On garbage and tolerance in the wilderness

When Rick Bombaci went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in 2010 as a wilderness ranger, his friends were curious. What did he do in the woods all day, besides weave garlands and write poetry?

In conversations at potlucks, he learned to skip fancy terms like “assessing resource damage.” He was a glorified garbageman, he said. His pickup route? Fire pits big enough to lie down in, full of twisted masses of melted beer cans and polypropylene tarps. Tin cans and oozing batteries stuffed into stream banks, trees garroted with steel baling wire and impaled by 12-inch spikes. Moldy canvas tents, sodden camo jackets, rotten cowboy boots, bent tent poles, broken camp chairs, abandoned sleeping bags, rusted-out sheepherder stoves, miles of baling twine, frying pans, coolers, propane canisters, rebar. Fifty-five-gallon drums.

The really old garbage bothered him less, because he was willing to pardon old-timers’ ignorance. After all, even his nature-lover friends seemed unaware of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which defines wilderness as “an area of undeveloped land … retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation … with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable.” When it came to the new garbage, however – longer-lasting and more toxic – you’d think: Some people just don’t give a damn. Whatever happened to Lady Bird Johnson and her “Keep America Beautiful” campaign?

Rick doesn’t know if backcountry travelers are leaving as much trash as they did years ago. After all, the Forest Service keeps cleaning it up, removing the evidence of their misbehavior. But this he does know: 60 mule loads of garbage in one wilderness area is about 59 loads too many. Perhaps it boils down to a simple adult maxim. Clean up after yourself. The Wilderness Act is 50 years old. It would be nice if the rest of us grew up, too.

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1 Comment

  1. Tim Truemper

    Thanks for this posting. I found the blog responses to be just as illuminating. I make it a habit to bring along a bag to pick up whatever debris may be lying about that is small. I was dismayed and astounded to find litter on the glacier at Mt. Rainer! Of all places….. And have picked up at Rocky Mtn Natl Park, Shenandoah, Smoky Mtn. I find that there is usually less in Wilderness areas. I sometimes wonder, who aimlessly tosses stuff at places of natural beauty? Last fall I was returning from a camping trip and made a stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway to take short hike to an overlook. As I was getting to the trailhead a family stopped and was on there way to the same location. Not two feet from their vehicle, one of the group throws a large slurpy cup on the ground. I ran over, picked it up and then said “I think you dropped this!” They all stopped and just stared. Was not trying to shame them, but trying to create some awareness. In the end, I put it in my trash bag in my car and did not even go on the trail as I was too upset to share the area with them.

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