Tire Cleanup Effort Rolls On

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Friends volunteers Jaime Dickerson and Bert Slade push forward with their ongoing effort to keep the Nature Center pristine.
Mountain of tires next to a fence
A very large mountain of 1,266 tires that Jaime and Bert have pulled from the Canyon Ridge area that will be loaded for disposal once they complete the job. Photo by Jaime Dickerson.

Friends volunteers Jaime Dickerson and Bert Slade are still on a mission. What began as a small effort a couple of years ago to pick up trash as they hiked the trails at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge has turned into a full-blown operation to clean up the nearly 2,000 tires and other trash that have been dumped along the Canyon Ridge Trail area over the past few decades.

In late May, Jaime, Bert, and another friend trekked to the area once again and loaded 319 tires onto a trailer to be hauled away by Nature Center staff for eventual disposal. To date, 1,266 tires have been removed — a total of six trailers full.

“We have really made an impact but estimate there are still 500 to 700 tires left,” says Jaime. “We will get them.”

In addition to the tires, the trio were also able to remove an abandoned fiberglass boat from the hillside.

Main in a cowboy hat tugging on an old boat on a hill
Wrangling an old fiberglass boat dumped on the hillside. The short video clip below shows the removal of the boat. Photo and video by Jaime Dickerson.

Read more about this ongoing project here and here.

By Haily Summerford, Executive Director, Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge

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