Public land visitors owe a duty of care for the land.
SILVER CITY, NM, June 29, 2023 – As summer heats up, so has the volume of visitors to campgrounds, trails, and other areas of the forest. Annual visitation to the Gila National Forest is on the rise and is only expected to keep growing. Unfortunately, the increasing traffic appears to be leaving a trail of snack wrappers, used toilet paper, and other disgusting trash in its wake.
"I'm glad that people are getting out and enjoying the benefits of recreating in the forest," said Gila National Forest Supervisor Camille Howes. "However, we each have a responsibility to pack out our own trash and whenever possible, that which was left behind by irresponsible users before us. Only in that way can we leave any wild places for future generations to enjoy."
Many developed recreation sites on the Gila provide bear-proof trash cans for limited trash service. We are happy to facilitate your visit by collecting and removing properly stowed trash. However, if the cans are full, it is your responsibility to pack out your own trash. Piling trash on and around trash cans is illegal because it is unsanitary and it habituates bears and other wildlife to seeking human trash as food. This can make animals aggressive, endangering people and wildlife. Leaving your trash unsecured also creates an unsightly mess, affecting the visit of others who arrive later.
Recreation is one of the leading economic contributors from America's public lands, and a growing population of visitors also threatens to become a leading cause of resource impacts. The Gila National Forest hosted nearly 650,000 visitors in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. All types of recreational activities have potential to damage resources, leaving the forest less healthy for wildlife, and less appealing for everyone. Common problems include litter and abandoned campfires, cutting trail switchbacks, camping too close to water sources, driving off of designated routes, shooting trees – the list goes on. It is unfortunate when careless visitor behaviors drive the need for management actions that reduce or change access to public lands for responsible users.
Rather than loving our public lands to death, it is vital that visitors embrace stewardship ethics like Leave No Trace and TREAD Lightly in order to minimize recreational impacts to public lands. Leave No Trace principle #3 teaches us to dispose of waste properly and leave only footprints. Learn more at Leave No Trace Leave No Trace - Home - Leave No Trace (lnt.org) and Home - Tread Lightly. For more information, contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or Maribeth.Pecotte@usda.gov