Every so often while hiking I run into various memorials generally left on mountain tops. I believe they were placed with great care and had great significance to those that placed them. Inevitably they deteriorate and end up resembling trash. Recently I have seen or heard of a few recent memorials to a fallen soldier that consists of a small American flag with a laminated sheet on it. Realsitically its not going to take long before the flag get soaked and blown over. Other memorials I have seen in the recent past are nailed into trees and others are laminated onto small rocks that were carried up. When these are placed I expect the folks doing it are in grieving process and don't consider the impact of leaving these.
Others can have the debate on whether it is right or wrong to place private memorials on public land on undeveloped summits, just as some debate the building of roadside memorials. What I would like opinions on is when do these memorials become trash to be removed ?
In the past it appears as though there weren't really policies governing the installation of permanent plaques on the summits and on occasion I run into recent attempts to make permanent memorials but the issue of my concern are the temporary ones. Generally laminated paper has a half life of about 2 or 3 months on a mountain top as the makers didn't use acid free archival paper. The paper slowly stains up and usually bubbles appear in the lamination and eventually water leaks into paper from the edges. This almost always occurs over a winter season and usually what is left the next spring would definitely be regarded as trash by most. Unfortunately "trash" of any kind tends to encourage more trash so ultimately these memorials tend to encourage other litter if they aren't used to make a bootleg fire in a bootleg campsite.
Generally, my approach is to remove these items when they have become deteriorated but its on definite case by case basis.
Others can have the debate on whether it is right or wrong to place private memorials on public land on undeveloped summits, just as some debate the building of roadside memorials. What I would like opinions on is when do these memorials become trash to be removed ?
In the past it appears as though there weren't really policies governing the installation of permanent plaques on the summits and on occasion I run into recent attempts to make permanent memorials but the issue of my concern are the temporary ones. Generally laminated paper has a half life of about 2 or 3 months on a mountain top as the makers didn't use acid free archival paper. The paper slowly stains up and usually bubbles appear in the lamination and eventually water leaks into paper from the edges. This almost always occurs over a winter season and usually what is left the next spring would definitely be regarded as trash by most. Unfortunately "trash" of any kind tends to encourage more trash so ultimately these memorials tend to encourage other litter if they aren't used to make a bootleg fire in a bootleg campsite.
Generally, my approach is to remove these items when they have become deteriorated but its on definite case by case basis.
