Colorado is sick and tired of Backcountry travelers and their poop: https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-even...ee-trowels-now/

This leads, naturally, to a variation on an old joke: What's the difference between hikers who create this mess and a sack of doo? The sack.

This would be a very good program for someone like the U.S. Park Service or AT Conference to get behind in the eastern U.S. (it could lead to other trail managers, such as state DNRs, adopting it, too.) With a higher concentration of hikers per backcountry square mileage, it's a problem in our part of the country, too - it's just that no one with regulatory muscle is yet willing to officially denounce it.

A few years ago I did a comparison of several different trowels for backpacker use. It can be found here: https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/resources/trowel-test.298/

Is there a rule that says it's OK to leave a bag of doggie exhaust along the side of the trail? I see that occasionally. Are park employees really going around to collect these bags?

I've adopted the motto: take only pictures, leave on footprints, kill only time (and maybe a few mosquitos).

There are no rules that say that park employees and/or volunteers will pick up any trash that hikers leave behind. But we do, and so should you

This is a great idea. I like it much better than what some agencies are trying to do in other high use areas: requiring people to pack their crap out. I always thought that was a counterproductive measure. In my mind the biggest problem is people not even burying their crap. This addresses that issue vs asking people who are already taking care of things properly to pack it out. That only addresses rule followers. If you want to deal with less crap in the back country, get more people to follow the rules. Don't make more draconian rules.

I also like the tabs they give you to expedite breakdown of the buried crap. I recall a thread a few years back where someone asked about using chemicals like this designed for RV composting toilets. People guffawed at the idea, but I thought it was intriguing then. It looks like it has caught the attention of some back country managers.

I think the backcountry toilet (in popular camping spots) is the answer. Some national forests won't install them in wilderness areas, while the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF and Wenatchee NF do, at least in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Some of these toilets have spectacular views, too! They may not be wholly wilderness, but are far better than walking over an area sinking into shallowly buried poop (which I, unfortunately, have done).

I agree OM. More backcountry toilets would really help the issue. People are going to need to go to the bathroom. Might as well give them a good option to do it properly.

It would also help me convince my wife to do more backpacking.