This is the after story...

Inmates collect nearly 22 tons of trash from desert
Judi Villa
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 1, 2006 04:41 PM


Leo Gottlieb toted a garbage bag filling up with cans, bottles and food wrappers.

"There's a lot of trash in the desert," Gottlieb, 32, mused as he pointed out a heap of clothing nearby. Friday, Gottlieb was among about 200 Maricopa County jail inmates who fanned out across the desert south of Lake Pleasant to clean up the mess left at temporary campsites set up by illegal immigrants trekking into Arizona from Mexico.

The inmates collected an estimated 22 tons of trash.

"It's bad people are throwing the stuff out there," Gottlieb said. "I've done some bad stuff, but I've never thrown anything out in the desert. I like to be outside, and I like outside stuff. I don't like seeing this."

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the desert cleanup is a new phase in his fight against illegal immigration as well as a push to improve the environment. The "Illegal Alien Campsite Clean Up" will occur monthly, with future efforts pushing deeper into the desert and further south towards the Mexican border.

"There's tons and tons and tons of trash in this area, in Maricopa County," Arpaio said. "They drop it everywhere. We're going to do the best we can to clean it up."

Dressed in black-and-white jail stripes and outfitted with gloves, the inmates spent most of the day walking the desert washes, using sticks to scoop clothing and other trash from the underbrush and piling up bag after bag of garbage.

One makeshift campsite looked like it had just been abandoned. There were sleeping bags, drink containers and an unopened can of tuna.

"Just a bunch of junk," said inmate Jimmy Scherer, 35. "I don't like it. I don't like our national forest looking like this. I go fishing out here."

The first cleanup comes nine months after Arpaio's anti-human-smuggling unit began scouring the desert looking for and arresting illegal immigrants. It not only helps the environment but also gives deputies a chance to sift through the trash for clues, such as route maps, that could help them thwart border crossers.

"Look at this," Arpaio said as he surveyed an abandoned campsite where sleeping bags and blankets covered every inch of the ground. "It's just one little spot. . . . We're closer to Phoenix. As you go farther, you'll see even more of this."

"It's unbelievable how people destroy the deserts," said Sgt. Ansel Harmon. "We were out here and I took a brief look at it. To get deeper and deeper into it, it's unbelievable."

Inmate Terrance Hensley, 41, picked up clothes, food, toiletries, tents, backpacks and sleeping bags. Some of it was intertwined with the brush.

"I feel like I'm helping out my community," Hensley said. "Chances are it won't stay that way, but we're keeping it from getting any worse. If somebody doesn't come out and pick it up, it keeps building up and building up and before you know it, the deserts are really garbage dumps.

"I want anybody to be able to come out here and see that the desert is a nice place to come."
http://link.toolbot.com/azcentral.com/25732