KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasCleanup Campaign Tackles Dumping Trash in Desert

Cleanup Campaign Tackles Dumping Trash in Desert

It's hard to miss the piles of junk dumped by the side of the road near Lake Mead or Red Rock.

Everything from old mattresses to burned out, broken down cars, it's quickly becoming more than a nuisance for the federal government.

Between the four federal land management agencies, the Feds spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to clean up the junk. But now they are hoping a new campaign will help put a stop to the destruction of our desert.

Click here for 'Don't Trash Nevada' volunteer event map.

It's a regular route for hundreds of drivers coming into the valley everyday.

Unfortunately the area on Sunrise Mountain has also become a place where more and more people are dumping their trash.

It goes far beyond broken beer bottles and old tires.

Channel 8 stopped at a spot right off the highway and counted at least six different sofas, an old console TV, a child's basketball hoop and even a baby stroller that didn't seem in bad shape.

It's also a popular place for construction and landscaping companies to dump their debris for free. There were piles of old carpet, broken cinder blocks and dead trees.

Besides being an eye sore, the sites are causing serious damage to plants and animals native to the desert.

"The desert is a very important ecosystem to numerous plants and animals. Some of that are found nowhere else in the world so it's very important that people respect the area and don't dump or litter," Beth Moore of the U.S. Forest Service says.

With thousands of newcomers moving to southern Nevada every month, the government is launching the ‘Don't Trash Nevada' campaign to help educate everyone about the importance of the desert.

"It's just the desert - we hear that a lot. So part of our goal is to help change that mindset - to get people to understand. It's not just the desert," Lisa Christianson, Bureau of Land Management, says.

Driving Directions to Volunteer Event: Take I-15 North, exit on Lake Mead Boulevard and drive east for 14 miles. The event will be located on the right-hand side of the road. Signs and parking attendants will guide you to the event grounds.