Pickens County is one of the most beautiful areas of the state – if not the entire country – with its mountains and lakes, and trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

It’s too bad that so many people try to “improve” the scenery by dumping their trash along the roads and forests of the area.

Those present at two different meetings we’ve attended in the last week spoke of how discouraging it is to see the litter around the area – and how such trash gives new visitors to Pickens the wrong impression of our wonderful area.

Attendees at a recent meeting with the Nature Conservancy spoke of how they sometimes find old stoves and washing machines dumped in one of the county’s most special gems – acres and acres of preserved forest land in the Nine Times tract.

It’s sad to see the Conservancy’s work marred by such laziness and ignorance. Officials with the Conservancy worked for years to secure the Nine Times area so that future generations can enjoy it, and are working hard now to install trails and information kiosks to help educate the public about all that Nine Times contains.

Those who attended a recent meeting of the Pickens Planning and Steering Committee – a group that seeks to improve the city’s economy and its overall look – also spoke of the detrimental effect that litter has on town pride, economic development, and the group’s effort.

Business owners spoke of picking up trash around the front of their businesses – trash dropped by those who either do not know or do not care how litter effects our city.

One member of the group, Wayne Kelley, urged fellow members to come up with ways to make picking up Pickens more fun, in order to encourage more people to participate in town clean up days.

Perhaps the Pickens Chamber of Commerce and the city could join forces and sponsor a clean-up day – perhaps with prizes awarded to the business who has the most employees participate in the clean-up, or a prize given for the group that collects the most trash.

Our sister paper, The Easley Progress, recently published a photo of two local boys who used a day off from school to pick up trash around their neighborhood. What a wonderful example these boys are setting for the rest of us.

We urge residents to take part in organized clean-up days when they occur – and to pick up trash whenever they see it.

Let’s pitch in and help rid Pickens of litter.

Let’s keep Pickens beautiful, one piece at a time.