Clean water is essential for protecting the health of people, marine mammals, shellfish, and fish. When you are recreating in Whatcom County, your activities can easily affect the rivers, shorelines, and marine waters where people play and harvest shellfish. Keeping human and pet waste out of our waterways is part of the solution to improving water quality in our community.
Boating, RVing, and enjoying the great outdoors while backpacking, hiking, camping, skiing...the list goes on...are fun adventures. And with those adventures, poop happens. It can happen anytime, anywhere. It’s hard to prepare for every situation, but it’s important to plan ahead.
Make a pooping plan. We know many rural and remote recreation areas don’t have bathrooms, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to poop in the woods. Bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens can be washed into the water and spread diseases. It’s your responsibility to do the right thing and keep trails clean and rivers and marine waters safe for wading, swimming, fishing, and harvesting shellfish. Just like planning your gear and route for your adventure, you’ve got to plan for this too.
