Leave No Trace

or however that dang word is written! : ) Use this forum to discuss those things that are related to, directly, or indirectly, fly fishing, i.e., tackle, catalogs, single malt scotch, cigar preferences, pipes, camera gear, etc. This is sort of an off topic area but one related to bamboo and fly fishing.

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WiFlyFisher
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Leave No Trace

#1

Post by WiFlyFisher »

Now that almost all of our snow is gone, it makes me sick to see the trash people throw out their vehicle rather than taking it back and drop it in a trash bin. Empty cans and bottles cost nothing to discard at town dumps, gas stations when you fill up, etc.

Image

Everyday i carry a plastic baggy and I pick up lazy peoples' trash along the national forest roads during my walks in the northern woods. Also, pick up trash along my favorite trout streams too. Why are people so lazy they can't take their bottles and cans with them?

Maybe we need to teach this in schools rather than some the other crap they teach today. How about posting signs on all public lands along with posting fines? Doing nothing is not helping the issue.

My $0.02,

John

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Hellmtflies
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Re: Leave No Trace

#2

Post by Hellmtflies »

John,
I feel your pain. I do the same thing. Twice a year I stroll the streets in my neighborhood and each time I am able to collect a hefty trash bag full of cans, bottles and other debris. I think it's a cultural issue as well. We simply are not taught as children to do the right things regarding trash. We are simply a disposable society. All to sad.

lloyd3
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Re: Leave No Trace

#3

Post by lloyd3 »

I worked all through my high-school years at a little lake resort and beach in Western Pennsylvania. Picking the beach (for trash and cigarette butts) and then raking it smooth was a daily task. We also picked the parking lots weekly, and even the county road in front of the owners home at least once a year (and sometime twice, Spring and Fall) so it's something of a habit now. I had been cleaning up a favorite spot on the home river here for years until the fishing totally deteriorated and the rafters overwhelmed me (how does one lose articles of clothing and even towels and not notice it?). It clearly is a cultural issue and also the result of a now very-disposable society. Remember picking up enough pop bottles for the 5-cent deposit so you could get a little Summertime treat from the local store? It's likely been at least three generations of kids since that was even an option. When our son was in Scouts, we also picked the main (now a high-speed six-lane) highway in front of our development for several years. That all ended when several Scouts in Texas (Girl Scouts even!) were killed by a seriously reckless driver. We'd had enough close-calls by then to happily give our section of that road up as well. I now patrol the small 2-lane road in front of our home, mostly dealing with discarded fast food containers.

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prairieschooner
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Location: West of the east and east of the west.

Re: Leave No Trace

#4

Post by prairieschooner »

In addition to all the regular trash I hate cigarette smokers who can't seem to put their butts in their car's ash tray, or worse yet, open their door and dump the ash tray in the street, which I've seen on more than one occasion!
I spent most of my money on shotguns, fly rods, guitars and banjos. The rest I just wasted. (Apologies to W.C. Fields)

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oddsnrods
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Re: Leave No Trace

#5

Post by oddsnrods »

In this 'Covid world' I am now in the habit of being very mindful of what I touch, let alone picking up garbage- even though at times I very much want to. Mail and parcels are given the dilute bleach wipe down coming into the house, as are all of the groceries where it is possible.

crowebeetle
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Location: Chapel Hill, NC & central Penna

Re: Leave No Trace

#6

Post by crowebeetle »

Picking up trash on the road on our large stretch of frontage was angering for all the reasons above but one item I was glad to see was someone's receipt for his bail. I spent no time in trying to contact him and I fervently hope that he needed it.

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GerardH
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Location: Wyoming, MN

Re: Leave No Trace

#7

Post by GerardH »

crowebeetle wrote:
03/31/21 13:17
Picking up trash on the road on our large stretch of frontage was angering for all the reasons above but one item I was glad to see was someone's receipt for his bail. I spent no time in trying to contact him and I fervently hope that he needed it.
I think I would've turned it in to local law enforcement to see if littering somehow violated terms of his release.

I'm mean that way.

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kimk
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Location: SW Vt.

Re: Leave No Trace

#8

Post by kimk »

In Vt. we have an annual "Vt. Green Up Day".
This year held on the last Sat. of May. The web site still says the 1st but it has been pushed back due to the plague.
https://greenupvermont.org/
You can get green trash bags at the town hall, and join family and friends combing the roadsides for trash. Bags and other trash is place by the roadside and is picked up by the town -- usually highway dept crews/trucks. Tires, furniture, paper and plastic .
Another nice thing Vt. does -- patches of wild flowers are not mowed on the state highways until they have blossomed. Not unusual to see mile after mile of various wild flowers with a variety of colors.
AgMD

crowebeetle
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Re: Leave No Trace

#9

Post by crowebeetle »

GerhardH, I didn't think of that, should have.

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Flykuni3
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Re: Leave No Trace

#10

Post by Flykuni3 »

Hat's off to you fellas. I do the same, will gladly walk a road, hwy or river with you picking up the stuff. I wear a Patagonia vest-pack, and am using the pack a lot, always filled at the end of the day...or in a few minutes.

ctwhite
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Location: Maine

Re: Leave No Trace

#11

Post by ctwhite »

I walk our hillside road frontage - and the banks of the stream that runs along it - every year on Earth Day. There's never less than a contractor bag full of debris. We have a good chunk of land in a busy part of Maine but, jeezus, it's alotta trash. Bud Light cans are always number one. Always. Last years second place were Fireball nips. I guess if I were drinking that swill I'd want to toss the evidence out a moving window, too...

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Short Tip
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Re: Leave No Trace

#12

Post by Short Tip »

I'm a member of Rapidan Chapter of TU. One of our oldest projects is an annual cleanup of our namesake river.

The Rapidan is a lovely Appalachian native brook trout stream, one of Virginia's finest and one of the best left anywhere in the east. The native trout stretches of the stream are in Shenandoah National Park, with a landlocked piece of a Virginia Wildlife Management area in the mix. As a result of the WMA, there is a rough 4WD road along some the stream, and dispersed camping is allowed in the WMA, with some restrictions. This area sees a lot of deer and bear hunters, a fair number of weekend campers, hikers, horseback riders and mule packers, swimmers and adventure groups in the warmer months.

During covid, use of the area has skyrocketed. Weekdays in the dead of winter were rarely solitary trips. It was amazing, and a bit disheartening. We usually pick up lots of trash in the early spring, especially in the hunter's campsites. This year, I brought my old Jeep with the winch, in case we needed to retrieve heavy objects (tires, etc.) from steep slopes. This has really helped in the past. I expected a banner year for garbage, given the amount of use.

But a weird thing happened. There was hardly any trash. Yeah, we snagged a few cans/bottles/etc., but what used to be 3 or 4 pickup loads went down to 3 or 4 half-filled trash bags. 10 times the users and 1/10 the trash. And I never uncovered the winch.

I really would prefer fewer people there, but I can't shake the feeling that some of the "new" users who have discovered this place love it like we do, and are taking pretty good care of it.

WiFlyFisher
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Re: Leave No Trace

#13

Post by WiFlyFisher »

ctwhite, I find it interesting that you observed most beer cans are "Bug Lite". I have observed this year and last Spring hiking the same forest roads all the empty beer cans are Busch, Bud Lite, or Bud. I never see any other brands. And I am talking several hundred empty beer cans of the past two seasons. Almost no glass bottles and less plastic pop bottles than empty beer cans.

Today, Dakota (my GSP) and I hiked 3+ miles to one of my favorite northern woodland trout ponds. We found several empty Busch cans nearby the canoe landing. I couldn't help wonder how many beers cans are laying on the bottom of this pristine trout pond.

Image

I also hike the "North Country Trail" and I never find trash along the NCT trail.

John

Red64
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Re: Leave No Trace

#14

Post by Red64 »

In 2019, my wife and I vacationed in Portugal. What amazed us was how clean the country the country. People who smoked put their cig butts in ash cans, they are everwhere, people stopped and picked up trash off the sidewalks and put it in trash bins. I asked one of out tour guides about this, her reply was "this is our country and we all take pride in keeping it clean". Wow, civic pride what a novel concept.

snorider
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Re: Leave No Trace

#15

Post by snorider »

In this increasingly upscale town we must have 100+ different beers in stores, the cans I collect from the rivers and streams are almost without exception Bud light, Bush and Icehouse. Is there something in these beers that make people slobs?

John those pictures are as always plucking at my heart strings. Thanks for sharing. I have been diving for beer cans at the boat landing on a mountain lake we visit out here, (yep same brands) it is hard work. One can and I am so dang cold I have to find a rock in the sunshine to recover.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

Cimarron
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Re: Leave No Trace

#16

Post by Cimarron »

Snorider, I agree with you about beer brands and slobs! On my namesake river the Slobovian brand of choice is Bush, in overwhelming numbers. Does it make them into slobs, or do slobs drink Bush? If I picked up every one of them I would never get a chance to fish.

PYochim
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Re: Leave No Trace

#17

Post by PYochim »

Yesterday I fished a beautiful spring creek and was astonished at the amount of trash. I filled a standard size garbage bag in no time and called it quits after that. I didn't go there to clean up after some slobs. The sad part is that these bums will replace what I picked up. One thing I refuse to touch is a cigarette butt, even with gloves. No way.

One thing I noticed at the access areas was that there are no trash cans. The forest service who maintains these areas is giving people more credit than they are worthy of if they think they will pack their trash out. The world is their trash can.

Done with the rant and done picking up after irresponsible people. We're losing the battle.

6tUc05
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Re: Leave No Trace

#18

Post by 6tUc05 »

This is not a recent problem. I wish I had the current price of a box of both .22 rifle shells and shotgun shells for every box of each I purchased in the late '40s to mid-50s with the five cent deposit refund my best buddy and I got for returning the beer bottles we picked up along the road to his house. The real problem lies in the fact that there are many more of us around today; not that we have failed to educate any specific generation(s).

Salar4me
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Re: Leave No Trace

#19

Post by Salar4me »

Recently retired (just prior to Covid) elementary school principal. Teachers would take their classes on walks around the town and visit the nearby parks to get some fresh air and exercise. They always take trash bags and pick up any rubbish present, to the point where the kids would race to get to pieces of garbage. Senior class did likewise a few times a year near the high school as well as raking up leaves in the fall for elderly homeowners.

Guess it stings a bit when I read... the other crap they teach in schools today...

PYochim
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Re: Leave No Trace

#20

Post by PYochim »

Salar4me wrote:
05/01/21 09:54
Guess it stings a bit when I read... the other crap they teach in schools today...
It makes me wonder if the same people buying into this crap are the ones littering. Picking up after these brats is giving them permission to litter more. I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!

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