Monday On Litter And My Amplification

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In no way do I appreciate those who litter and pollute.  In fact I hate to see the degradation of our environment. I don't contribute to the problem but feel powerless to stop those who do.  We are leaving a terrible legacy for those who will follow us. I see litter everywhere, along streams, lakes, reservoirs, roads and in the gutters of cities. Since I have had two days to consider my rant against those who litter I realized that I did see one stream that had no litter along it two years ago when I was prospecting in the area.  It reminded me of Racquet Lake in the Adirondacks in New York. While Carol was in a wood carving class I was paddling a canoe around the lake. It was a beautiful area and I was enjoying the quiet and beauty.  As I paddled around the lake I noticed how clear the water was and how I didn't see any fish rising on the lake.  As I looked closer I noted that there were no signs of aquatic life either.  I asked the caretakers of this lodge and was told that acid rain and pollution killed all the life in the lake.  I turned over a few rocks and there was no sign of life and my heart sank. The lake was devoid of all life but it looked  otherwise normal. 

We are destroying our planet. I prospected around a beautiful stream about a two hours drive from us.  It was below an EPA super fund clean up from improper mining practices.  The stream looked pretty normal but the rocks had a white coating on them and there was not a single form of life in the stream. No aquatic life, no vegetation, nothing...   Even the birds and insects avoided the water. A pretty little stream but not a single sign of life. The water was crystal clear.  The EPA has been working on this stream for years and say it is safe but they still have a large filtering plant to finish to begin the full  restoration.  We are destroying our planet!. The good part if there is a good part is that there was no litter along the stream. Clearly people had been to the area frequently but no litter.  I now realize that the acid and toxins in the stream had dissolved the litter.  I don't believe this is a viable solution to litter however.  

I did a little prospecting along another creek by the ghost town of Bonanza.  It looked just like the other one I had visited at the super fund clean up.  No life in it, rocks had an orange color on them and it too was dead. Not a sign of life anywhere. 

My point is that in my lifetime I should not find one stream that is totally dead - let alone three.  I don't like this trend.  If I as a casual prospector and fisherman have found three the obvious question is did I happen to  find the only bad area's?  I suspect that there are many more out there we don't know about. Many more...  If we don't stop this trend we can kiss our planet goodbye and the life that depends on a healthy planet. What will it take to wake people up to the problem?  Surely others must care too.