A database compiled as part of the DNR’s Adopt-A-Forest program indicates the county is home to 18 known sites where people have illegally dumped their unwanted household goods on public land, from boxes of garbage to old sofas and refrigerators.

Alpena County, with 15 illegal sites, is not far behind.

Now, the DNR is pushing to remove illegal waste from the state’s woodlands with a campaign asking for 100 cleanups in 100 days.

The Presque Isle County sites include several categorized as part of the “Horrendous Hundred,” the worst 100 known dump sites. Sites are known to contain anything from a pile of 50 discarded tires to a 16-foot boat full of trash along a county two-track road.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A dozen waist-high rolls of wire snarl among trees in an illegal dumping spot off of Silver Creek Road in Presque Isle County last week.

Many of the state’s dump sites — which can be found on a map on DNR’s website, including coordinates and a description of the suspected items dumped — were reported to DNR in the early 2000s. Since then, those sites may have been cleaned up by locals, or more may have been added but not reported.

So far, more than 70 dump sites have been cleaned across the state this summer. None of those have been in northern Michigan, said Conor Haenni, a member of Huron Pines AmeriCorps who is working with the DNR to track the cleanup of Michigan dump sites.

In past years, eight known sites were reported cleaned in Alpena County, and another eight in Montmorency County. Presque Isle County residents reported one site cleaned since the DNR started tracking the illegal sites in 1991.

Some people won’t be interested in shoving trash into their car or have a big enough vehicle to haul old furniture, Haenni said.

Scouts willing to visit dump sites and tell the DNR what they find can help facilitate cleanups, even if they’re not able to remove the debris themselves, Haenni said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Barbed wire and metal hoops litter the forest floor in Presque Isle County on Friday.

The Adopt-A-Forest program — like the better-known Adopt-A-Highway program — asks the residents of a region to volunteer to keep their land clean instead of leaving it up to state workers.

Chemicals from refrigerators and other dumped objects can leak into the soil, harming vegetation and tainting groundwater, Haenni explained. Illegally dumped objects can kill or trap wildlife and injure humans. The DNR is also concerned about the “broken window” effect, in which people who see trash in the woods might think it’s OK to add their own.

Clean forests are important for tourism, too, Haenni said. If visitors exploring otherwise pristine Up North woods encounter trash, he said, “they start to wonder, what kind of place is this?”

DNR hopes to exceed the 100-site goal by the time the campaign ends on Sept. 22.

Northeast Michiganders can find a link to a map of illegal dump sites at cleanforests.org, under the “Dumpsite Search” tab. The page also features a way to share updates about dump site status and information about how to plan a clean-up day or request a dumpster.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A lone tire is the only remnant last week of a once-large dumping spot listed as one of the “horrendous hundred” worst illegal dumping sites in a Michigan Department of Natural Resources database.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Four ancient hide-a-beds rot in the woods near U.S.-23 west of Grand Lake in Presque Isle County last week.