A Caltrans maintenance crew picks up trash along Highway 29 near Cruikshank Road near Kelseyville, Calif., on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

LAKE COUNTY Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol joined forces in a statewide Litter Removal and Enforcement Day held on April 22, the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day. Litter is an ongoing problem on State Highways.

Litter is not only ugly, it can lead to pollution. Last year alone, Caltrans spent $60 million picking up trash on California State Highways.

A total of more than 160,000 cubic yards of litter was removed last year, enough to fill 10,000 Caltrans garbage trucks, which would stretch about 52 miles if parked end to end!

Cigarette butts are the No. 1 item littered in California — they are discarded by the millions, often causing roadside fires, clogging storm drains, and threatening our water quality and wildlife.

In addition, motorists face the risk of accident, injury, and death as the result of trash and other debris fallen from vehicles hauling unsecured/untarped loads.

“Caltrans spends millions of dollars cleaning up trash from California highways when there are so many other uses for that money,” said Matthew K. Brady, Acting Caltrans District 1 Director. “We’re asking the public to help us reduce our trash problem – please Don’t Trash California.”

Caltrans said the dedicated volunteers who help clean state highways are a big part of the litter solution.

In Caltrans District 1 – Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake counties – there are about 320 Adopt-A-Highway groups made up of approximately 1,500 volunteers.

For more information on the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway program, please call Nita Brake-Mills at

707-441-5761.

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