Desert Winds Cleanup

Sunsets in Southern New Mexico are truly majestic.  Even better is spending one with a group of people who deeply care about their desert landscapes.  On January 28th, the Friends and Cruceño Cleanup volunteered for a cleanup on Desert Winds Way.  For one hour people walked the desert picking up illegal dump sites and litter that disturbed the landscape.  These impacts have great impacts visually and on the health of the environment and people in Dona Ana County.  Many illegal dump sites harbor mosquitoes, centipedes, mice and other pests that harbor disease.

Cruceno Cleanup conducts a cleanup each Thursday for one hour prior to sunset in Dona Ana County.  Our Partnership expands their work and will now conduct a cleanup on National Conservation Lands sites , including Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument.  The partnership will also conduct larger scale cleanups quarterly with support from the Bureau of Land Management as well as provide education materials and opportunities fro our community to reduce illegal dumping and littering.

We picked up 16 large bags, several tires and scrap metal in one hour.  I want to thank the volunteers for their hard work, Abbey Carver from Cruceño Cleanup former commitment to our community and BLM staff for their support.  The Friends lok forward to continuing to protect, restore and educate!