Litter bugs

There is an infestation of litter bugs in the Fort Frances area that needs some attention.
This weekend the Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists took time out of their busy schedules to pick garbage in town and along a highway as part of their commitment to the Adopt-A-River, Adopt-A-Highway initiative through the Rainy River First Nations watershed program.
It is fair to say that the group was appalled by the amount of garbage at the lower river boat launch near the water tower in Fort Franceds as well as that along Highway 11 east of the Causeway.
In fact the group was mortified to find that someone was dumping household garbage not far from the highway, or the lake. In fact the pull off park and rest area near the Causeway was being used as a garbage dump.
In an area where so much of the economy hinges on attracting visitors to our clean, safe and natural environment, it is surprising to find such little regard by citizens to keep our community and the environment clean. It is even more appalling that citizens would risk contaminating their water or destroying a healthy fishery.
It is up to all of us to make an extra effort to keep things clean, whether it means putting a piece of trash in your pocket until you can dispose of it properly or getting businesses in the community involved in community-wide clean-ups. A great deal of the debris found along the highways and waterways were fast food wrappers and containers.
As for those who see fit to dump their garbage in our beautiful natural surroundings, the OPP are on the case and charges are already pending on the individuals who saw fit to use our district as a garbage dumping ground. Kudos to the police for taking this matter seriously.
Hopefully more people will do the same.