2018 Lower Salt River and Saguaro Lake Graffiti & Trash Removal Project
Natural Restorations Dedicated Restoration Team
3,704 square feet of graffiti removed & 3,620 pounds of trash removed from the lower salt river & Saguaro lake
Before
In 2018, we were awarded a grant from ON Semiconductor to take our Dedicated Restoration Team to the Lower Salt River to remove trash and graffiti from the area.
During the first week in December 2018, we contracted 3 Military Veterans on our Dedicated Restoration Team and got to work on a project we had wanted to tackle for a long time; remove the graffiti at Water Users and Phon D Sutton along the Lower Salt River, remove the graffiti along the Saguaro Lake Marina Trail and Cliffs, and remove trash from various trails up and down the Lower Salt River that were too spread out and difficult to find and access during volunteer events.
This was a huge graffiti removal project, in a few days we almost doubled the square footage of graffiti our organization has removed since we started removing graffiti in early 2017. We would like to thank Don Pike for his donation to our organization that helped cover additional supplies needed for this extensive graffiti removal project.
After
This project provided 120 hours of work to the Military Veterans on our team. Veterans working with us benefited from our program not only through paid contract work but also through spending time in nature with other veterans. It was extremely rewarding both mentally and physically for the veterans in our program to accomplish this project and make a lasting impact on the state.
Our hope is that by removing the graffiti as seen in the pictures below, fewer people will make the mistake of thinking it is okay to tag the rocks and boulders. By removing the trash, we hope to discourage others from leaving their trash behind and we believe everyone should be able to experience nature without seeing trash or graffiti.
Thank you to everyone at ON Semiconductor for awarding us with this grant. Thank you for helping us make a lasting impact on Arizona, the Lower Salt River, Saguaro Lake, and the Tonto National Forest.
We would also like to thank everyone at the Tonto National Forest - Mesa Ranger District for their support of these projects.
If you or your organization is interested in sponsoring our Dedicated Restoration Team and helping fund team projects, please contact us.
Saguaro Lake Graffiti Removal: 1,117 sq Ft removed
Click picture for full-size image gallery
Water Users Recreation Area Graffiti & Cover-up paint Removal:
1,006 sq ft removed
Phon D Sutton Recretion Area Graffiti & Cover-up Paint REmoval:
1,581 sq ft removed
Please contact the non-emergency number for the area if you see anyone vandalizing public lands and please contact us when you see graffiti or trash in outdoor recreation and wilderness areas so we can work with the land management agency to remove the graffiti rather than paint over it.
We proudly Graffiti Removal Products and the EcoBlaster Portable Pressure Washer & Water Source from World's Best Graffiti Removers. You can check out our other graffiti removal projects HERE.
