I grew up in the Columbia River Gorge. I was so lucky to be able to have a beautiful place to explore and live. So one could believe how emotional I was when my wildland fire crew got called to the Eagle Creek fire just two days after it started. I was very happy to serve the land where I train for this very job.

But as we prepared dozer lines and dug hand lines to keep the fire out of private property, I couldn't help but be extremely disappointed. Not because this fire was started by a firework, or seeing the trees go up in flames, but by the people who used the gorge as a dump.

I'm not just talking about your average plastic bottles. I'm talking about bath tubs, lawn mowers, boats, drums of oil, mattresses, microwaves. You name it, it was in a pile out there. We had to move or burn this trash, there is no way around it.

I love my job, I am happy to protect your home, however, it made our job more difficult not to mention more hazardous from the unnecessary chemicals we were breathing.

The gorge was a mess before the fire. So before we talk about super tankers or share our opinions about how the government doesn't take care of public lands, let's take a look at ourselves and how we choose to treat our beautiful scenic area.

My suggestion for a solution: clean up the trash. Hold off on planting trees. The gorge is a powerful and amazing place. It will heal itself like all other burned areas. It will come back green and clean. When it is safe to do so, I would love to see people cleaning the trash left behind and practice a "leave no trace" policy. It would be a much bigger act of showing that people care for the gorge than anything else.

I'm just like you all, I've just seen the behind the scenes. Let us all take part in caring for our favorite recreation area.

Jordin Seekins, Heppner