Eighty-three-year-old Ralph聽Deckett聽stood outside the Curt聽Gowdy聽State Park visitor center, broom in hand. Now聽retired聽from the FBI,聽Deckett聽spends much of his time looking after museums and recreation sites like Curt聽Gowdy, where he had been volunteering since the beginning of July.
鈥淲e just try to keep it nice, the best we can around here. It鈥檚 amazing how people can trash out a place,鈥澛燚eckett聽said.
And聽Deckett聽is not alone. Driving around the park, Assistant Superintendent Darrell Richardson told me Curt聽Gowdy聽depends on volunteers like聽Deckett.
鈥淥ur volunteer program is one of the biggest things we have going for us around here,鈥� Richardson said.
During the summer, Richardson said, Curt聽Gowdy鈥檚聽campsites are full.聽The trails are well trafficked. And for many people, disposables are part of the outdoor experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 primarily paper, you know, people come camping and they鈥檙e going to have paper and cardboard,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 a lot of cans, and I鈥檓 sure plastic bottles because everybody鈥檚 all into drinking bottled water anymore.鈥�
Curt聽Gowdy聽employs only two full-time staff and two part-time staff. About 20 volunteers and a few seasonal workers聽do the rest of the work picking up trash.聽To pay for that help,聽state parks use entrance fees and Wyoming鈥檚 general fund.聽According to Curt聽Gowdy聽Superintendent聽Bill Conner, waste disposal takes up about ten percent of the park鈥檚 budget.
Each week, he said, a private company empties twenty dumpsters spread across the park and聽drops the waste in聽Cheyenne鈥檚 landfill. Richardson said he is not aware of any entities that could transport recycling from聽Curt聽Gowdy.
鈥淣obody services this area,鈥澛燫ichardson聽said. 鈥淚t would be something we鈥檇 have to collect ourselves and take it to town or take it to the landfill. I don鈥檛 even know if the landfill even has recycle boxes or anything.鈥�
Richardson said, if there was a way to have recycling hauled away, he would put bins around the park.聽But Curt聽Gowdy聽is nearly 30 miles from Cheyenne and it is hard to take advantage of the city鈥檚 services.
You would think recycling would be easy for a park situated inside a town. The location has not helped Kevin Skates, the superintendent of Wyoming鈥檚 busiest state park in the middle of聽Thermopolis. 鈥淩ight now, we are not recycling at all,鈥� Skates said.
Since the town of聽Thermopolis聽lacks a recycling program, so does Hot Springs State Park.
Meanwhile, Grand Teton National Park is trying to deliver聽its聽waste to Teton County鈥檚 transfer station themselves. And they鈥檙e聽trying to send less of it to the landfill.聽Sustainability Coordinator Margaret Wilson said, for a long time, Grand Teton was like most state parks 鈥� they didn鈥檛 have money or staff to devote to recycling. Then they joined the Zero Landfill Initiative 鈥� a pilot project to try and divert most of the waste generated inside national parks. Wilson said part of that is educating tourists.
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