Alarming Vehicle Remnants Scar a Western Montana Scenic Drive

How sad it is when people show a blatant lack of respect for Montana's great outdoors.

Just because an area is not high-traffic does not make it a landfill. But that was the unfortunate discovery made by correspondent Angela Montana of the Montana Outdoor Radio Show and managing editor of montanaoutdoor.com.

Angela loves the backroads of Montana and all their splendor, along with the bounty of hunting and fishing opportunities that she also treasures. Her account of what she found near the Camels Hump Lookout Station in Mineral County will leave many outdoor recreation enthusiasts squeamish.

Angela reports that while going for a drive recently, she and a few friends headed up Henderson toward the Camel’s Hump area, and came across a disgusting scene. They found what was left of a motorhome with Washington license plates. It was obvious that somebody had tried to burn it, or it possibly caught on fire and was abandoned.  It was just left off of a two-track road near the main road.

Making the scene even more disturbing was what was around the burned vehicle. All the garbage around it included a puddle with children’s toys and baby bottles in it. There were also hypodermic needles. Angela and her friends wondered why it was there, as it looked like it had been there for quite some time, and surely somebody would have seen it.

She made a call to the Mineral County Sheriff's Office and was told that the vehicle had already been reported some time ago and that it was supposed to have been cleaned up by now. No word as we post as to whether this actually did get cleaned up yet.

Angela's point of sharing the story is her frustration with a select few peoples' total lack of respect for their surroundings and that the problem will never be fixed due to various reasons. And she closes with the hope that there isn’t a single person reading this that throws their garbage — or carcasses — on the side of the road or in our forests.