National Forest Given Grant to Fight Graffiti

The Angeles National Forest has received a $45,000 grant to remove graffiti and litter from areas such as San Gabriel Canyon, which has been hit hard in recent years, a park official announced Wednesday.

The U.S. Forest Service grant must be matched with local contributions of volunteer time and private contributions, said Janice Gordon, assistant recreation officer for the Mt. Baldy Ranger District. So far, close to $10,000 has been raised, most of it in commitments of volunteer hours counted at $10 an hour, Gordon said.

“We plan to have a fairly steady work force of people coming up to the forest to eliminate graffiti, within a 48-hour period if at all possible,” she said. “Graffiti really seems to breed graffiti . . . and we find there’s a connection between litter and graffiti.”

So far, the park has been lent a sandblasting machine by the Big Santa Anita Historical Society. The grant money will pay for a supervisor, vehicle fuel and maintenance and a second sandblasting machine, which uses water from creeks and streams instead of a tank, Gordon said. Such a machine can be carried farther into the wilderness, where graffiti is spreading.

In addition, the park hopes to begin a weekend education program in which volunteers would contact park visitors and advise them to pack out their trash.

Gordon said trash has been a problem in the Angeles National Forest for years, but graffiti only began appearing about two years ago. She said at first she ignored it, but then hikers and picnickers began to complain.

The cleanup will officially begin May 12.