An unknown person dumped more than 2,000 pounds of tires in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest.

Rangers found the tires near Forest Roads 344/343 not far from Cottonwood Lake near Buena Vista in Southeast Colorado. It is believed they were dumped at the beginning of the month.

Dumping trash like this in a national park is illegal, but at this time no one knows who is responsible for this act.  The problem has gotten so bad that many public land areas are having what they call "tire amnesty" events where a person can get rid of unwanted tires. And yet people still dump tires and other trash in national parks.

Colorado is home to one of the largest tire dumps in the nation with two of them containing over 60 million tires, over half of the disposed of tires in the country.

Granted, disposing of used and unwanted tires is difficult and can be expensive, but with so many different ways to use unwanted tires, it's a mystery why anyone would want to dump a ton of tires in a national forest, or anywhere else for that matter.

If you or someone you know has any information regarding this stupid and senseless act, contact the Salida Ranger District at 719-539-3591.