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BOX ELDER COUNTY — A Perry man was disappointed to see his favorite campsite trashed by visitors and hopes future campers will be considerate and clean up after themselves.
Dave Hancey said he has been camping at an undeveloped dry campsite in the Docks Flat area south of Mantua, Box Elder County, for the past 20 years. He and his wife began camping there when they were newlyweds and now he takes his children camping there every summer.
Hancey said he and his family planned a camping trip for the Fourth of July weekend, but when they got to the campsite, they were met with piles of garbage littered throughout the entire area.
"I was sure disappointed that somebody would be so careless and thoughtless about other folks that would be coming along after them," Hancey said. "To leave such a mess, it was like they gave no thought what-so-ever to the consequences of what they were doing."
Hancey said in all the years he's been camping there, he occasionally sees beer cans and a few pieces of trash in the campsite, but he was shocked by what he saw on July 3.
"You always see… a little litter here and there, but nothing like that," he said. "That was just people leaving tons of trash… mountains of trash everywhere."
Hancey documented the mess with a video that he posted to YouTube and he and his family canceled their camping trip.
The mess at Docks Flat occurred just one week after residents near Pineview Reservoir complained about the amounts of trash left there by visitors. However, despite the recent incidents, American Land & Leisure President Steve Werner said he doesn't believe there is a growing trend of leaving garbage at campgrounds.
I was sure disappointed that somebody would be so careless and thoughtless about other folks that would be coming along after them. To leave such a mess, it was like they gave no thought what-so-ever to the consequences of what they were doing.
–Dave Hancey
Werner's company manages 400 public campgrounds in 12 states for the U.S. Forest Service, and for the most part, the public seems to take care of their trash while camping, Werner said.
"Trash pickup is a major deal and some folks are better at it than others," he said,adding that 's hard to say that one group of people or area is worse than any others.
Werner said most established campgrounds have dumpsters and trash facilities so there is no excuse for campers to not pick up after themselves. However, in undeveloped areas, campers need to make plans to pack out what they take in.
"Please be courteous campers and clean up your site when you leave," Werner said. "The golden rule, 'Leave the place as nice as you'd like it to be found, as you'd like to see it for yourself' would apply to trash, as well as anything else."
Along with managing the campground facilities, American Land & Leisure also cleans the campsites, and Werner said excessive trash does increase the price of the camping facilities.
"Excessive trash does drive costs up, and then as costs go up, the price of camping goes up," Werner said. "Help us keep camping affordable and keep the places looking nice."
Hancey said he plans to take another trip up to Docks Flat to clean the campsite and he hopes others will help take care of the area.
"My kids always make fun of me about how whenever we go camping, it's my thing that we always have to pick up the litter," Hancey said. "Otherwise, we'll lose the privilege of having those dry camps and those wilderness places … You lose the access if it gets trashed and I don't want that to happen. I hope that it will help other people understand how important it is that we take care of our natural resources."
