Idaho environmental organizations call for volunteers in annual cleanup of Sawtooth National Recreation Area
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 16, 2025Contact:Lexi Black, Community Engagement Associate, (208) 345-6933 x 302
Idaho environmental organizations call for volunteers in annual cleanup of Sawtooth National Recreation Area
Ketchum, ID — Environmental organizations across Idaho are looking for volunteers to help clean up the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) after another busy summer season. In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the Idaho Conservation League, Sawtooth Society, Idaho Trails Association, Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association, the Environmental Resource Center, Idaho Rivers United, and Wood River Trails Coalition come together annually to facilitate this two-week-long cleanup effort.Volunteers sign up to clean up zones of the front and/or backcountry within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area on a date (or dates) of their choosing between September 15, 2025, and September 29, 2025. A self-guided event, this volunteer opportunity allows the volunteers themselves to decide when and where they’d like to contribute. Suggested cleanup zones are provided, but volunteers are welcome to suggest and attend to a zone that is not listed.In 2024, 51 volunteers signed up for the cleanup effort despite the burdensome challenges of the Wapiti and Frog Lake Fires last September. With help from the U.S. Forest Service, the organizations in charge of the cleanup were able to monitor fire closures and make recommendations for safe locations to those determined volunteers willing to brave suboptimal conditions. Now familiar with the dedication of these volunteers, the participating organizations hope to see even greater numbers of volunteers this year.Since its inception in 2020, this annual effort has amounted to the removal of 240 industrial-sized bags of garbage from the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Volunteers also break up illegal fire rings, take unofficial structures apart, and clean human waste issues.Congress established the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in 1972, to preserve and protect the Area’s “natural, scenic, historic, pastoral, and fish and wildlife values and to provide for the enhancement of the recreation values associated therewith.”To participate in this year’s cleanup, CLICK HERE! From there, you can choose a project area and date before receiving instructions on picking up supplies. Thank you for giving back to this iconic area of Idaho!
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