File:Shotgun shells left behind in the Prineville area.jpg

English: Illegal dumping on public lands damages the health of the land, harms wildlife habitat, and requires expensive clean-up.

Illegal dumping has been occurring on the BLM public lands for many years. State and Field Offices continue to encounter many illegal dumps within their jurisdictions. Such dump sites often encourage or engender additional illegal dumping in the same area, in what has come to be called “promiscuous dumps”. Illegal dumping involves mainly the dumping of solid waste such as white goods, yard wastes, household trash, vehicles, furniture, construction debris, and household hazardous waste. Illegal dumps are often created along rail roads, dirt roads, routes, and in the deserts. Illegal dumps also pose a tempting opportunity to dispose of hazardous waste in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. A major type of hazardous waste found in illegal dumps is those generated by clandestine drug labs.

Law enforcement officers encounter virtually every conceivable category of criminal activity on Oregon and Washington’s 16.1 million acres of public land. Sadly, each year, they document many of incidents involved illegal dumping. Over the past several years we've averaged 99 incidents of illegal dumping on public land in the Pacific Northwest – each year. If you see illegal dumping, report it immediately to your local law enforcement office.

Help us protect YOUR public lands!

Check out this video to learn more about this growing problem: bitly.com/Zw9mjt

Or read this great article about one man's mission to clean up your public lands one 67' Fairlane at a time...

www.blm.gov/or/nwpassage/articles/NWP_7_Lost_and_Found.php