I would like to reply to the lady who thinks Friends of the Trail is somehow a waste of funding.

This non-profit organization deserves many, many laurels for its Herculean efforts to clean up the piles of garbage people have dumped along our local mountain trails, roads, highways, rivers and streams. I am an avid bicycler, and whenever I find terrible messes of broken glass, household items, tires and garbage, Wade Holden of Friends of the Trail is just a phone call away. He makes an appointed time and he is there, picking up all of it.

I would especially like to praise the cleanup of the pristine Taylor River. The garbage and broken glass was heaped in every access way to the river. In places, broken glass lined the river for 50 yards. Wade also pulled out all the abandoned cars and even used a helicopter to get the cars out of unreachable spots in the river and down cliffs. And he maintains the areas, going back through every six weeks or so.

His work is not limited just to this area. He is also starting to work on the other side of the mountains. Plus, he works in Snohomish, Pierce and Skagit counties. He was recently part of a 63-mile cleanup of the Washington coastline.

Wade Holden is an extremely dedicated and caring individual and we owe him many, many thanks.

Edith Dougal

North Bend