Don't leave litter on ice

[Lee Borgersen]

     Fish house owners: Don't leave litter when you go!

       DNR .........

  ....
Trash left behind on lake after ice fishingCigarette butts. Propane canisters. Cans, bags and bottles  some full of human waste. Blocking materials. Fish carcasses. Those are just a few of the items that make up the long list of litter conservation officers have found out on the ice.

Litter is an issue throughout the ice fishing season, but it tends to be particularly problematic as the deadlines for removing fish houses from lakes loom. Shelters must be removed from inland waters in the southern two-thirds of the state by midnight on March 2, and from inland waters in the northern one-third by midnight on March 16. Different dates apply to border waters.

Trash left on the ice is not only an eyesore, but it also has the potential to negatively affect water quality, especially if the litter remains when the ice melts.

People need to clean up after themselves when they head home. The only thing they should leave is an imprint in the snow or ice, said Rodmen Smith, director of the Department of Natural Resources Enforcement Division. The majority of people do things right, but unfortunately there's a subset of people who leave a mess on the ice and count on someone else to clean up after them.

Conservation officers spend the winter monitoring anglers and documenting areas where they believe litter might be a problem. While these officers can't watch every single fish house as it leaves the lake, every year people who leave their trash on the ice  and hope nobody notices receive litter citations. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of officers checking spots they suspect will be a problem. It's also common for officers to hear from anglers upset about the trash left behind by the people they've fished near during the winter.

Leaving trash on the ice isn't a mistake or an oversight  the people who litter make a conscious decision to do it, Smith said. They take advantage of the fact that the majority of people care about our lakes and will clean up trash, even if it isn't theirs.
 

[LPS]

So maybe everyone on the ice needs to do a GPS location.  When checked by a warden for fishing license you need to be logged in by GPS so we know if you dumped your garbage there.  If you did you lose your fishhouse.

[glenn57]

The lakes I've been one the past $ weekends have been pretty picked up.  not everyone is a slob!!

[mike89]

So maybe everyone on the ice needs to do a GPS location.  When checked by a warden for fishing license you need to be logged in by GPS so we know if you dumped your garbage there.  If you did you lose your fishhouse.

they have done the GPS down this way a while back..  need more!!!

[Gunner55]

So maybe everyone on the ice needs to do a GPS location.  When checked by a warden for fishing license you need to be logged in by GPS so we know if you dumped your garbage there.  If you did you lose your fishhouse.

I don't know about losin your house but I could see a bad enough fine, say at least $500 & loss of your fishing privileges for a year, so they'll think twice before they do it again. It's a major issue IMO & REALLY yanks my chain!!  

[GrandpaTom]

I always remember my late b-i-l's story about bringing a group of boy scouts back from their camping trip and stopping at a fast food place and one of the scouts asking what he should do with the bag.  My b-i-l said, "see that floor in front of you, use it"..   the scout replied that his parents would never allow that...gee, and this was a boy scout supposedly learning about the outdoors. 
And it's not just the ice, many parking lots are a mess too.  So sad.