SEATTLE - A step ravine in Auburn is home to a small stream, some old-growth trees and a growing mountain of garbage.
"You might just put a rope around that wad of crap right there somehow and pull up that big mess in one blob," shouts Wade Holden to members of his Friends of the Trail work crew.
The hillside off the West Valley Highway is so steep, workers have climb to the bottom and attach ropes to the discarded appliances, car parts, and bags of household trash, while workers topside pull them up and toss them into trucks.
The trash is more than just an eye sore. Dozens of discarded carpet remnants smother out the ferns and other plants on the forest floor. Large cans of flammable paint products were thrown down. Some are full, some are empty, some are leaking.
Holden believes people are choosing to illegally dump their trash in the woods to avoid disposal fees during hard economic times.
He says many are struggling to keep their businesses going. He knows because his own business is having a hard time finding funding.
Friends of the Trail cleans up the worst garbage dump on public lands but is watching much of its funding from government agencies dry up.
His is a very lean operation to begin with. Most of his crews are composed of people working off public service sentences for minor crimes, but he has plenty of expenses. He says he will get through this period but the always difficult task of keeping pace with the state's illegal dump problem gets even harder during hard times.
