When Russty Morris went fishing with his two kids last week, he didn’t plan to spend time picking up trash.

“There was probably easily a dumpster’s worth of trash there,” Morris said.

But that’s what happened.

“What I picked up didn’t even make a dent,” Morris said. “There was still trash everywhere.”

He shared his experience in a local Facebook group, including an image of the litter in the back of his pickup truck.

The post was liked more than a thousand times– and the nearly 300 comments show others have had a similar experience.

Morris said he went to an area known as “the Desert.” It’s near the Missouri River south of Bismarck and Mandan.

“This is probably by far the worst I’ve seen it in two spots,” Morris said.

Game and Fish Warden Corey Erck says leaving just one can carries a hefty fine.

“If we find somebody even just throwing out one can it would be considered littering, and it is a minimum of $250 fine,” Erck said. “It would be classified as an infraction.”

He says wardens will even pick through the litter for evidence of who might have left a mess.

“If we get called about an incident we’ll investigate, Erck said. “Even if they leave a receipt behind we can see whose credit card was used on the purchase.”

Erck says the fines get steeper the more trash you leave behind, and if it’s more than a cubic foot, it could be considered a criminal offense.