On Earth Day 2022, Four Wheel Campers partnered with Friends of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge on a two-day cleanup event, which marks the first of several volunteer events the company is sponsoring this year. Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, which is an hour south of Tucson, Arizona, provides critical habitat for the endangered masked bobwhite quail, and it is a popular destination for camping, hiking, birding and hunting. Friends of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is a nonprofit 501c3 that supports the 118,000-acre Refuge, and they work closely with local communities and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Over a dozen volunteers attended, and most opted to camp in the Refuge’s group campsite, which boasts spectacular views of the Baboquivari Mountains. On day one, some volunteers dismantled old rock campfire rings and relocated the rocks to erosion control zones, while others installed 20 metal fire pits in some of the Refuge’s most popular campsites. After lunch, volunteers split into several smaller groups to pick up trash along two miles of Arivaca-Sasabe Road, which runs right through the Refuge, and near many of the prime campsites. After the last bag of litter was hauled away, volunteers enjoyed a leisurely afternoon at camp, followed by dinner and drinks around the campfire.
On the second morning, the group removed two miles of old, barbed wire fencing along Arivaca-Sasabe Road, which will soon be replaced with wildlife-friendly boundary fencing. Trash pickup resumed after lunch, and with the help of several new volunteers, the group removed litter along three miles of Arivaca-Sasabe Road. After collecting countless beer cans along the road, we opened up a few cold ones at camp, and enjoyed another night of campfire stories as coyotes serenaded us from a distance.
With the success of Four Wheel Campers’ community events, plus a customer base and online following that is passionate about giving back to our public lands, incorporating volunteer work into an event was a logical next step for the brand. “In our 50th year, we want to help heal and preserve nature for another 50 years and beyond,” says Dan Welty, Vice President of Four Wheel Campers. “Partnering with organizations focused on cleaning and protecting natural spaces, and with the help of our customer volunteers, we view this as the beginning of our long-term involvement in these efforts.”
All photos courtesy of Elisabeth Brentano. If you’d like to get involved in the next volunteer event, please visit the Events page on the Four Wheel Campers website for more details.
Future Events
On Saturday, June 4, Four Wheel Campers is teaming up with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association to assist with trail crew and litter removal in the Adventure Mountain area of South Lake Tahoe. Four Wheel Campers is providing camping for all volunteers on June 3 and 4 at Wilder Hope Valley, which sits on the stunning West Fork of the Carson River. On Sunday, June 12, Four Wheel Campers will be working with another Tahoe-based nonprofit, Clean Up the Lake.
It is inspiring to read about the environmental remediation done by the truck camper owners in this article. 4 Wheel Campers is to be congratulated for their vision, support and commitment to organizing this work. I’m hoping this model becomes adopted by other groups. Besides the obvious need, it would be good PR and possibly help protect truck camper access to public land. Is participation in these 4 Wheel Camper events limited to owners of that brand? I own an Alaskan camper but like the diversity of our TCA community. I wonder if perhaps an environment remediation session might be offered in conjunction with next year’s TCA Rally.