Jeffco Open Space Ranger 'Frustrated' With Gender Reveal Party Litter
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - On Monday morning, Jefferson County Open Space Ranger Maggie Krause was finishing a routine survey of the Crown Hill Open Space. She came across what's believed to be a gender reveal party that left litter scattered across a trail.
"I went over there and found just hundreds of pieces of small pieces of blue crate paper. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time picking this up, and I was very frustrated and annoyed," Krause said.
It took Krause four hours to clean up the mess. She was helped by another ranger and occasionally hikers would pitch in and pick up handfuls of trash.
"We have 10 hour days, and I don't want to spend four hours of that day cleaning up someone's mess. I want to do other things like talk to people about wildlife and patrol my parks and respond to call and do other tasks like that," Krause said.
Jeffco Open Space posted a picture of the mess to social media and accumulated hundreds of shares and comments. Many people shared their outrage.
The fine for littering is $100. Many people online said that should be increased.
Jeffco Open Space is hoping people can help them identify the couple responsible for the trash.
"I just want this to be an educational opportunity for people. When they're going out to celebrate a new life coming into this world that they do so responsibly. If we find the people, that's great, but if not I hope this just goes to show people in the future that they should do this with our park safety in mind," Krause said.
If you are interested in volunteer opportunities to improve and maintain Jeffco Open Space areas, click here.