In beautiful outdoor spots across the West, however, people are leaving something far more disturbing: human waste, piles of it. Paula Peterson calls them “white lilies.” “Passes with toilet paper on top,” she said matter-of-factly, standing over some of these lilies on public land outside Minturn. Peterson, a recreation staff officer with the Eagle Holy-Cross Ranger District was on a small wooded hill a short walk from tents and parked RVs. A faint path had worn into the dirt leading to the de facto bathroom. The surrounding area of ​​public land is extremely popular with scattered campers, people who thirst for comfortable quiet, excited to be surrounded by mountains and pines and creeks. In recent years, it’s gotten a lot busier — and the human waste situation has gotten out of hand. Peterson estimates her staff found 300 of these piles in the area last year alone. “That would make me uncomfortable to have my kids or my dogs or just somebody hiking end up walking on it,” said Peterson, a 33-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service. Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsMae Watson of the National Forest Service’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District digs a pit to dispose of human waste near scattered campsites on Homestake Road. Sghe is among a team of officials assigned to visit scattered campsites across the region to tell campers that it is now a requirement to bag their human waste. Friday, July 22, 2022. Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsClaire Perez unpacks specially designed receptacles manufactured by Restop to collect and dispose of human waste while camping in areas without restrooms, near Homestake Road between Minturn and Camp Hale, Friday, July 15 , 2022. She, Mae Watson, and Paula Peterson of the National Forest Service’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District visit scattered campsites along the road to hand out bags and tell campers that it’s now time to pack their human their waste. He added that there is no other word for the sight than “ugly”. The same goes for the piles they left right next to the reservoir and the so-called “forest toilet” her agency discovered last year. Basically a toilet seat placed on top of a large, wooden box, still filled with crappy plastic bags, chalk full of human waste. The Rangers hope to find a way to drop it soon. So, before things get any worse, the ranger district tries something new. At a particularly popular spot in the forest known as Homestake, users are now being asked to take their human waste with them. The staff is handing out free supplies that help make this project a little less, you know, gross. Forestry Technician Claire Perez is young and soft-spoken, and seems perfectly comfortable talking about the subject. She unfurled one of the many human waste disposal bags the staff carry with her. They are filled with powder “that dissolves waste and makes it odorless.” he said. This special powder also makes it safe to throw these little silver bags in a trash can, and the bags have a little plastic skirt to wrap around the wearer for privacy. So far, Perez has found the campers to be quite receptive. “Most people want to do the right thing,” he said. “We just have to help them do that.” And “right” changes. For generations, outdoor enthusiasts were taught to simply dig a deep hole, hundreds of feet from the water, cover it, and they were all good. In recent years, however, they are now being told that sometimes this is not good enough. Jeff Marion, a research biologist at the US Geological Survey based at Virginia Tech, has watched the trend of more and more land managers requiring the complete removal of droppings in recent years. This is often required in areas too rocky, arid, or simply overused to allow burial. “As we have more and more people visiting them, it becomes more and more important for people to limit their personal impact,” he explained. This is true of some of the places Marion himself has adventured, including the canyons of Utah’s Zion National Park. Years ago, he carried a stinking bag through these narrow rocks for four days. “People didn’t hike past me. Let’s put it this way,” he said, laughing. Hart Van Denburg/CPR News White toilet paper gives the location of an illegal toilet area near scattered campsites along Homestake Road between Minturn and Camp Hale on Friday, July 15, 2022. Forest Service rules have historically required campers to dig pits and bury their waste, but between the shenanigans and heavier use of the backcountry in recent years, illegal spots like this have become more common. Anyone camping on Forest Service land in the Homestake area is now required to bag out all of their human waste.Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsNew scattered camping rules along Homestake Road in the National Forest Service’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District require all visitors to collect their own human waste. The new regulations are posted at booths like the one where the road begins, but Forest Service officials say many campers who visit the valley each year sometimes miss the rule change because they tend to pass the booths without stopping on their way. Friday, July 22, 2022. But he added that trash bag technology has likely improved since then. And furthermore, he said he sees bagging your own waste when required as part of a social contract.
However, it is difficult to know how far this new poop gospel has reached the general public. At the busy Snowmass Lake Trail outside of Aspen, human waste removal is recommended, though not required. The trailhead, under a sea of ​​floating aspens, has a box of free bags, but over the course of two hours, I don’t see anyone take one. One guy said, lying down near the path: “Nobody’s going to do that.” Will Keslar, embarking on a bike ride, explained that in the 45 years he’s lived in Snowmass, he’s never felt the need to take out his waste. Instead, he thinks people should just learn to bury it better. He joked that maybe some targeted advertising would help. “Kind of like Smokey the Bear with a shovel,” he said with a laugh. Stephanie Ryan, finishing a 17-mile trail with her friend, thinks the bags are a “great idea” but admitted she only manages to use them a quarter of the time. “Some of the diversions include carrying it around with you, especially when you go up the trail and see the horses pooping all the way,” he said. As she sped back to her car, she called back, “Sorry we’re not doing better! We’ll do better!” Back near Minturn, the campers at Homestake seemed pretty open to this new reality of villains. Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsClaire Perez, left, and Mae Watson of the National Forest Service’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District approach a campsite along Homestake Road between Minturn and Camp Hale, Friday, July 22, 2022, to talk with campers about new rules requiring them to bag their human waste. The two carry free samples from specially designed containers for collecting human waste. Hart Van Denburg/CPR News National Forest Service Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District Paula Peterson, right, talks with a group of campers on Homestake Road between Minturn and Camp Hale on Friday, July 22, 2022. Peterson and other staff visit scattered campsites to remind campers of a new rule requiring them to bag all their human waste. Forest Service personnel went from campsite to campsite explaining the rule and handing out the bags. A group of men from Denver playing dominoes quickly became a chorus of yeses and nods as Jane barked along. “I think it’s actually easier than burying it,” said Jason Humphrey, one of the campers. His friend Ben Hamilton, who has been camping for decades, added that he didn’t know that was necessary in parts of Colorado “So it’s a little bit different,” he explained, “but yeah, I understand why it has to happen.” The group ended up getting several bags — plus a bandana for Jane. I asked Paula Peterson of the ranger district if that gave her hope. “Of course, I mean there are seven people there?” he said smiling. “We’ve spread the word, and they’re going to tell their friends and they’re going to tell their friends.” Until one day, he imagines, picking up your poop could just be another fact of being outside.