[joker]

Yes population growth in the region is part of the picture, but FS data I saw in an semi-recent news story showed that trail use appears to have increased at a rate significantly higher than the region's population in the past decade-ish. I think it was in the ST... Yes some is tourists not from here, but a lot of it is just that a higher percent of the population is getting out and getting out more often. Which IMO can be a very good thing for our society, but presents new challenges out in the wild lands around here too. And yeah sure bagging other people's trash is a great idea (on one of my more recent hikes one of the more intriguing trash items I carried out was one of those "how to pair your Bluetooth device to this speaker" stickers ) but is a bandaid compared to spreading the norm of reducing one's impact on the land while out there. I have to wonder whether a "get a bag from the ranger and reduce your parking pass fee" program would just lead a significant sub-group of hikers to think "cool, there will be janitors following in my wake so I don't need to be so careful about picking up after myself." Don't get me wrong - this idea is in the vein of the right sort of creative thinking to be doing, but I'd love to see ways of getting people not to be leaving the trash in the first place, along with thinking about how their posts about trips might either help concentrate impact or disperse it along with how they can model good low impact travel practices through their postings.

[Cyclopath]

Maybe we need a program like this for LNT?

[Sky Hiker]

[fourteen410]

[BigBrunyon]

[ale_capone]

I did a little social experiment on a small beach/eddy on the skykomish. I made a river Phoenix out of driftwood, and a nice little nest. I put a couple random pieces of lost fishing gear in the nest. Suprisingly, it has lasted all summer, but Over the course of a few months it has accumulated a shopping bag full of trash. I'll clean it out before fall floods wash it away. For now I'm leaving it as a statement. I want idiots to have to look at the trash they leave

Somewhere near perth.

[forest gnome]

HEY SWITCHBACK FISHER ....grumpy has nothing to do with it...just frigging ameteurs trashing the sensitive areas because they have to go oh oh look where we went!... or OH i just wanna share soo badly how great this area is ....well lliterly sh## ON ME..AND MY CAMPSIGHT CAUSE like i said there the are will be trashed out fished out and destroyed with exposure to amateurs... your experiences for getting to area's that have been trashed out? ...ya must not be from washington.. what area's have you seen trashed out?? go ahead let's everyone all list them please... STARTING WITH the pic's in backpacker magazine from some PIN-HEAD of the area above trap lake.... HOW ABOUT the lakes above Snow lake?? granted these area's recover some after 15+ years.. How about he guy I met who said he heard there were huge fish in a certain lake...then proceeded (sans a real map, just his phone_) to hike 7miles past the turn-off to said lake...we ran into him next morning and had a good laugh...