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	A Trashy Problem by Kathy Meyer Last summer WRWA received several complaints about people picnicking in turnouts along Highway 20 in Russell and Huntington and leaving copious amounts of trash. This problem differs from the usual problem we see of people littering along the highways in that the areas of complaint are directly on the Westfield River and the trash is generated because people come to swim in the river. Using and enjoying the river is a good thing; the resulting mess is not! After meeting with the Conservation Commissions in Huntington and Russell, the Jacob's Ladder Trail Group, the State Police and the Highway Department, it became clear that there is no easy fix to this vexing problem. The Highway Department would consider closing the most problematic turnout (in Russell, across from the Country Furniture Store), but that would prevent river access by everyone including fisherman and may shift the problem to another part of the river. To reduce the size of the problem at this turnout, the Highway Department put up signage to make it clear that one can park only in the turnout. In past years, numerous vehicles parked on both sides of the highway and outside the turnout to access this natural river beach. I recently talked with the Westfield Spanish American Association about the problem, since most of the picnickers are Hispanic. While the Association didn't feel that it could do anything to control the entire Hispanic population, they did help me translate some signs that say in English and Spanish "Take Only Photographs, Leave Only Footprints - Please respect the environment and other people who use this area. Remove your trash before leaving. Thank You." It is signed by the WRWA and the Westfield Spanish American Association. I just put the signs up and will be curious to see if it helps. If it doesn't work, I'll think of something else. If you have any other constructive ideas on what can be done, I'd love to hear from you. Efforts on this issue will be ongoing. There is still trash, so I and other volunteers are cleaning the turnouts every Monday in summer and the Highway Department picks up the trash promptly. The turnouts look better than they did last year, but the problem is by no means "solved". I want to thank the volunteers who have helped. I couldn't have done it without them. Thanks to Tom Eaton, Karin Vorwerk, Henry Warchol, Mike Young, Gabe Khatchadourian, Ron Lucassen, and Jim and Karen Burrage.