Nevada Guard hauls wrecked cars in canyon cleanup

Piles of abandoned and rusted-out cars are being removed one by one from the creek in Brunswick Canyon as a part of a training exercise for the Nevada National Guard.

Over the past two months, 15 cars - varying in condition from decrepit to bullet-ridden and unrecognizable - have been pulled up to the dirt road by guardsmen, and piled up for transport to the junkyard, said Lt. Col. Cindy Kirkland.

The guard unit, which specializes in maintenance, used the exercise to simulate pulling tanks out of the battlefield. As a side benefit, that unsightly stretch of the creek, which feeds into the Carson River, gets a good cleaning.

Brunswick Canyon has long been a popular destination for disposable junkers, said Tim Bertignolli, whose aggregate business shares the land near Deer Run and Brunswick Canyon roads with the public.

Employees at the business keep an eye on the road, but still the rubble pile continues to grow.

"We try to patrol the area as best we can," Bertignolli said. "But the kids like to crash them over the banks and it's hard to stop."

Earlier this summer, several stolen cars were also found abandoned on the road.

"We pull cars out of here all the time," Bertignolli said. "But it's a pain to get somebody to take them. They don't have titles and the rules are difficult with the wrecking yards."

Now the cars lie in wait at the intersection where the dirt road begins. According to Bureau of Land Management spokesman Mark Struble, the cars are waiting on a cost-effective solution for their disposal.

The canyon land is under BLM jurisdiction.

"They became ours as soon as they were abandoned," Struble said. "So it is our responsibility to remove them."

Bertignolli said the cars - filled with holes from recreational shooters - have become an eyesore for workers and recreation seekers who travel along the dirt road and fish that section of the creek.

"If they want the public to use this area, then it should get cleaned up regularly," Bertignolli said. His company, T E Bertignolli and Associates, uses the land by special-use permit. The dirt road goes up the canyon, next to the Virginia and Truckee Railroad route, before coming out near a Moundhouse subdivision.

"It's nice that the weekend warriors come out here and help get them out, but the BLM needs to figure out what to do now," Bertignolli said.