By Bill Barnes

What does it take to make a cleanup happen? Meetings, phone calls, site visits and coordination. Carl Merrick and I had all of that going for us as we spent over a month, planning and working with the Towns of Adams and Florida Select- persons to make our efforts a success. Once we got our ducks in a row, we brought in Scott Hatch to make calls to other clubs, asking them to send up to four representatives to work beside us in this repair and cleanup effort of one of our favorite places, Old Florida Road. (NE4Wi believes we are all united in this sport, and inter- club cooperation can only enhance our perception to the public). We called on Steve Nordby to send the club insurance information to the towns and to make the initial payment on the dumpster we had placed at local radio station, WNAW/ WMNB in North Adams.

We met at the gravel lot in Savoy State Forest (the usual NE4Wi meet spot). Attendance was very good with about 31 people from a good assortment of clubs coming from as far away as New Hampshire and New York. Hopefully, all in attendance signed their names and club affiliation on the clipboard.

We broke into three groups. One to Central Shaft Road combined with the North end of Old Florida Road. A group to East Hoosac Street with the South end of Old Florida Road, and a group to clean up Tannery Falls and the Balanced Rock in Savoy State Forest. The group doing Central Shaft Rd. took along most of the Jeeps, some with military type trailers to work the water hole on the 4X4 trail. Their primary assignment was to block the illegal by- passes that 4X4's used in the past to avoid the deep water. The road across the water is shallow now that the beaver activity in the area has stopped. Also, the road through the water was shored up and is now passable for most 4X4 type vehicles. Garbage on Central Shaft Road was at a minimum. The real fun to follow....

East Hoosac Street. We started at the top of the hill with four pickup trucks and a Jeep. We sent 2 other trucks and a Jeep down to the trailhead, knowing about the pile of trash dumped there. This street was a mess. It's an isolated hillside skirting road with a steep bank and dense foliage lining the sides, easy to ditch your old freezer. Yup, we got one of those out of there! Our intention was to just clear the edges in about 5 feet or so, but with the steep drop- off, we knew we were in for it. To make a long story short, we took out 18 tires, a freezer, lots of trash including a torn plastic bag filled up with nasty, disgusting and well used disposable diapers (I got stuck picking that up). Lots of metal, like pieces of dishwasher, signs, etc., mattresses, couches and other yucky stuff. All this before we even reached the trailhead!

I had an agenda for this trailhead. For years the landowner has been griping about the 4 wheelers going across his land, causing massive erosion. Trouble is, he never tried doing anything about it. So, being the responsible group we are, we blocked off the access to this by- pass about 50 yards up on the trail. So, if you're heading South on the trail, you'll see it's blocked off and posted. Kudos to Rick Boiros and Andy Vega for supervising this effort. At the entrance to the trail, we were only allowed to define the actual road by placing small boulders that can be moved or crossed. This is what the landowner wanted. Clubs, take the hint. Stay out of the private property, please!

Now that all the missions are accomplished, we can go to the dump truck and tire center to drop off our booty. If I had to take a wild guess on trash weight, I would say close to three tons if not more, and 18 total tires. We'll know for sure when we get the bill.

So why did we do the cleanup? The towns of Adams and Florida have control of Old Florida Road. They can close it any time they want. There was a rumor they were going to do just that. I pleaded our case at an Adams Select- person's meeting, telling them there are no legal 4X4 roads anymore because the state buys the land around them, then gates them off, or only allows motorized vehicles with a 1000 pound weight limit. The Select- persons saw it my way and as a good will gesture...a cleanup came to fruition. The two towns will be putting up "Road Closed" signs at each end. For those in the know, it means, "Pass at your own risk."