Fifty volunteers made quick work of three tons of trash and 160 tires, removing them from Thompson Hollow Road in Cumberland County and Ridge Road South in Franklin County on March 16, 2002. The volunteers, including a group from the Cornell Abraxas Leadership Development Program, worked six hours, donating 180 volunteer hours to improve Michaux State Forest.
At Thompson Hollow Road, Southampton Township, volunteers spread out along three to four miles of road and removed a couch, numerous piles of yard waste, daily household trash, and carcasses. A group worked together to hoist a drum full of concrete from the site.
A steep slope on Ridge Road South, Greene Township, failed to deter the volunteers from dragging trash to the bottom and top for DCNR to haul to a rolloff container. Numerous tires, car parts, furniture, bedsprings, and carcasses were cleaned from the site, adjacent to the Guilford Water Authority.
Brad Linder, radio personality with WHYY and GreenWorks.TV, picked up trash along with the other volunteers when he was not conducting interviews with them.
Providing containers and hauling services at a special price to the IESI Blue Ridge Landfill in Scotland was IESI Chambersburg Hauling. Sheetz Inc. of Carlisle provided lunch for the volunteers.
The roadways will be monitored for any subsequent dumping by volunteers and the Guilford Water Authority.
Michaux State Forest is located in Cumberland, Franklin, and Adams Counties. It is comprised of 82,261 acres and is named in honor of Andre Michaux and his son, Francois Andre Michaux, the well-known French botanist.
The vast woodlands and natural areas are used by, among others, hunters, anglers, hikers, bikers, and picnickers. Hikers on the Appalachian Trail traverse about 40 miles through the forest.
