Volunteers Brave the Rain to Clean Up Lizard’s Mouth

On Sunday, May 19, a group of 30 volunteers made their way through rain and fog to help clean up trash at Lizard’s Mouth. Altogether they removed approximately 200 pounds of trash from the popular area in the Santa Ynez Mountains just north of Goleta.

The day started off fairly cold and wet, but a core group of volunteers came with rain jackets and a wonderfully positive attitude. And while the morning may have started off rainy, the clouds mostly cleared by mid-morning, and the group was treated to some beautiful sunshine. The only thing the rain hampered was the graffiti removal portion of the event. That has been postponed to Sunday, June 2 and will be hosted in part by our friends at the Santa Barbara Rock Gym. Stay tuned for more information about that event.

Even with a smaller group, we were able to clean up most of the trash around Lizard’s Mouth. Volunteers found mostly broken glass, bottles, and cans—much of which we were able to recycle. The team was happy to find less trash over the weekend compared to the fall cleanup last year.

This effort to keep the area clean has been ongoing for almost 20 years, with the first biannual cleanup started by local outdoor enthusiast, Joel Brown, and Forest Service employee, Larry Griffith. We were glad to once again help them organize this great event.

Thank you to the Forest Service, Santa Barbara Rock Gym, American Alpine Club – Los Padres Chapter, and local band, Underground Souls for co-hosting the event. And thank you to Isla Vista Food Co-op for providing snacks and to Real Cheap Sports and Island Seed and Feed for contributing door prizes. We’re also grateful to the UCSB Coastal Fund for funding our cleanup efforts in the Santa Barbara frontcountry.

See below for more photos of the cleanup:

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