Pat Jones (left) and Shelley Deals (right) put trash into a trash bag along the road near Grantsburg Swamp Oct. 4, 2024 in Grantsburg, Illinois.
Volunteers picked up a total of 349 pounds of trash from Grantsburg Swamp on Oct. 4 during the Trash Blast at Shawnee National Forest in Grantsburg, Illinois according to volunteer Ben Allen. A team of 10 people collected the trash in two hours from one swamp. According to some involved, getting this much trash was not unusual.
“It’s what our trash pick-ups usually collect,” Ben Allen said.
Grantsburg Swamp is a cypress swamp near Grantsburg, Illinois and is part of Shawnee National Forest. “The thing about Shawnee National Forest is that it’s scattered all over the place,” Pat Jones said. “It’s not one big continuous area of land.” The Shawnee National Forest spans from the Mississippi to the Ohio River, covering 289,000 acres.
Although Grantsburg is a small town of 2,700, there was still a lot of trash found in the swamp. Jonathan Voelz, who volunteered in three previous trash pickups at Grantsburg Swamp said that they’ve found about 800 pounds of trash before. Jones said, “In the past we’ve picked up everything from tires to couches, furniture, car parts.”
Jones said. “I think this is about the third or fourth time I’ve been out at Grantsburg, and I can honestly say that progress has been made here.” According to Voelz, much of this is due to the work of the Friends of Shawnee National Forest and the Master Naturalists over the past few years.
This isn’t the only place in Shawnee National Forest at which trash has been collected. Jones said that he thinks that Shawnee National Forest has an issue with pollution. “People know where to go and not get caught,” Jones stated.
“One of the big issues that we have is tire-dumping,” Jones said. One year at Ripple Hollow in Alexander County, Jones said that over a ton of trash was recovered, the majority being tires. In places like Grantsburg Swamp where three tires were found on Friday, the tires can be particularly hard to get out because they can become buried in the mud. “Some of the tires had been in there for years,” Jones said. “Sometimes we have to do some real digging to get them out.”
“With our natural area we try to manage them to look natural,” Allen said of Shawnee National Forest. “When people are driving by and see a bunch of litter, it makes it easier for them to want to throw litter out, and it just looks bad for visitors to the forest.”
Ben Allen digs up a tire buried in the dirt at Grantsburg Swamp Oct. 4, 2024 in Grantsburg, Illinois. This was one of three tires that was found at the swamp on Friday.
An old tire is lifted into a truck bed to be taken from the Grantsburg Swamp Oct. 4, 2024 in Grantsburg, Illinois. This was one of three tires that was found at the swamp on Friday.
But according to Allen, trash is more than just unsightly; it can have a negative effect on the wildlife in the forest. “We’ve found a lot of bones, snakes and lizards and stuff, while we were picking up trash. All that’s impacted by this pollution.” Not only this, but the impact of the pollution can also last longer than we even realize according to Allen. “Essentially, things like Styrofoam and glass will be around forever,” Allen said.
But the responsibility of keeping our forests clean does not only lie on volunteers. The average hiker can do a lot to prevent pollution in areas like Shawnee National Forest.
“Most of our trailheads will have trash cans there,” Allen said. “If you see something, feel free to pick it up,” Jones said.
In addition to being responsible, people in the community can get involved at the next trash blast which takes place on Nov. 1, 2024 in Hardin County and is open to the public.
“It’s a known dump site,” Allen said. “We’ve gotten reports of large furniture.” Through the work of volunteers like those from the Friends of Shawnee National Forest and the Master Nationalists, change could be made elsewhere like what was made at Grantsburg Swamp.