By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

Tacoma’s parks are certainly one of our greatest assets. We have parks of every size, from local pocket neighborhood parks to others with extensive nearly-pristine wilderness and beaches.

Most of us are willing to help pay for these parks each time a levy rolls around.

Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to be seeing more and more people treating our precious parks as if they were  garbage heaps.

I see wrappers, bottles, cans and cigarette butts in almost every corner of our parks.

If you bring a pet to a park, please clean up after it. And remember that many more of us would like to use and appreciate our shared parks and are not interested in cleaning up after you.

And those plastic wrappers and bags I see on the ground or on beaches – they are a major choking hazard for birds, fish and seals.

And please, no matter what graduation, family reunion or wedding you may be celebrating, do not release helium balloons into the air. Every one of those balloons will pop and fall either on the ground or in Puget Sound.

I’ve picked up balloon fragments on upper reaches of Mount Rainier.

You wouldn’t throw colored plastic all over the ground would you?

Even if you would, think twice before you throw it into the sky.

We should not need signs and rules to remind us to take care of our parks.

Just remember that these parks belong to us and are the best gift we could ever give our children – and their children.