Shooting excursions shouldn't leave a mark

Out and About

Howard Delo

I forget which popular comic strip used the phrase, "I love mankind, it's people I can't stand." At this point, I feel much the same way.

When I worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the Sport Fish Division's Boating Access Program, my general opinion of the public was, "People are pigs." Before you ardent supporters of the porcine world get too uptight, let me explain.

Many folks, both in the public and private sectors, worked hard to provide and maintain public access sites for fishing and other uses, and how were they repaid? By having to pick up and haul off people's trash, either thoughtlessly scattered around the site or intentionally dumped there. Oftentimes, the worst messes were right beside the trash bin on the site.

Apparently, my low opinion of the public is still justified. Nothing has changed. With the onset of spring, the annual rite of cleaning up these outdoor sites begins again. On Saturday, May 10, in conjunction with the annual Stream Cleanup Project, a work party will meet at the Cottonwood Creek parking area on the west side of the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge, to clean up and haul off all the trash and garbage left by thoughtless individuals from their shooting and partying activities. If you would like to help clean up this popular duck hunting area, call John Hechtel at the Palmer Fish and Game office, 746-6300, for further information and meeting times.

On a related note, we held a muzzle-loading hunter education course in Big Lake recently. A shooting proficiency test was required as part of the course certification and we went out to the old Houston landfill site to shoot. While not recognized as an official shooting range, the site does receive a lot of shooting activity. It's easily accessible and has high banks around the majority of the area, providing a safe backstop for shooting.

I was last out there this past fall and the site was remarkably clean and free of the junk people seem to haul out and shoot up. However, the place was trashed when we got there Saturday morning. Apparently, users during the winter decided the site would be better looking if it was covered with old cardboard, used paper targets, shotshell hulls, fired cartridge cases and other assorted junk.

We did our shooting and spent maybe 10 minutes afterward picking up trash near where we had parked. Four or five folks picked up a 55-gallon garbage bag's worth of paper and burnable trash in that 10-minute time.

Am I missing something here or is it really that hard to pick up and dispose of what you brought out to the site to begin with? If you go out to shoot clay birds, for instance, don't throw the shotshell box on the ground when the shells are gone. Save it to hold the empty shells you pick up after shooting. The cardboard box the clay targets came in works really well to hold empty shell boxes and shell cases as the clay birds are used up. That same box also holds leftover lunch garbage, cigarette packages, plastic six-pack rings, cans and almost anything else you might feel the need to dispose of during your visit. You brought it there to begin with. Why not take it home and dispose of it properly? We all stand to benefit from a little thought here.

This past Saturday also marked what, to my knowledge, was a first for the Valley. The Fish and Game Hunter Education Program was in full swing. An archery class, which was held at the Mat-Su College campus, the aforementioned muzzle-loading class in Big Lake, and a basic hunter education class, which was held in Sutton, were all happening at the same time. It's good to see folks are thinking ahead toward the coming hunting season and preparing early.

Keep enjoying the outdoors, just pick up after yourselves, okay?

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist living in Big Lake. Send your comments and ideas to editor@frontiersman.com, or call (907) 352-2268 and leave a message for Howard.