Anchorage leaders are doubling the city’s capacity to clean up public parks, trails and other spaces.
To do that, the city is adding a second 10-person crew to the Parks and Recreation Department’s Healthy Spaces team.
The work is essential, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said at a press conference Thursday.
“They pick up everyday litter accumulated in our parks and along trails,” LaFrance said. “They help restore green spaces where illegal camping has occurred, and they can remove heavy illegally dumped items like appliances and mattresses that clutter our green belts.”
The Healthy Spaces team removed over 2.4 million pounds of trash from public areas last year, roughly double the previous year’s amount, LaFrance said.
“To put that in perspective, that is the equivalent weight of 30 humpback whales,” she said.
The expansion is funded through a new $4 surcharge at the city’s Solid Waste Services facilities.
The additional staff will allow the team to work year-round, instead of seasonally, and focus on areas beyond parks and trails, Parks and Rec Director Shanna Gamble said.
“Teams will be dispatched to multiple areas across the municipality in response to public reports, internally identified areas, camp cleanups and coordination with APD on areas of concern,” Gamble said.
The expansion of Anchorage’s parks cleanup capacity comes after it criminalized most homeless camping in the city.
Now that the city offers year-round shelter options, LaFrance said, they haven’t had to abate any large-scale camps this year.
“We haven't needed to,” LaFrance said. “As folks have camped in areas, we have done outreach, and, you know, have new codes, too, that we can enforce. And by and large, folks comply and move on.”
LaFrance said her administration doesn’t anticipate a large influx of homeless camping in public spaces when the weather warms up in the spring.
Anchorage residents can go to the city’s website for a web portal to report illegal dumping or trash accumulation.
