A friend of mine came up to Cook County this past weekend to visit and we decided to travel up the Gunflint Trail to Birch Lake. I hadn’t been up there for several years and we thought it might be fun to try and fish from the shore. Once we got down the steps to the lake shore, I was surprised to see several pieces of monofilament fishing line wrapped around the tree roots by the shore and even more hanging on a nearby tree.
Also, at the same place were a couple of dead small mouth bass someone had simply tossed on the shore and let die. We decided to walk down the path and fish further down the trail only to come upon a HUGE pile of human excreta that had been left at the campsite along with the accompanying toilet paper. Really!
I couldn’t believe someone would just leave that kind of mess in the woods where anyone would see it and only a few feet from the lake! Human waste left that close to the water’s edge will eventually leach into the soil and enter the water system polluting the lake with human pathogens.
After seeing that, we left Birch Lake and drove to a couple smaller lakes only to come upon the same problem at the boat ramp, and close to a fishing pier. A short way off the boat ramp was more signs of human waste and toilet paper only a few feet from that lake! It didn’t matter which way we went on the trails; it was there. I was taught that when you had to go in the woods, you walked far away from the lake and campsite and dug a hole and buried your waste, including the toilet paper. What kind of people would defecate and desecrate the woods – and basically in my backyard! Shame on you! I am extremely disgusted with the actions of these inconsiderate, unethical slobs. What will it take to educate these people?
Mary Alyce Kronzer, North
Coast Services, LLC
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