OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Couches, tires, and even boats have been found dumped in the Machickanee Forest.
“People just see it as a wasteland,” said Monty Brink.
Brink is the Oconto County Forest and Parks administrator.
He’s been overseeing the forest for about three years, but littering has been going on long before he started.
“The guy before me was 20 years here and he was dealing with it his entire career as well,” Brink said.
It’s not cheap either. Every year the department cleans up the forest for the spring.
That includes picking up the trash people leave behind in the winter.
“Yep, that comes out of my departments budget to pay the landfill,” said Brink.
Those fees cost him nearly $1,000 last year.
Those dollars come from taxpayers.
“When I have to pay for that, that takes away from something else,” Brink explained. “You know I can’t put in a new pier or something.”
If you turn down Timberline Road in Abrams, you might see piles of trash along the path.
But when someone dumps their garbage in the park, those piles become a problem for everyone else.
That includes people like Jerry Olson, who has lived in Abrams just outside of the Machickanee Forest for about a decade.
Old refrigerators and other garbage in the woods aren’t a new sight for him.
“You’ll see a garbage bag every hundred yards so all this little stuff adds up,” Olson said.
What’s not so little are the items like TVs and tires that litter the forest floor.
Olson and his neighbors lend a helping hand when things get messy.
“Well we try to keep the grass cut around here, along the road, especially on our road we live on just because it looks nice,” he said.
But until something changes, the litterbugs of the town are everyone’s issue.
Park employees and volunteers say it’s very difficult to find people who leave unwanted items in the forest.
If you have a tip, you’re encouraged to call the police.
