“There are millions of backpacks and blankets,” Duncan says. “I’ve been out here 48 years and I can’t see half my desert anymore.”
You won’t find flowers or garden gnomes in AJ Duncan’s front yard.
But you will find a clothing line filled with carpet shoes he says drug smugglers wear to cover their tracks, along with a pile of backpacks and blankets, and more than 400 black water jugs.
They are all items Duncan has found over the last year and a half, while hiking through his beloved desert.
[…]
A couple months ago, instead of throwing the trash away, he decided to put the items on display in his front yard. He hopes to raise awareness about what is being left behind on the land.
The black water jugs spell out the words “Border War” on his lawn. He also has a sign that welcomes visitors to stop by and take pictures. “We’ve got 2,000 miles of border and I’m only walking on eight to 10 square miles.”
[…]
