High 5: Giving Back to the Trails

CEDAR VALLEY, Utah – One of the many great things about Utah: off-roading. Trails that stretch for miles. Not everyone leaves these trails the way they found them.

That’s not the case for Staff Sgt. Jon Rector.

“I make it my own personal quest to find the weirdest, biggest, most unique item out here.”

And he does. Snowmobiles, a washing machine, how about a couch in the river?

While cleaning up Five Mile Pass in Tooele County, he scored big time!

“I picked up a mini-fridge earlier that had been shot up, roof siding, small engine off a lawn mower.”

“He’s a boots on the ground type of guy, like he was in the military,” says Mike Thomas with the Division of Parks and Recreation OHV Program.

He adds Sgt. Rector has always placed a high priority on service. He served two tours in the U.S. Army before making the Beehive State his home.

“Sgt. Rector is a good example of what giving back can be in Utah.”

Sgt. Rector not only volunteers with the state’s OHV program, but also though programs like BOAR, the Backcountry Offroad Adventure Rally club.

“What’s better than hanging out with your friends, driving Jeeps and what not, and go out and enjoy the outdoors and do something better.”

Over the past two and half years, Sgt. Rector has spent thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to clean up our state.

“That’s being as frugal as I could be so my wife doesn’t beat me.”

But he says it’s money well spent. He just hopes his example will inspire others to do more.

“Any little bit you would pick up that you normally wouldn’t is a victory for the rest of us out here.”