Litter is becoming a problem at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, according to at least one Los Altos resident.
"It's only within the last year that it seems to have become a problem," wrote Prentiss Cole in a Jan. 16 letter to the board of directors of the MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District, an agency that handles Rancho San Antonio, along with the county. Cole, who has been going to the area two-to-three times per week over the past 20 years, said he has taken it upon himself to pick up litter.
"On one occasion last week, I collected the following: a drink container, two candy wrappers, four or five Kleenexes, and, believe it or not, a baby's disposable diaper," Cole wrote in his letter to the board.
"I wonder how frequently they patrol these trails," he told the Town Crier last week. "And the trails I use are not the most used trails."
Cole suggested the district put out temporary signs in problem areas and offer plastic bags to help clean up trash.
The district's reply to Cole, addressed in a letter from board president Jed Cyr, noted "On the whole, there is a minimal amount of litter at the preserves. Fortunately, most visitors do take responsibility for carrying their litter out with them. However, as more and more people visit the preserves, some areas do seem more subject to littering than others."
The district's letter also cited reluctance "to place more signs on the preserves, both for aesthetic reasons and because people tend not to read them if there is a proliferation of signs." The reply also noted plastic bag dispensers "have limited usefulness" and "it's been found that many of the bags end up as litter themselves."
However, Cyr's letter said "we will begin putting a statement into our site brochures reminding people that it is important for them to pack out their litter, that littering is bad for the environment and that violators of the district's litter regulations are subject to citation."
Board member Mary Davey, also a Los Altos resident, called Rancho San Antonio "one of the world's most popular preserves," and indicated the rise in litter was a natural result of the increase in people.
"Most people are very good at picking up after themselves," she said. "My take is - we basically trust people until proven otherwise."
District spokesman Malcolm Smith said the trash at Rancho San Antonio is "a bit more than we've had in the past," based on talks with field staff. But putting trash cans in, Smith and Davey said, would actually draw more trash.
In the meantime, Cole said his picking up trash is beginning to interfere with his running routine at Rancho San Antonio.
The board approved the reply letter to Cole at its Feb. 10 meeting.