Forest not a dumping ground

Appalling.

That's really the most fitting description for what I saw. I could add in a few more, like disturbing or even sad. But mostly my response to what I saw was plain anger.

This response came after a recent walk on Flathead Forest land outside Columbia Falls. It's a spot that I've gone numerous times to walk my dog. Although it's a favorite, we don't make it there on a regular basis. We took about an one-mile loop as we always do.

I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a beer, pop can or plastic bottle about every five to 10 feet. No matter what direction we went we ended up seeing these items.

How anyone could disrespect the forest in such a way is beyond me? But just when I thought I couldn't be any more upset I came across a few larger items.

A microwave, roof shingles, a tire, a table and a chunk of concrete.

The Forest land is not a dumping grounds.

They say it takes something like 1,000 years for a plastic water bottle to decompose. I can only imagine how long it might take a microwave to decompose and what it does to the environment.

I know for sure even without the environmental consequences, there's a huge visual impact on the site. I go in to the forest to enjoy nature, not pollution.

Maybe in all of this what upsets me most is knowing that the larger items were likely left there intentionally.

As I stood there looking at the pile of roof shingles, I could easily imagine a pickup truck backed into the stop with someone tossing them out the back. One shingle is an accident (how it could be left is still hard to fathom), but a pile is obviously intentional.

I don't really think that someone went for a hike and had a microwave fall out of their pack. Whoops, where did my microwave go? I must have lost it along the trail.

I can see a water bottle falling from a pack unintentionally, but that's still rare. But the items I saw were obviously tossed without any regard to the consequences.

It wasn't that long ago that a section of forest land was closed because users chose to trash the area. More recently signs along the Hungry Horse Reservoir were damaged.

These types of losses hurt everyone, especially those that respect the forest lands. I hate to think of my particular walking spot being closed because folks can't respect the forest.

I hope that everyone will think twice about letting that pop can fall to the ground. For my part, the next time I head out for a walk I plan to have a garbage bag in hand. It will be my small attempt to in some way thwart the problem.

Heidi Desch is the reporter for the Hungry Horse News.