High Desert Keepers

10/16/2026

🌵 The desert isn’t a dump. Help us keep it that way.

High Desert Keepers volunteers have removed approximately TWO MILLION POUNDS of illegally dumped trash from Southern California’s High Desert. Behind every load are neighbors who care enough to show up, roll up their sleeves, and make a difference.

Just this month, three volunteers removed approximately 300 pounds of trash during Operation Main. Small crew. Real results.

A share of MyGivingCircle’s $100,000 December grant would help us put more resources into desert cleanups—fuel for hauling, cleanup supplies, equipment, and getting collected waste properly disposed of. It would also support our work to remove abandoned tires and restore the places our communities call home.

Please vote for us to share in a $100,000 grant at https://mygivingcircle.org/the-high-desert-keepers/vote?affiliate=mgcCshare

Voting is FREE and only takes a few seconds. Then share this post and invite your friends to vote, too!

Thank you for helping us turn dumped-on places into cared-for spaces. 💚

Takes 10 seconds. Share this and make it count.

10/16/2026

Operation Phelan Downtown Part IV has been postponed!

The new date is now saturday, November 7 from 9 to 1 PM.
Location to be announced.

10/13/2026

10/03/2026

If anyone out there is bored and looking for something to do, we could use some more help out here. There's only three of us. Astor and Phelan Road.

09/27/2026

So as announced, this Saturday was National Public Lands Day and one of three cleanup events that positional projects and a slate of other organizations including hours engage in every year. But this one was very special. The kiosk finally went in.

Karyl "Caz" Newman who runs Positional Projects and is one of our board members absolutely knocked it out of the park this weekend! It was an amazing event! On Friday we had a caterer, and DJ, and a pre-public distribution screening of a very interesting film00 called Welcome Space Brothers. A very interesting documentary that follows Ruth E. Norman, known to her followers as Archangel Uriel, who led the Unarius Academy of Science, a UFO-channeling spiritual group based in El Cajon, California. Under her leadership, the organization became known for elaborate UFO-themed films and public-access television programs during the late 1970s and 1980s.

The documentary is directed by Jodi Wille and is currently touring theaters, with a broader U.S. release listed for October 16, 2026 and not only mentions George Vantassel and his UFO group that gathered at a giant rock, but highlights many parallels that exist between the two group even though the film is not about Vantassel and his group.

Then on Saturday we had the ribbon-cutting for the new kiosk that Kaz and many others have been working on for two years to finally get installed out there. It's a three sided kiosk that has information regarding Vantassel, Crytzer, and all of the happenings centered around the UFO thing, the native American connection to the area which is considered a native American sacred site, and the ongoing efforts to maintain the area by various groups including The High Desert Keepers. There was a yoga class, then of course the cleanup and pressure washing, and then like always lunch was served.

The Bureau of Land Management was present like always. Here are the photos from the event the video is coming in in that video I will name all of the various groups who were responsible for this absolutely incredible weekend!

We go back out in January, I will be announcing that date as soon as it is available and please, if you haven't taken advantage of the opportunity to come out you really should consider it. It's a magical and historical site and the event itself is nothing short of fantastic thanks to Kaz and her unwavering commitment to the area.

09/17/2026

Good morning Troops!

Our Trash Tracker is now up and running on the website! It will eventually become a downloadable app but for now if you go to our website and at the top click on report dumping, you can report dumping from there. It works on your phone or your tablet. It will eventually become a downloadable app but for now if you go to our website and at the top click on "report dumping," you can report dumping from there. It works on your phone or your tablet.

So now in real time you can report directly to us. As soon as our facility is built and we have our paid rapid response team, this information will be incredibly valuable to us so that we can get out there and clean these dumpsites up right away before the critters get in there and tear the bags open and trash blows all over the desert. That is the intent. We still have to raise the money to fund that program, but we're working on it diligently.

Check it out!

09/16/2026

05/18/2026

HEY TROOPS!

If you're not doing anything this Saturday, we will be back out at Lemon and Hesperia Roads finishing up what we started about a month ago. 9AM to 1PM, lunch, like always, will be served!

05/18/2026

There are trash dumping scumbags everywhere. Why? Because they dump with impunity. Even if they're caught, and actually prosecuted, the laws have no teeth. If we had our way, first offense mandatory $10,000 fine. First defense, mandatory vehicle forfeiture. First offense, mandatory six months in jail or probation, or a combination there of. Penalties increase from their by a factor of two or three. Give them community service hours, give them to me, and I'll put their selfish careless asses out in the desert in August in July, August and September cleaning up trash while I sit in the truck with the AC on laughing at them.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1503780898205455