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86 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 1, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 4, 2004 Katherine Flanagan, market supervisor at the Mount Ashland Ski and Snowboard Resort, cleans up the first of two Sno-Park areas on the mountain�s access road. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Volunteers pitch in to pick up Mount Ashland By GREG STILES Mail Tribune MOUNT ASHLAND — As a thousand skiers and snowboarders raced toward the chairlifts one more time before the season ends next weekend, a handful of folks weren’t in such a hurry. A crew of 20 ski area neighbors, joined by Mount Ashland employees and Mount Ashland Association board members, patrolled the lower portion of the access road Saturday, removing the residue of a winter’s worth of careless littering. Bottles, broken glass and cigarette butts were the most abundant garbage found. It’s been four decades since the paved road was carved through the Rogue and Klamath national forests. While the refuse level isn’t necessarily greater than recent seasons, adjacent landowners have become more demonstrative about the unsightly problem. "I think it’s a combination of things," said Sandy Sutherland. "It’s a lack of regard for other people’s property, intoxication and more people. The more there are, the more trash there is." Advertisement Sutherland, along with her husband Jack and 16 neighbors, challenged mountain users to help clean up their own messes in a letter to the editor last month. They got a positive response from the mountain’s managers, cooperation from the county road’s department and assurance that Mount Ashland Racing Association will pitch in at a later date. While Sutherland and a half-dozen others dug out a couple pick-up truckloads of garbage a stone’s throw from Interstate 5, volunteers were collecting rubbish by the Colestine Road junction and beyond. Harry Bower, Matt Moore and Ron Parenteau were chasing up the hill, gather debris into yellow plastic bags at a rate faster than some competitors will move in next Saturday’s Pear Blossom Run. "People just aren’t courteous to others any more," said Bower. "It’s just part of a ‘me-first’ mentality. It seems like they’re just in hurry to get their lives over with. They live fast-paced lives, everything is fast, fast, fast. It’s just like they need faster speed on the Internet and that whole thing." Bower owns a landscape maintenance company and has lived in the Rogue Valley 25 years. He moved to the Mount Ashland neighborhood in 1995. Moore, a former woodworker and landscaper who has lived in the area for 10 years, said the problem hasn’t been effectively dealt with in the past. He’s confident the garbage is the product of a minority of the mountain’s users. "That 1 percent spoils it for everyone," Moore said. "It’s the same people dumping along the road that drive 45 mph on icy roads and make pile-ups. "It’s because there is no incentive not to litter and it’s gotten a little worse because there are more people." Mount Ashland Association board member and retired Southern Oregon University Professor Tom Pyle poked through his bag and produced the remains of a detergent container. "I’m not sure what a skier would be doing with something like this," Pyle said. "The worst stuff seems to be where people stop, play in the snow, eat lunch and then leave their stuff." While groups such as MARA have officially signed on to do regular trash patrols on sections of the road, Pyle hopes other groups will step into the void. "It would be nice to see a high school ski team adopt a section," Pyle said. "If the Sierra Club or Headwaters wanted to help clean up, I’d invite their support" Mount Ashland personnel collect refuse twice a year — when the snow melts and again before the snow begins to fall. Participants in an environmental education group pick up litter as part of their program during the summer as well. It comes down to setting a good example for others, said Mount Ashland development director Ty Hisatomi. "We’re not going to cure the problem," he said. "Because it only takes one bad apple." Back down the road, Sutherland recalled how things were when she grew up in a cabin not far from the base of the access road. "When they put the freeway through, we had to leave when they set off the dynamite," she said. When the Mount Ashland road was built some 40 years ago, it split her parents’ property. In the interim, the 1 percent that has left its mark on the road left a lot of work for folks who care about the terrain, Sutherland said. "Like anything else," she says. "It’s up to the responsible to take care of the irresponsible. That’s just the way humanity is." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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