LETTER: Respect environment

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 2, 2026

For a very long time, it has been on my mind to write this letter.

Cal Thomas wrote a column, Make America Clean Again,” (PDN, June 26, 2025) that is well worth reading.

A rant in last week’s paper, “Trash, trash everywhere along U.S. Highway 101 and county roads,” triggered me to finally set pen to paper.

What has happened to our society that we tolerate the degradation of our scenic byways?

As one heads east on U.S. Highway 101 from the West End, one cannot help but notice the excessive trash along the side of the road.

It’s truly awful in areas around Lake Crescent as one heads east.

I can only imagine the amount of trash that has ended up in the lake from traffic headed west.

Yesterday, we made a trip to Port Angeles from the Sol Duc Valley.

It was wonderful to see the amount, the tremendous amount of litter that had been collected and bagged lining Highway 101 going up the Elwha Hill.

Thank you to whoever was responsible for that.

The only way to turn around this attitude about littering is to teach our young ones at home to end littering.

Schools, churches and civic organizations can also play an important role in educating young people about littering.

Please, we only have one go at it on this Planet Earth to demonstrate more respect for our precious environment.

Deirdre Cahill

Sol Duc Valley