Volunteers helped Sproul State Forest employees remove nearly 13 tons of trash from Beech Creek Mountain Road April 21, 2001.
Refrigerators, televisions, furniture, and other trash was winched from a 1.3 mile section of Beech Creek Road in Clinton County. In addition to pulling 6.5 tons of trash up the steep hillside, the workers removed four tons of scrap metal and 180 tires into roll-off containers for recycling. A gallon of motor oil was recovered for recycling.
State Forest personnel closed the road to facilitate the cleanup. Volunteers bagged smaller items on the hillside, and forestry personnel used four winch trucks to bring the heaviest items to the road where forestry trucks and a Beech Creek Township truck hauled it to three roll-off containers at the top of the cleanup area. Trash was also removed from an area on Sand Springs Road as well.
The momentous cleanup could not have been accomplished in one day without the cooperation of many groups and individuals. Altogether, 45 volunteers donated 330 hours to gather and load 14 truckloads of trash. Sponsoring the cleanup were Beech Creek Watershed Association, Clinton County Conservation District, Sproul State Forest, and PA CleanWays. Participating groups providing volunteers included Trout Unlimited, Western Clinton Sportsmen's Association, Jeeps R Us, Penn College, and the Beech Creek Fire Department.
Donors included the following: Clinton County Solid Waste Authority, trash disposal; PennDOT, garbage bags, vests, and gloves; Sheetz Inc. of Mill Hall, sandwiches for the volunteers; Danone Waters of North America, bottled water; Beech Creek Township, truck and operator; Beech Creek Fire Department, Beech Creek Borough, and J.A. Gunlach Garage, use of facilities; Gary Packer, tractor and winching; and Sproul State Forest (DCNR), winching, traffic control, and trash hauling.
Sproul State Forest is located in western Clinton and northern Centre counties, containing 293,000 acres of forestland. The forest is named in honor of William C. Sproul, governor of Pennsylvania from 1919 to 1923.
Learn about other illegal dump sites in state forests and parks.
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This page last updated May 29, 2001.
