Neighbors Upset Over Beer Cans, Paintball at Open Space Property

On Monday, Patch received the following email from a resident on Saw Mill Road. We've decided to protect the neighbor's identity:

We are neighbors to the Saw Mill Open Space owned by the Town of Durham. We, along with other neighbors, enjoy this space on a daily basis as we hike and explore the trails with our dogs. In the two and a half years we have lived here, it has always been a peaceful and tranquil place. This all changed yesterday, Sunday, April 28.

During the afternoon, we began to hear periodic loud yelling, laughing, and screaming coming from the woods behind our house. This went on for about 2 hours.

This morning when my husband and our neighbor went out on the trails for their morning walk, they were stunned to find that the entire trail was littered with beer cans, cigarette butts, and paintball canisters. For their entire 20 minute walk they kept finding the debris scattered all around. They picked up 7 beer cans as they looked with dismay at the splattered paint all over the trees and ground.

Not only is this important news in light of the recent events of the problem of underage drinking in Durham, it is also a matter of public safety. It has been an extremely dry spring and I am very concerned about the risk of forest fire. One careless toss of a cigarette by an intoxicated underage drinker could destroy this precious public land (which is largely meadow and dry forest) and all the houses that border it. I am aware that there was a recent forest fire in another part of town, and we don't want the same situation here.

We are extremely upset and angry about this situation. My daughters are heartbroken that their special wilderness playground has been littered with cigarette butts and beer cans. Their most favorite place on the trail, a beautiful spot they named "Coyote Island", is now covered in paint and garbage.

Durham resident