The nonprofit The Motherline is spearheading a trash voucher program to reduce illegal dumping in the Illinois Valley.
Volunteers have spent months cleaning up 300,000 pounds of waste in public woodlands.
Codirector Cindy Palacios said the goal is to prevent the forest from being filled with garbage again.
"There's a lot of tires. There are lots of RVs and junked cars that the BLM is dealing with, but then they get smashed up and turn into trash, and we deal with parts of them," she said. "But mostly it is bag after bag of household trash."
People in need of a voucher must complete a short application at the Illinois Valley Family Coalition, which allows them to take one cubic yard of trash to the Kerby Transfer Station for free. A household is entitled to one voucher per three-month period.
Shelby Kamman, program director with the Coalition, said the application ensures the vouchers go to those most in need of financial assistance.
"We don't want to just pay for everyone's dump runs. We're trying to focus on the people that may be doing it illegally because they can't afford it," she said. "We're trying to make sure that there's at least financial hardship, maybe seniors that are in need, maybe a health safety clean out for hoarding or anything like that."
Kamman said people leaving their garbage in the woods is a big problem.
"Every hike we pretty much have been on since we've been here, I've seen some sort of dumping grounds, which is pretty sad to me, unless we go to a more remote area, and even then, half of them have dumping in them," she said.
The reasons for this dumping are varied.
"Here in the Illinois Valley, we’ve seen successive waves of boom-and-bust industries that have left our region economically devastated," reads The Motherline's website, "and out of the desperation is borne the irresponsibility of disposing of tons of trash by dumping it in the woods."
Palacios said she's seen refuse from illegal marijuana grows, trash that has been stolen and picked through and remnants from people living in the woods.
With 120 volunteers and this voucher program, she's hopeful about what they can accomplish.
"It's incredible to stand at one of those spots and show up there with the 20 volunteers that are in the crew and stand there just overwhelmed by the piles of trash, and then we attack it, and 20 minutes later, we'll be done," she said. "It's unbelievable what you can do with a big crowd of people and some trash bags."
The program launched in December, and 84 vouchers have already been distributed, with 120 available total.
Funding is provided by the Josephine County Solid Waste Agency.
