"BLM Struggles Against Illegal Dumping on Fed Lands"

"SKULL VALLEY, Utah --  During a warm spell this fall, vandals hauled 18 decrepit televisions and computers down a narrow gravel road in Utah's picturesque Skull Valley, dumped them on a hillside, blasted them with guns and left them for dead.

Nearby on the scrubby valley floor, other items have met the same fate: a hot water heater, paint cans, a candy vending machine, a couch and even a pile of mannequin heads.

Illegally dumped garbage is piling up on federal lands, often creating toxic hazards and costly cleanups. And nowhere is it more apparent than on the vast, often-stunning tracts owned by the Bureau of Land Management, the nation's largest landlord with some 412,000 square miles, mostly in 12 Western states."

Mike Stark reports for the Associated Press December 27, 2009.