While salmon fishing last weekend, Karlos and I came across some wilderness littering bastards. We picked up their trash on the trail, assessed which vehicles the trash belonged to with a little detective work and wrote a semi-threatening note to the offenders.
While I wanted to kick in their fenders and smash their windows, I didn’t. I hadn’t caught them red-handed. We found beer bottles and cans, which corresponded with empty packaging in the back seat of each rig. And there was a small chance they would have picked up their garbage on the way back out the trail. But the main reason I didn’t is because I park there a lot myself and don’t want to start some kind of property crime war.
I wrote down their license plate numbers, but feel pretty powerless. Any suggestions?
PS: Check out Karl meditating on his bouquet of Chantrelles.
Matt, unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do – Oregon doesn’t really have “anti litter” laws (washington has a litter control hotline if you were in WA.) However, you could call the solid waste department of the town/county where the littering took place. It may be that they have some kind of ticketing authority, or bylaw to issue a fine for littering. I’d argue however, unless you saw them actually do it, it’d be hard for them to make the case – it is rather circumstantial.
I feel your pain…
slash their tires. easy.
The best way to deal with these folks is to pick up their trash, and if it’s a place you frequent, bring a can and some liners and set it up at the parking area with a sign that reads: “Pack out your garbage or you may get your ass kicked and be left for dead in a ditch my me and my angry environmentalist whacko buddies.”
If you can back it up by devoting a whole day to policing it, even better, but that takes a kind of committment that few of us really have.
Just keep picking up their shit, and look forward to the day you actually catch them at it. Then just freak them out with rage…
I feel your pain as well.
Abviously your mumz and pops did a far better job.
I found your post doing research for my site. And I am finding there is little enforcement where it comes to buttchuckers and litter bugs… bagging it up and placeing on vehicle with a witty note is all I can suggest.
As a fellow fisherman and Oregon lifer, I pack a lot of other peeps trash myself. But ya gotta be careful these days… theres a lot of lunies in the woods these days… I never go fishing alone anymore with out my pocket pistol 380…