By Lili Stapel
Litter along roadways is a common problem in Jackson County and across the state.
A recent bill filed in the North Carolina legislature is aimed at changing that. The Highway Cleanup act, introduced by Rep. John Bell, R-Goldsboro, would double the fines for littering on the state’s highways and byways. Proposed on Feb. 16, the bill not only wants to increase fines for littering but also moves to establish the “Cops Clean NC” grant program to pay sheriff’s offices in rural areas overtime for picking up litter. It would also fund awareness and advertising campaigns for anti-littering programs such as Adopt-A-Highway.
Many officials representing Jackson County have shown support for the bill, including Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, and Commissioner Gayle Woody, hoping that increasing the fines will be a big step forward to a “cleaner and greener” county.
Litter not only affects the residents in Jackson County, but greatly impacts tourism and one of Jackson County’s biggest attractions, fly fishing.
“Often, the issue we run into here is trash that’s along the roadways eventually ends up in our streams and rivers,” said Nick Breedlove, Jackson County Tourism Development Authority director. “And fly fishing is vital to our source of economy and we need clean rivers and waterways for fly fishing to be sustainable and successful in Jackson County. I think the bill would reduce the amount of litter that eventually ends up in our streams, so we would have a better ecosystem for the trout and other species that live in the water.”
It is very uncommon for litterers to be caught, as littering has to take place in the presence of an officer for someone to be fined. Some litter along the roads isn’t intentional, Sylva Police Chief Chris Hatton said.
“It’s a problem everywhere, especially on our roadways,” Hatton said. “It seems like a lot of the litter on our roadways is unintentional, things flying out of the back of pickup truck beds and whatnot. But, the fact that it may be unintentional doesn’t make it less of a problem.”
Laura Allen of Sylva, who recently posted about litter on the “Jackson County Will Survive” Facebook page, has expressed her concerns about the bill. Allen goes on weekly litter sweeps with her sons and has been vocal about her concerns on the effectiveness of this bill, stating that attention would be better served elsewhere.
“I think that doubling the fine would be a waste of resources,” she said. “The only reason I believe that is because it is almost impossible to catch people in the act of littering. I would like to use that money to install security cameras at popular dumping sites. Invest in commercial-grade animal-proof trash cans and install them at picnic areas and pull-off locations. Rather than a fine for littering, issue community service hours and have offenders clean up a stretch of roadway.”
Allen also expressed her support for educational programs for adults and children, to teach about the harmful effects of littering and how it damages the environment.
“It’s going to take more than just a dozen or so citizens to get the work done,” Allen said. “It didn’t get trashed overnight, and it won’t be cleaned up overnight. We live in such a beautiful place. I would like to see people take more pride in their community.”
Stapel is a junior at WCU studying communications with a focus in journalism.
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