I moved to Redmond in 2013 and found a house that sits on the edge of the Dry Canyon. Having been born and raised in Bend, I never knew that Redmond even had a Dry Canyon, much less one with parks, hiking and biking trails. When I retired in 2014, I started doing a lot of hiking in the canyon, mostly between the Maple Avenue bridge and the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). During my walks, I noticed that the canyon was being trashed; how sad to do that to such a beautiful place. I have started picking up the trash and depositing it in the garbage cans (much to the chagrin of the Redmond parks and recreation crews). Either the trash gets blown into the canyon or it gets tossed there in the first place. When I worked as a construction manager, we required the contractors to clean up after themselves. When I briefly worked out at the expansion at the Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant, Apollo Construction had something they called “tidy Friday.” They would get a bunch of workers together on Fridays, and they would police the job site. I challenge some of the local homebuilders to do the same.

When I lived in Central Florida, there were annual cleanups, where volunteers would clean up the beaches or the riverbanks. They would make a media event out of it, and there would be pictures in the newspaper or on TV the next day of all of the trash that was removed. The Dry Canyon could sure use one of these cleanups. It became a graveyard for numerous cars many years ago (judging by the rust on the cars and the fact that there are houses on the rim above them). It will probably require a crane to remove them now. Having recently moved here, I might not be aware of the local charm of these cars since no effort has been made to remove them from the canyon — even when the sewer pipelines were put in. For all I know, they might have historic value!

Another thing that frequently happens in the canyon is people walking their dogs unleashed. There are signs posted at the accesses to the canyon requiring pets to be leashed and for their owners to pick up after them. It is really difficult to know where to clean up after your dog when he is not on a leash. I also wonder, does this cleanup apply to horse owners, too?

Last, but not least, I want to put in my two cents about returnable bottles and cans. I remember when I was growing up, Oregonians were patting themselves on the back when the “Bottle Bill” passed and deposits were required on bottles and cans. Back then, you could take your bottles and cans to the supermarket checkout stands and they would place change in your hand. That must have become too unsanitary, so places like Walmart and Fred Meyer opened up return centers with machines that could tell whether your bottle was returnable and return a voucher. Now even those are closing, forcing you to take your bottles and cans to a central location. The goal is to reduce litter! If someone has the choice of tossing five cents out the window or packing it to an inconvenient, crowded return center to get that nickel, what do you think he is going to do? All you have to do is look at the shoulders of the local roads to get your answer.

I am proud to be a native Oregonian, and I would like to see the state return to the beautiful place that it used to be.

— Allen Bigelow lives in Redmond.