, only 40-50 acres will be covered, according to D’Abella. And that will include ravines and canyons. Volunteers have already been sending in RSVPs, and she estimates about 100 workers if the weather is good.

Organizers are seeking volunteers to run the registration table and food service area. Plus, they will be taking prizes for a raffle drawing up until the time of the event.

“It’s a common phenomenon that after lunch people disappear, and [the raffle] gives them reason to stay around,” D’Abella said.

So far businesses have donated recreational gear, shooting range time at a local shooting range, binoculars, gift certificates, T-shirts, and more.

From local individuals to government groups like BLM and Arizona Game & Fish Department to organizations like ECO, the Dusty Bunch and Tread Lightly, D’Abella said they “really appreciate all of the volunteers.”

The popularity of Box Canyon has made cleanups a constant effort. D’Abella has made it her life’s work.

“I’ve sponsored cleanups in that area since 1998,” she said. “We’ve cleared hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash and tires in that whole area [adjacent to the 21,000 acre BLM range].”

There are responsible recreationists who pick up after themselves and “there are people who obviously don’t care,” she said. “Anytime we have one of these cleanups, it’s a good time to show appropriate use of public lands.”