Don -
First of all, welcome to the FAOL Bulletin Board, and greetings from SE Idaho.
Hope you become a regular here since you obviously have much to offer and started off on this site covering an important topic in an "archived" feature article.
I don't mean to be argumentative, just coming from a very different experience. Maybe the difference ( regarding trash generally; meth labs are a whole different problem ) lies, to some extent, in the popularity of the waters you are talking about and their proximity to pavement compared to places I spend a lot of my time.
I wonder if the above rings true as you reflect on your experience in the past in Alaska ?? Or even fifteen years ago in Montana ??
The people who visit "wilderness" areas that I was refering to generally have a healthy respect for it as it is and do not despoil it. They ain't perfect, but they tend to take care of a valuable resource in their own neighborhood.
To call the situation on your favorite stream a rare exception wasn't, based on my experience, an attempt to sugar coat a problem, ignore it, or simply hope it would go away. I am surprised, to some extent, that it is as widespread as you and others have found it, appalled, and at a personal level, delighted that it hasn't reached the places I am fortunate to spend a good part of my time.
Part of the reason I spend a fair amount of time writing fishing reports on such places is to call attention to them, as a way of helping protect them as they are, if and when they are threatened by development ( e.g. development of "energy" resources in the Wyoming Range ) or encroachment ( e.g. privatization of public lands or deeding them to the states, which in no way are in position to protect them ). The problems you and others are describing are a form of encroachment, to my way of thinking. Hopefully I am not inviting that result ?? May TU encroach upon my rights to a fishing license if I do !!
Having a different experience doesn't mean I don't share your passion to protect our resources, particularly the public lands of the West. Hopefully TU will continue to spend its time and resources where they are needed, and that they won't be needed in most of the neighborhood, just the places where the "bad apples" are mostly likely to spend their time.
John
I certainly applaud those who become involved, such as yourself in writing on an important subject, or the folks who carry a garbage bag, or approach others and ask them to respect our environment. We all do need to do what we can to make what happened on your favorite stream an exception, and generally minimize "trashing" public places.
The fish are always right.