My mother bought me a copy of "How to S**t in the Wood"" by Kathleen Meyer for my birthday.Ê It took me a while to settle down with the book because I figured I knew everything I needed to know about the topic already.Ê After all, how hard could it be?Ê Well, as it turns out, the difficult part isn't doing it, but doing it in a way that does not pollute the water. MeyerÕs book could be retitled How to S**t in the Woods Responsibly.

Ê The average human produces about a quarter of a pound of feces each day.Ê The state of Wisconsin has over 1.4 million camper days per year in its state parks.Ê Multiplied by 50 states, that comes to 70 million camper days per year.Ê Double it to account for campers in national parks and then divide by 4 and you get 35 million pounds of poop each year deposited in the less refined facilties typically provided by your average camp site.

Ê Since feces are not simply the undigested remainder of our bran flakes, but also the repository of all sorts of intestinal microbes we carry around with us, we have been innoculating the wilderness with dozens of human microbes, some of them lethal.Ê Prior to the 1970's it was quite common to assume headwaters and springs were reliable sources of safe drinking water. No more. The pathogenic protozoans Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia are now widespread in U.S. surface waters and even in springs influenced by surface waters (if a spring is directly recharged by rainfall, there may not be enough time for the cysts of the protozoa to die).

These pathogens have two stages, an active growing stage that lives in the intestine and a cyst stage that is shed in the feces and which can persist for months under the right conditions. Furthermore, both can be found in animals, both domestic and wild.Ê This means that careless pooping in nature can lead to the rapid spread ofÊ Giardia or Cryptosporidium in animal populations.Ê Once established in beavers or muskrats or rabbits or dozens of other animals, they can persist in an area indefinitely, even without infected humans.

Both protozoans can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache and low-grade fever within a few to 10 days of infection.Ê This may clear up or may settle into a chronic or relapsing condition resulting in severe debiliation and weight loss. For children, the elderly or immune compromised individuals there is even the possiblity of death.Ê Some people can carry Giardia and Cryptosporidium without exhibiting any symptoms.Ê So even symptom-free persons can contaminate water supplies.

And it is not just campers and backpackers that have to worry about filtering their water either.Ê In Milwaukee in 1993, a Cryptosporidium contamination of the city water system sickened 400,000 people and killed 100. Many if not most public water systems have had to upgrade their treatment protocols specifically to handle Cryptosporidium, which is resistant to chlorine.Ê This has placed a very expensive burden on small rural water supplies which now require special filtration systems.

Campers may have been responsible for the initial spread of these pathogens in nature, but unregulated treatment of animal waste from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) may pose a much larger threat in the future.Ê Hogs and other livestock can also carry Girardia, Cryptosporidium and a host of other infectious pathogens that they shed in their feces, and some operations can produce as much sewage as Kansas City.Ê In order to reduce the spread of pathogens, K.C.'s sewage is required to undergo settling, aerobic digestion and anaerobic digestion before the remaining sludge can be land applied. The manure from a CAFO, on the other hand, is simply stored in lagoons until it is sprayed on nearby fields.Ê Depending on environmental conditions, the pathogens may or may not be killed before the next rainfall carries them into the nearest watercourse and from there into a local water supply.

If the popularity of backpacking did contribute to the spread of human pathogens in the wild, it was an unintended consequence, one which Meyer and the outdoor travel industry are now trying to address by teaching backpackers how to dispose of their wastes responsibly.Ê Maybe it's time for a similar book on How to S**t in a CAFO.Ê More fundamental than the right to use oneÕs property as one wishes, is the responsibility not to impair someone elseÕs use and enjoyment of their property. Waste is waste and knowing what we know now about Giardia and Cryptosporidium, we wonÕt be able to plead ignorance if the free-flowing waters that belong to all of us become not just undrinkable, but unsafe even for swimming or wading because of the burden of pathogens contributed by untreated animal waste.

For more information CDC factsheet on Cryptosporidium http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/cryptosporidiosis/default.htm
CDC factsheet on Giardia http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/giardiasis/factsht_giardia.htm
"Boss Hog: North Carolina's Pork Revolution," Raleigh, North Carolina, News and Observer (Feb19, 1995)

Bio Regional Quiz:What is the ratio of hog to human poop in Missouri?

Special Events/Classes/Programs/Talks
BATS ON PARADE: June, July and August. June 1-30 pick up a bat card at Columbia Regional Library (100 West Broadway). Follow the directions to decorate the bat and hand it in before June 30. Bats will be displayed at the library through July, with random drawings for bat related prizes July 31. Bat programs July 17, 7 pm at the Library (registration begins July 8, call 443-3161 to register) and Aug 2, 7:15 pm at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park -RBMSP(registration begins July 12, call 449-7402). Friends of RBMSP, the Library, and RBMSP (DNR)
CONNORÕS CAVE TOURS: Sundays, June 8, 15, & 22; 1-3 p.m. call for additional dates & times) Walk the self-guiding Boardwalk Trail; see the Rock Bridge and Devil's Icebox. Above the cave entrance, meet park staff/volunteers who will interpret displays, answer questions and lead tours of Connor's Cave.
COLUMBIA GARDEN TOUR: June 14, 10 am Flatbranch Park at 4th and Cherry. Wild Ones
KATY TRAIL BIKE RIDE: Saturday, June 14, 2003. We will eat at the unique Thai CafŽ on the banks of the Missouri River at Cooper's Landing. Call (573) 443-8263 for more information. Sierra Club.
TRIP TO SHAW NATURE RESERVE: June 22 - for details call (573) 474-4225 . Missouri Native Plant Society

MU Organization Meetings and Contact Information
ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL: next meeting in the fall
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES EXEC COM: 882-7116 - next meeting in the fall
RECYCLING COMMITTEE; 882-3091
STUDENT SIERRA CLUB: 882-7116 - next meeting in the fall

Organization Meetings and Contact Information
AUDUBON SOCIETY; 874-3904 / columbia-audubon.missouri.org Meet 3rd Wed 7:30 pm, USGS, 4200 New Haven
BONNE FEMME WATERSHED PROTECTION FORUM; http://www.missouri.edu/~esiwww/bfpf.html
BOONE COUNTY SMART GROWTH COALITION; http://smartgrowth.missouri.org/, 1st Wednesdays 7:15 Boone Co Govt Ctr.
CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING; 875-0539 or http://peaceworks.missouri.org/
CHOUTEAU GROTTO; http://chouteau.missouri.org/, Meet 1st Wed, 7 pm, Community Room of the Boone Electric Coop
COLUMBIA FOOD CIRCLE; 882-7463 or email hendricksonm@missouri.edu for information.
COLUMBIA PUBLIC WORKS VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS; 874-6271 or http://www.ci.columbia.mo.us/dept/pubw/
COMMUNITY STORMWATER PROJECT: Dean Andersen at 884-3242 AndersenDC@missouri.edu or Phoennix Conway at 884-8333 ConwayPL@missouri.edu
ENV EDUCATION WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES: http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/teacher/workshops/
FRIENDS OF ROCK BRIDGE STATE PARK; 474-7429 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org/ Meet 4th Tuesdays, 7 pm
GREENBELT COALITION; 442-4789 or http://greenbelt.missouri.org Meet 1st Tuesdays, 7 pm, Outdoors Bldg, 200 Old 63 S.
LEWIS AND CLARK IN MISSOURI : http://outreach.missouri.edu/mowin/Rivers2/lewisclark.html
MISSOURI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY; npshawth@hotmail.com Meet every other second Monday (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov) at 7:00 p.m., usually at MDC Fish and Wildlife Research Center, 1110 S. College Ave., Columbia, MO.
MISSOURI RIVER COMMUNITIES NETWORK; 256-2602 or http://mrcn.missouri.org/
PEDNET COALITION; email: pednet@pednet.org or http://www.pednet.org
ROCK BRIDGE MEMORIAL STATE PARK; 449-7402 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org
SHOW ME CLEAN STREAMS COALITION; (573) 751-4115 ext 3169 or www.mostreamteam.org
SIERRA CLUB; 443-4401 or http://sierra.osage.missouri.org Meet 3rd Tuesdays 7:30 pm Hillel Foundation, 1107 University Ave
SMART GROWTH COALITION; tomvmoran@yahoo.com Meet 1st Wednesdays, 7:15 pm, Boone County Government Bldg.
WILD ONES; 499-3749 or email wildonesmo@yahoo.com, http://wildones.missouri.org Meetings 2nd Saturdays. Call for location

Answer to BioRegional Quiz: Answer to Bio Regional Quiz: Ê Missouri marketed 8.3 million hogs in 1998, up from 5.1 million in 1988.Ê In 1988 there were 17,000 hog operations, in 1998 there were 5000.Ê The human population of Missouri is around 5.6 million, and we produce 511 million pounds of poop each year. Hogs produce about four times as much poop per individual or over 3 billion pounds of poop a year. This is around 6 times as much poop as the human population in Missouri and almost 10 times as much poop as is generated by campers in the entire U.S. http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/magazine/2000_spring/one_last_word.htm

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