Five local residents approached the Lander City Council this week to express their opposition to the release of balloons scheduled to take place as part of the ‘Suicide Awareness Balloon Walk,’ which is in conjunction with the Lander Pig Roast event on July 20.
The speakers’ concerns centered around the impacts the balloons could have on the environment – and area wildlife in particular.
“There’s no such thing as a harmless balloon release,” local ecologist Cindy Newman said. “Birds, turtles, and other animals commonly mistake balloons for food, which can harm or kill them. … Animals can become entangled in balloon strings, which strangle them or hurt their hands or feet – and it’s not just wildlife; livestock (are) just as susceptible.”
Lander resident Andrea Orabona – a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department nongame biologist and the current president of the Red Desert Audubon Society – said she supports the sentiment motivating the balloon release, which is meant to symbolize “thoughts and prayers sent to loved ones” lost to suicide, according to the event description, but she also suggested that “there are many other, better, ways to commemorate those we hold dear.”
For example, she said, participants could plant trees, shrubs, or native plants in memory of their loved ones, or write messages on pieces of paper that are then placed in a bonfire so the “ashes and the smoke go up in the sky” like balloons would.
Sarah Reilley offered other “alternatives,” like releasing luminaria bags, or accepting financial donations for benches memorializing lost loved ones.
“There are a lot of other ways that we can express our sympathy for families who have gone through this,” Reilley said. “Causing harm to the environment around us is not the way to honor the people that we have lost, or the people who live with the struggle every day. (Let’s) find a way to celebrate life … in a way that is better for everybody who participates.”
Sky Phifer, a retired local lawyer, said he was “shocked” when he learned about the balloon release, which he said could constitute a misdemeanor in violation of Wyoming Statute 6-3-204, which prohibits littering.
“I was really surprised that we would do something … that is clearly against (the law),” he said, pointing out that littering is punishable by imprisonment of not more than six months and a fine of not more than $750. “I don’t think anybody wants to go to jail because they released 100 balloons.”
Committee decision
Local resident Mary Phifer McKnight said a representative from the Wyoming Outdoor Council has offered to “cover all the costs of the change of plans,” and she asked the city council to step in and cancel the balloon release.
“You have the power to say … let’s not do this; we’re getting a lot of pushback,” McNight said.
Newman had also asked “the city to reconsider the planned balloon release,” and Reilley had mentioned that she “would really like to see a more serious conversation come from the council and the pig roast committee” about that portion of the event.
But Lander City Councilmember Julia Stuble said she wasn’t sure whether the city was officially involved in the pig roast planning.
“I’ve actually been confused,” she said. “I don’t know if the pig roast is a city event, or a private event, or a combination. … Some clarity about that (would) help inform our response to some of these concerns.”
Lander Mayor Monte Richardson explained that the balloon release is being planned by a “subcommittee” of the larger Pig Roast planning committee, which will discuss the item during a meeting on Wednesday evening.
It will be “totally up to that committee” to decide whether to move forward with the balloon release, Richardson said, and “we’ll just go from there.”
For more information call the City of Lander at 332-2870.