Dispersed camping threatened

[TitanMike]

https://rvlife.com/illegal-dumps-threaten-free-camping/

A whole new breed of "camper" may severely restrict or put an end to what many of us enjoy.

[babock]

This is an older article. It's actually much much worse than when it was written because of Covid.

Originally Posted by TitanMike

https://rvlife.com/illegal-dumps-threaten-free-camping/

A whole new breed of "camper" may severely restrict or put an end to what many of us enjoy.

[outlawten5]

Wow. That is truly disgusting. I could place a safe bet on the type of people doing this.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by babock

This is an older article. It's actually much much worse than when it was written because of Covid.

Yes, it is worse. I just spent a week next to a Bureau of Reclamation lake that has receded enough to provide a HUGE area of dry lake bed to camp on.

The trash left behind in piles like shown in the article are just one issue. One frequent camper and his wife regularly go on "poop patrol" to pickup not just the dog waste but human waste as well that people have made no attempt to cover. They do it mostly to keep the fly population from multiplying.

[NMWildcat]

This has always been a problem, even in the 60s when I camped with my Grandparents. The difference is now the USFS and BLM have less staff able to control it and clean up. True, more folks are now crowded into a smaller area, which just exacerbates the problem.
Our group has cleaned up after nasty campers many times when pulling into our backwoods spots over the decades. This includes burying black tank waste.
When backpacking, we have run into previous horse camps in the wilderness where we bagged trash and let the rangers know where, so they could retrieve it. My favorite was when we found an envelope with name/address on it, took a picture, then left it in a baggy outside the large black trash bag. When we got out, we showed the picture to USFS staff and told them where to find it. The trashy group was actually fined and prosecuted.
With my Grandparents, we learned to always leave our campsites cleaner than we found them, even if that meant cleaning up after someone else. Some folks are reluctant to do that now.
So we all have to do our part, help out where we can, educate when able, and protect our right to public lands, even if that means getting our hands dirty.