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MOAB — A joint service project involving Williams Northwest Pipeline company and the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration resulted in the removal of an estimated 60 tons of junk and debris piled near Blue Hill in San Juan County outside of Moab.
The cleanup took place on 40 acres, where the group removed small items such as broken bottles and empty cartridges and large items such as TVs and refrigerators. Several animal carcasses were hauled away as well.
Moab’s Trust Lands Resource Specialist Bryan Torgerson said he got a phone call from company representatives who wanted to initiate the project to clean up trust lands that had been abused by area residents illegally dumping items and shooting debris.
"I was really excited," he said. "It's not every day that you get people wanting to pick up trash."
It's not every day that you get people wanting to pick up trash.
–- Bryan Torgerson, Trust Lands Resource
Ryan Ellis, an employee of Williams Northwest Pipeline, said many of the workers are avid shooters who had grown disgusted with what was happening on the property and how it spoke poorly of gun lovers' reputations.
"We were tired of what was happening to the lands out here and the bad rap shooters are getting from this," he said. "We hope people will see what we’ve accomplished and be more responsible. Hopefully we can keep these lands open to the public.”
The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration is an independent state agency that manages 3.4 million acres of Utah trust lands for the financial benefit of Utah’s public schools and 11 other public institutions. Money generated from school trust lands is deposited in the state Permanent School Fund, a perpetual endowment that annually distributes income to each K-12 public school in Utah.
Email:aodonoghue@ksl.com
