Idaho
Volunteer organizes massive cleanup effort to remove huge piles of garbage from the Idaho high desert
PAYETTE COUNTY, Idaho — Huge piles of garbage are littering the high desert west of the Treasure Valley, and one Idaho man is organizing a massive volunteer effort to clean up the 20,000-acre area.
Mike Long started the Facebook group 208Cleanup to organize volunteer cleanups across the state. He is hoping to get volunteers to join him on Saturday, April 11, to help remove the trash.
“This one is huge, it’s 20,000 acres,” Long said.
One man’s mission to clean up the Idaho desert
No one hired Long to clean up the desert. He took on the mission because he could not stand to see his home state desecrated.
“There’s more trash in this area than I have picked up in the two years that I’ve been doing this as 208Cleanup,” Long said.
The debris includes mysterious items, like an inflatable, and ordinary household trash.
“This is a bunch of household trash. This was someone’s house that got cleaned up. Clearly, you can see that someone dumped out here thinking no one cares about this land,” Long said.
Some of the garbage contains names, which has prompted an investigation.
“This pile’s been picked over by the BLM law enforcement. They’ve pulled out names and addresses from pieces of mail, so they’re investigating,” Long said.
Long believes community involvement is the key to keeping public lands pristine.
“If we as the community as the actual owners of this land, take care of it, it’s a lot cheaper, plus we’re invested in it, so when people come out to abuse it, it’s us, it’s the people that are seeing them and correcting each other and ourselves,” Long said.
Again, the cleanup is set for Saturday. Long has secured donations of garbage bags and huge dumpsters. He says the landfill has waived its drop-off fee for whatever is collected.
He adds that there are a lot of old, used tires in the area. The landfill will not waive the fees for them, so any donations are welcome. Otherwise, the tires will have to be gathered to one spot until the funds can be raised.
If you plan to volunteer, go to 208Cleanup on Facebook to sign up and learn more. Also, make sure to wear thick gloves and heavy-duty shoes.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
AMMON – Two fires in the Ammon area have been extinguished, thanks to the massive response of multiple fire agencies.
Two fires started in separate neighborhoods Friday night as a result of people lighting fireworks. The first one started around 5:45 p.m. on Delaware Avenue near the St. Clair Estates subdivision. Idaho Falls Fire Department spokeswoman Hayli Egbert tells EastIdahoNews.com it started in a field next to a house in the area.
Although the blaze was only about half an acre in size, firefighters battled it for about four and a half hours.
“We were able to catch it before any homes were affected,” Egbert says. “We were also able to avoid injuries.”
As firefighters were wrapping up, another fire started on Comish and High Willow Lane in the Comore Loma subdivision about four miles southwest.
The blaze quickly grew to about eight acres. John Tren posted several videos of the fire on the Life in Idaho Falls Facebook page.
“It got very, very close to several homes, but thankfully we had enough agencies out there that prevented the fire from reaching any houses,” says Egbert. “No civilians or firefighters were injured.”
The fire was out by about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, but firefighters had a brush truck on scene overnight to ensure there were no hot spots to start it up again.
It’s not clear whether anyone is being charged in connection with the fire. EastIdahoNews.com is awaiting additional information from Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.
Six fire agencies were involved, including Idaho Falls Fire Department, Central Fire District in Jefferson County, Ucon Fire Department, Bonneville County Fire District 1, Shelley Fire Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and Bonneville County Emergency Management Services were there as supporting agencies.
“It was all hands on deck,” Egbert says. “We had pretty much all resources expended trying to cover the fires that were going on.”
RELATED | Idaho Falls Fire Department urges fireworks safety after two vegetation fires
Earlier Saturday, the IFFD issued a joint news release on behalf of everyone involved to remind the public that “current conditions are dangerously dry” and that a single spark has the potential to cause major damage. Law enforcement and fire officials are urging the public to avoid using illegal fireworks until further notice and to attend professionally-managed fireworks shows, rather than light them off at home.
“Individuals found in violation of local fireworks ordinances are subject to citation and fines under local ordinances and may be held liable for the costs of any fire suppression efforts and property damage resulting from unlawful fireworks use,” the city of Idaho Falls says in a Saturday morning news release.
RELATED | Officials: Stop using illegal aerial fireworks before more fires ignite
Egbert reiterates the importance of being safe with fireworks this Fourth of July.
“With last night’s incident, if something of the same size had occurred across town, we may not have had the resources to handle it all,” she says. “It really took all hands on deck to (put it out) and keep everyone safe.”
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Courtesy Zach Zaugg
AMMON — As the community celebrates the Fourth of July with numerous aerial fireworks ringing through the night, a fire has broken out near the Ammon foothills.
According to WatchDuty, a wildfire mapping application, a fire has been reported near South High Willow Lane, and another near East Comish Drive and East 65th South.
WatchDuty watchers report that forward movement of both fires has been stopped, and crews are working on containment.
EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Bonneville County Fire District 1 and is waiting for more information about the fire.
EastIdahoNews.com will update this story once more information becomes available.
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IDAHO FALLS — The CEO of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber resigned Friday amid allegations of misappropriation of funds from a local podcast.
According to a social media post posted Friday from the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, the board of directors accepted the resignation of Paul Baker as chief executive officer.
“We thank Paul for his years of service to the Chamber and wish him well in his future endeavors,” says the post.
The post says that Baker will continue assisting the chamber in a transitional capacity for the next few weeks “to facilitate an orderly leadership transition.”
We have reached out to Paul Baker for comment, and have not received a response. If we hear back, we will update this article.
The resignations come after weeks of scrutiny from a local podcast, IFAF, hosted by Mike Nelson and Karley Morgan. In multiple episodes, the podcasters read questions from an alleged whistleblower who claims that Baker may have misappropriated funds from the chamber, among other allegations.
RELATED | IFAF podcasters reflect on more than two years of rebellious recordings
EastIdahoNews.com has been watching this closely; some facts have been verified, others have not been or appear to be factually incorrect. We will continue investigating and update if we learn more.
“To date, the Board has not found any evidence that Chamber funds have been misappropriated. The Board remains committed to the Chamber’s mission of serving its members and supporting a strong business community,” says the post. “Chamber operations will continue uninterrupted as we move forward with a leadership transition and an independent audit.”
As of Friday, no criminal charges have been filed against Baker for any of the allegations.
The podcast has also linked Baker to Cristie Stone, the former President of the Portneuf Valley Soccer Club, who was recently charged with allegedly embezzling $219,000 from the club. Baker was previously the club’s executive director. Numerous social media posts also indicate that Baker and Stone have been in a romantic relationship.
Local authorities have not indicated Baker is involved in Stone’s embezzlement case.
RELATED | Former president of Portneuf Valley Soccer Club embezzled over $219K, police say
The board says it appreciates the continued support of its members, partners, and the community and will provide additional information “as appropriate.”
EastIdahoNews.com will update when we learn more.
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