What started as one man picking up trash from the Crooked River Ranch grasslands in 2017 has grown into one of the largest volunteer environmental cleanup efforts in Central Oregon. This week, the Madras Gambler 500 returned to Jefferson County and removed an estimated 250,000 pounds of debris from approximately 80,000 acres of public land.

Tate Morgan, the creator of Gambler 500, said the scale of the cleanup reflects both the severity of the problem and the commitment of the volunteers who show up to solve it.

"If we're not picking it up, we're gonna have to pay the government to do it," Morgan said. "And we all know how expensive that's gonna get."

The Scope of This Year's Haul

This year's cleanup removed:

  • 14 abandoned vehicles
  • 8 recreational vehicles (RVs)
  • 4 boats
  • More than 1,000 tires
  • Hundreds of thousands of pounds of miscellaneous debris

Morgan estimated the volunteer labor is saving taxpayers thousands of dollars that would otherwise be spent on government-contracted removal.

More Than a Cleanup

The multi-day event is also a celebration of the outdoors and of the Madras community. A music festival with various bands runs alongside the cleanup, and there's on-site racing for mini bikes and go-karts. Morgan said most participants are there for the right reasons.

"The majority of people that come out and do this are doing it simply because they want to see public lands cleaned up," he said.

Participants pay their own travel costs and cover the disposal fees for the waste they collect — a testament, Morgan said, to how much people care.

A Persistent Problem

Morgan acknowledged that the gains made each year are partially undone as camping and illegal dumping on public lands continues to generate new waste.

"We clean up all that trash," Morgan said. "But it just fills right back in the next year."

He said the challenge in Central Oregon is particularly acute, with dispersed camping on public lands creating ongoing debris accumulation.

Despite the challenge, Morgan expressed genuine affection for the area and its people. "I just love this state. I love that area," he said. "Madras is somewhere that we think we can actually help. Madras has a lot of character and is one of the kindest communities that I've ever experienced."

Next year will mark a decade of Gambler 500 cleanup efforts in Jefferson County. Morgan encouraged residents to use the grasslands responsibly and to pack out what they pack in.