Northern Michigan is well-known for its vast tracts of forested lands and the countless recreational opportunities they provide.

In the past, the mere thought of hiking a familiar forested trail or canoeing a favorite river conjured pristine memories, but for many these experiences now may be marred by the trash that is being dumped illegally on our public lands.

In some areas, a walk down a forest trail is like a trip down memory lane, with trash piles that highlight the history of dumping.

Old musty couches, wet sloppy tires, piles of shingles, busted up toilets, microwaves without doors, television sets without screens, and the remnants from a recent remodeling job are among the many items that blight our public lands in Michigan.

Fortunately, there is another side to this story.

"Thankfully, there are many corporations and individuals who are being proactive in reducing the existing levels of trash that have been dumped in our forests," said Ada Takacs, coordinator of Michigan's Adopt-a-Forest program. "The selfless donations by more than 10,000 volunteers over the past 16 years have included time, money and resources."

Since 1991, Takacs said these volunteers have removed more than 16,000 truckloads of trash from Michigan's forests. This includes more than 65,000 scrap tires. Placed end to end, these tires could reach across the Mackinac Bridge five times!

Currently, there are close to 1,100 known illegal dump sites on public land in Michigan.

Although Takacs estimates this represents only 25% of what is actually out there, many of the old and very large dump sites have been identified and cleaned up.

"We're also pleased to report that 54% of the trash that has been cleaned up by the volunteers has been recycled," Takacs said. "That's a very impressive record."

The Adopt-a-Forest program is sponsored jointly by the Michigan Coalition for Clean Forests, which includes the Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, Michigan Forest Resource Alliance, and many caring organizations, corporations and individuals.

The coalition works with law enforcement to eliminate illegal dumping through its educational campaigns, physical cleanup of dump sites and advocating alternative methods of disposal (such as composting, recycling and annual community-wide cleanups).

Active volunteers are not just individuals, families, scouts and students. Special-interest groups get involved as well, such as the Lovells Hook and Trigger and the Two Trackers 4-Wheel Drive Club of Muskegon County.

In addition, many community groups such as the Springfield Township Parks and Recreation Department and civic organizations like the Harrison Moose Lodge are very active in the program.

There are no special skills required to clean up trash in the woods. Volunteers have the opportunity to see immediate results and often are rewarded with a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

"It's also a great way to meet new people in your community," said Takacs. "In addition, it's an activity for all ages and can serve as means of reaching across generational lines."

One family, the Tates, who live in Alcona County, even celebrated a 50th wedding anniversary by organizing a family-reunion cleanup.

Volunteers and groups, she said, often are able to incorporate their interests into their cleanup efforts.

One group, the northern Michigan chapter of the Michigan Geocaching Association goes high-tech during their cleanups.

Using up-to-date software, they enter the coordinates and descriptions of existing dump sites that are generated in reports from DNR Conservation Officers. They can download this information into a global positioning system (GPS) unit within seconds.

On the day of the cleanup, rather than giving the volunteer crews a few sites on a map, the entire cleanup can be uploaded into handheld GPS units that show what type of trash the volunteers can expect to find and in what type of terrain it may be located.

"Since we started working with Adopt-a-Forest, we haven't been looking for many caches," said Chad Lytle, the group's regional vice president. "We're having just as much fun hunting trash sites as we do finding most caches!"

The coalition also has a "Trash Team," comprised of agency and corporate representatives and organization and community leaders, that meets a few times each year.

"Anyone who is interested in joining is welcome to attend these meetings and share their ideas and resources," Takacs said.

The high levels of trash that can be found on our public lands have not accumulated overnight; rather the problem has resulted from a slow accumulation over time.

Fortunately, this can be halted and even reversed. To eliminate trash as a permanent fixture in our public forests requires education and action.

"Now is the time for people to invest in their public lands and the recreational experiences of the future and become a part of the change," Takacs said. For more information, visit the Adopt-a-Forest Web site at www.cleanforests.org. Individuals or corporations who would like to make a donation of time, equipment or money; report a dump site on public land or obtain a list of trash sites in their area are urged to contact Ada Takacs at (989) 275-5151, ext. 2049, or e-mail takacsa@michigan.gov.