Trash Dogs Pick Up National Award
By Patty Burel, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

The Trash Dogs from Brookings, Oregon were one of only fifteen recipients nationwide to receive a Take Pride in America® National Award.

On hand to receive the national award was Trash Dog representative and Forest Service retiree Jerry Darbyshire, who attended the celebration July 18 in the Sidney R.Yates Auditorium at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. 

 “I think it is absolutely wonderful to receive this national award,” says member Ed Gross. 

The Trash Dogs is an all-volunteer group dedicated to eliminating illegally dumped trash along national forest roads and county roads that access the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Curry County, Oregon. Since the first organized clean-up event in June 2007, at least 70 volunteers have removed approximately 60 tons of trash and debris from 145 separate sites.

Brookings area residents and retired Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest employees Ed Gross, Harve Timeus, Jerry Darbyshire and Ray Sundblad are the core of the Trash Dogs.

Some Trash Dogs expenses have been funded in part through Title II dollars from the Siskiyou Resource Advisory Committee under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, and enhanced by partnerships with the Curry County Sheriff and Forest Service Law Enforcement.

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(Editor's note:) Click here>> to read the October 19, 2007 FS Today story, “The Trash Dogs.”