How Cleanup Works

 Many people seem to be wondering how cleanup works. While it varies from site to site depending on the ecosystem in which we are gathered, the same general process applies each year.

While the dates of the gathering are July 1-7, we start counciling on the land on July 7th to pick a region for the next year's gathering. This "vision council" can go for days or even more than a week. The gathering isn't really over until the council completes.

That being said, most people pull out between July 5 and 8th, but some stay for vision council that may go as long as a week or more. Most people follow the pack it in and pack it out mode of camping and take their gear and all trash out of the woods.  Unfortunately just like any group of campers, there is a small percentage that don't have a conscious ethic regarding camping.

What happens then?

Individual gatherers stay for cleanup. Packing up all human created objects that have been left behind and disposing of these things responsibly. Trash is taken to the landfill and dump fees are paid by the "magic hat" or collective funds with people who can donating a cash to help fund these efforts.

Extensive efforts are spent on searching for micro trash (small pieces of human made material, orange peels, fragments of paper and plastic products, etc).

What happens once all the trash is gone?

Folks staying for cleanup renaturalize by disappearing campsites. This can include things like spreading duff from the area (duff is decaying vegetable matter covering the ground under trees), setting up waterbars along heavily used trails with dirt or logs, and/or aerating compacted soil. 

Sometimes, we pay for seed to reseed areas in conjunction with specific recommendations from Forest Service resource folks. Any seeding or replanting is always done based on guidance from USFS resource personnel.

Please note that each site is different and the techniques we use vary from site to site and year to year.  

While people who check out our cleanup efforts in July or August may not feel we have done a great job, please note that our goal is to do a cleanup that allows the forest to heal and rejuvenate. I respectfully ask you to hold judgement and check out the site one year later when winter snows and rain have nurtured vegetation growth.

A couple of notes on this year's cleanup.

Due to the Forest Service closure order of June 26th, it took us some time to get the trash out of the original site as the limited amount of time for people to pull things out of the woods, precluded many people from hauling out their gear. The remaining trash was removed on July 9th, 2024.  

Cleanup on the second site is ongoing but as of July 11th, there was very limited trash on site.  If you would like free dry goods, we have plenty of beans, rice, and canned goods that are free to anyone who wants it. The caveat is you have to come out and get it.