I haven't had a chance to type this up until now.
Last Saturday's cleanup was well attended once again, I would like to thank all the members on this board who took the time to come out. We had around 80 volunteers in total, 15 or so were FWR members. These numbers lately are fantastic, last year we would be happy if we got 40 to 50 people! It shows that many of you are as concerned as those who started the cleanup coalition and are determined to make a difference.
The program continues to progress at a steady pace. Adopt-a-River program for the mid and upper river is coming together nicely and should be in effect by the end of this year.
Roscoe, myself, Nina and Zazia spent around two hours cleaning the north side of the section just below Tamihi Bridge. The river bank was in a pretty good shape, I think finally most anglers are pretty informed now regarding disposing fishing line and lead. What really made us disappointed was what we saw at the "campsites". We approached one campsite and were simply speechless. Bags of garbage were piled to waist high by one tent. Bottles, cans were littered all over the place. A group of guys stood by the bank and looked on curiously at their own camp while Roscoe took photos around it. A bit further down the river, another huge pile of trash was left by previous campers. A brief talk with this couple who were camping by the boys and told us how they kept their camp cleaned unlike some. They were not pleased, but at the same time offered no help when we told them what we were going to do. That's fine, after all, they were there to camp, not to clean.
We started to clean up this huge pile furthest away from all campers, so it didn't seem like we were intruding. The campers looked on, whether they were embarrassed, angry, or found it ironic or humorous, I don't really know. What I did not understand was, what sort of enjoyment does one get out of when he or she camps in an environment that I would pretty much describe as a landfill. And, if he or she enjoys the place so much, and loves it, wouldn't it better to clean up the leftover crap? And I would really like to dig into these people's mind and find out just exactly who they think will be cleaning all that up.
And we're not even talking about little kids here, we are talking about grownups, people over the age of 20.
There isn't a clear solution to this. Enforcement is hard, prosecution is even harder. The accused can easily said those are not his or her garbage, unless you have it on video while they were being dumped. I had the choice of heading over to talk some sense into these people, but chose not to as you never know who you are dealing with. Trying to talk sense into these people is most likely trying to get a cow to play the piano.
Dave Lamson, from the Chilliwack River Action Committee, stopped by while we were doing the cleanup. He and I walked around the campsite and discussed what really can be done. He suggested a law that prohibits people from camping at a site that is already littered should be passed. This way you are responsible for whatever is on your site.
Chris and myself and the rest of the directors will continue to dig into options as we expand the program, but new ideas are constantly needed and they need to come from you, the users of the resource. The more you can tell us, the better the program can be. Let's hear it!
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Topic: Some thoughts on last weekend's cleanup (Read 6777 times)