I have no objection to the numbers of people who enjoy the local ritual of tubing on the Gunpowder River. ("Tubing tiff," July 31). I experienced it years ago, and it is a wonderful way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.

My wish is that the tubers leave the landscape exactly the way they found it. Many people leave their cans or food wrappers behind, marring the otherwise breathtaking landscape along the Gunpowder. How tough would it be to take along a bag in which to put trash?

In their natural habitat wild animals leave nothing behind but their carcasses. On the other hand, the supposed higher order of beings, homo sapiens, leave trails of litter, pollution, garbage, clear patterns of disregard and blatant ignorance for the lands and waters on which we live.

Sometimes it makes me think in amazement, are we truly smarter than the wildlife around us?

Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham