My wife, Pam, shot this picture on Monday at Coon Bluff park along the Salt River. It is one of many such pictures that she could have shot.
Coon Bluff is one of three Tonto National Forest parks that hug the river just a few miles north of the Route 202 and Power Road exchange in Mesa.
Anyone who has driven or biked on Power Road north from Mesa where it changes into the Bush Highway knows this is one of the most beautiful drives or bikeways in the Sonoran Desert.
Anyone who has turned off the Bush Highway to enter Coon Bluff has discovered a serene riparian retreat that is the equal of any such natural sanctuary in the Southwest. For my wife and me, it makes living in Mesa or the East Valley special.
Red Mountain towers above. Eagles, herons and egrets feed in the curving river. Kayakers play on the river. Fishermen and their children fish the river. Feral horses drink in it. Orioles, cardinals and flycatchers cruise in and out of the tall shade trees that line the river banks. And warblers and verdins flitter about in the nearby mesquite woods.
Unfortunately, some lazy pigs have found this wonderful place and show their disrespect for it and the rest of us by littering it.
So what can be done about it?
First, the Forest Service should include on the passes that users purchase a plea for users to carry out what they carry in.
Second, signs should be posted at park entrances warning that litterers will be prosecuted.
Third, there should be a telephone number those who see the pigs littering can use to report them and their license plate number.
Fourth, it wouldn’t hurt to see rangers make their presence known more often. I have never seen a ranger walk through the area.
You can go back at least 50 years and could take pictures of the same situations.
Today we have disposable diapers, plastic bags and other items that are not biodegradable. Back then, it was cloth diapers, paper bags and beer/pop bottles. Lots of broken glass, not to mention picnic refuse and human excrement.
It has ALWAYS been a dumping ground regardless of the amount of barrels placed there.
WHY? Because among the site users are generational litters of pigs who are entitled to trash whatever they want.
Issue enough citations and fine them to the max….let word get out.