“I was thirsty and you gave me drink.”
− Mt. 25:35
CPT Reservist John Heid is among more than a dozen volunteers facing possible prosecution for “littering” in the desert.
“Two companions and I placed three-dozen gallons of water on an active migrant trail in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Tucson,” reported Heid. “A Fish and Wildlife officer confronted us and escorted us out of the area.”
During record heat, and a continually rising death toll (183 so far this fiscal year in Arizona*), law enforcement officials consider life-giving water to be illegal litter.
A jury convicted No More Deaths volunteer Walt Staton of “knowingly littering,” a misdemeanor, in June. He was sentenced 11 August to one year of unsupervised probation, 300 hours of trash removal from public lands and a yearlong ban from BANWR. Staton plans to appeal the conviction.
*According to www.nomoredeaths.org.
