Hot Tubs, Heartbreak & Public Land Stewardship

Volunteers from Idaho BHA celebrated National Public Lands Day by helping the Boise District of the BLM cleanup multiple sites that had experienced substantial littering and illegal dumping. This project was held on BLM-administered public lands known as the Long-billed Curlew Habitat Area of Critical Environmental Concern near Emmett, ID. 

The Idaho BHA volunteers were joined by the Emmett High School football team and biology club and several BLM staff.  The volunteers removed over 3 tons of garbage, filling up several trucks and trailers with a menagerie of illegally dumped items.  The single largest piece of garbage was a full size hot tub! Other treasures included a gerbil skeleton and a shot up heart-shaped picture frame still containing photos of some star-crossed lovers.

Photo credits: Levi Sim (top left), Katie Oelrich, Rob Sanders

Click to learn more about the Long-billed Curlew Habitat Area of Critical Environmental Concern