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Smile! You're on State Park Camera
High-Tech Surveillance Used to Catch Illegal Dumpers
 Listen to Emily Harris' report
 View a photo gallery of the surveillance gadgets.
April 20, 2002 -- Volunteers in Pennsylvania will haul what are expected to be tons of trash out of the Michaux State Forest on Saturday -- busted appliances, tires, even old Christmas trees. Fed up with the trash, forest rangers have a new message for people who dump illegally in the Michaux: Smile! You might be under survelliance...
For nearly 30 years, Assistant District Forester Gary Zimmerman has been trying to catch people who dump trash in the Michaux. His best tool used to be finding mail in the garbage -- but that method was challenged in a local court, where the judge ruled that finding a name on a letter or bill doesn't prove someone was dumping trash illegally.
With 85,000 acres of forest, it's tough for Michaux rangers to catch people in the act. Forest rangers needed proof -- so they are going high tech, using electronic "eyes" to record acts of illegal dumping. NPR's Emily Harris recently followed Zimmerman as he set up seismic-sensing devices and hidden cameras in the forest. Some of the devices are so small and sophisticated, they are almost impossible to spot.
Zimmerman first sets up an electronic beam that, when crossed, triggers a camera hidden nearby. He also hides a seismic "plug" near an area under survelliance. That device is designed to pick up the vibrations of vehicles and people walking in the area. The sensor sends a radio signal that keeps the camera and video recorder going as long as there is movement in the area.
The high-tech electionic solution is new for Pennsylvania, but other states use the cameras -- and not just to catch trash dumpers. Missouri sets up cameras to monitor factory emissions, and a special feature lets a factory's neighbors trigger the camera with a phone call. Kentucky has run a program like Pennsylvania's since 1997.
Richard Thomas, the principal assistant to Kentucky's natural resources secretary, told Harris his state's cameras have captured a whole range of activity. "These are motion-activated cameras, so we've caught bobcat, turkey, deer, a black bear," he says. "We catch people scavenging through the dumps. We caught a man shooting a dog in a dump. We've caught sex acts in the dump, we've caught teenagers having parties in the dumps -- things like that."
Forestry officials say there is no legal expectation of privacy on public land. But ACLU privacy watchdog Barry Stienhardt is concerned. He says trading a loss of privacy in the woods isn't worth a technique that doesn't stop crime.
"And all the evidence from around the rest of the world is that (electronic surveillance) doesn't actually work," Stienhardt says. "What they're going to find is the trash is just going to be dumped somewhere else."
Other Resources
• Help the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet catch illegal dumpers in state forests.
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