'World-changing' impact: Carlsbad Caverns National Park scolds visitor who left Cheetos

Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read
Park officials found a bag of Cheetos that fell off-trail in a cavern in Eddy County, New Mexico, according to a Facebook post shared on Sept. 6, 2024.
Park officials found a bag of Cheetos that fell off-trail in a cavern in Eddy County, New Mexico, according to a Facebook post shared on Sept. 6, 2024.

This story has been updated to add new information.

National park officials in New Mexico are calling out whoever is responsible for leaving a full bag of Cheetos that spread mold and caused an associated stench.

The snack bag took 20 minutes to recover from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico, the park's official Facebook page wrote on Sept. 6. After a couple of days, rangers meticulously removed the bag and all the molds that spread to nearby surfaces and caused a smell.

"At the scale of human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but to the life of the cave it can be world changing," the National Park Service said. "The processed corn, softened by the humidity of the cave, formed the perfect environment to host microbial life and fungi."

The park service continued that "cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies soon organize into a temporary food web, dispersing the nutrients to the surrounding cave and formations."

"Molds spread higher up the nearby surfaces, fruit, die and stink. And the cycle continues," the agency said.

While some organisms can thrive in the cave, the microbial life and molds created by the bag do not, the park service said.

Dropped bag was 'completely avoidable'

It's unclear when the bag was left behind but officials recovered it in July 2023 during routine trash sweeps, the park service said in a statement to USA TODAY Tuesday.

The service said the Facebook post was intended to highlight how food scraps, trash and human waste are regularly left behind rather than to "draw attention to this specific incident or to lay blame."

Over 100 million pounds of waste accumulate at U.S. national parks annually, according to nature research group Leave No Trace.

Park service officials said that while incidental impacts are often impossible to prevent, a dropped snack bag is "completely avoidable" and urged park visitors to "leave the world a better place than we found it."

"To the owner of the snack bag, the impact is likely incidental. But to the ecosystem of the cave it had a huge impact," the post read. "Great or small we all leave an impact wherever we go. How we choose to interact with others and the world we share together has its effects moment by moment."

Yosemite scolds park visitors for burying toilet paper

It's not the first time park officials have used social media to discourage improper park etiquette and it certainly won't be the last. In July, Yosemite’s National Park Service scolded those who bury toilet paper in an Instagram post.

“Picture this: Yosemite's majestic wilderness, stunning vistas, and… surprise! Used toilet paper waving hello near Rancheria Falls – a full roll too!” the park service wrote in the caption.

While a common technique, it's often exposed by weather and erosion and animals looking for nesting material.

"Because really, nobody wants to stumble upon a surprise package left behind by an anonymous outdoor enthusiast," the agency said. "Let's keep things clean and classy out there, by packing out whatever you carry in."

Contributing: Amaris Encinas

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carlsbad Caverns National Park scolds visitor who left Cheetos

Latest Stories

  • Yukon man touts value of bear spray after close call with aggressive grizzly

    If you've ever wondered whether it's worth carrying bear spray with you out in the bush, just talk to Paul Burbidge.The Whitehorse man recently had a close and terrifying encounter with a grizzly bear, and says it was a can of bear spray — and not the rifle he was carrying — that saved him from a more serious outcome. Burbidge survived the encounter unscathed, but definitely shaken.It happened on Monday when Burbidge took his dog out for a walk on a small trail, bringing his gun along to maybe d

  • Great white shark found dead on Haida Gwaii

    A great white shark has been found dead on the coast of Haida Gwaii in northern B.C..It was discovered by Mike Miles, who says he saw it while driving just south of Tlell, B.C., off Haida Gwaii's east coast."I thought I was seeing a young orca, then thought it was a beaked whale," he told CBC News via text message. "Then, a great white shark! Cool and a bit sad."He reported it to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which has confirmed the species, saying it was a male measuring

  • Program hopes to see Island construction waste traded, not trashed

    One person's trash is another person's treasure. Or at least that's how Gil Yaron describes the concept of a new exchange program on Vancouver Island, which allows construction companies to sell or swap leftover job site materials, rather than sending them to the landfill. Yaron is the managing director of circular innovation at Light House, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization focused on increasing sustainable practices in the construction sector. The Building Material Exchange program (BM

  • Recycling site closes due to fly-tipping

    The recycling site in Tattenham Corner will close on 17 October.

  • Two African countries say they need to kill elephants for food. Critics say it’s cruel and won’t work

    It’s a gut-wrenching concept: drought is now so bad in parts of southern Africa that governments say they must kill hundreds of their most captivating wild animals

  • It's not just Fat Bear Week in Alaska. Trail cameras are also capturing wolves, moose and more

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Millions of people worldwide tuned in for a remote Alaska national park’s “Fat Bear Week” celebration this month, as captivating livestream camera footage caught the chubby predators chomping on salmon and fattening up for the winter.

  • Witnesses can bear-ly believe the surprise visitor at Connecticut governor's estate

    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Witnesses could bear-ly believe the surprise visitor that appeared at the Connecticut governor’s estate.

  • It isn’t just hurricane country — Kansas also at risk for climate migration | Opinion

    People are leaving storm and drought-stricken areas for safer places to live, and Kansas is no exception.

  • Donald Trump Calls Kamala Harris the R-Word at Dinner with Billionaire Donors: Report

    The former president reportedly lashed out about donors not appreciating him at the dinner, according to 'The New York Times'

  • Kanye West ‘told his wife Bianca Censori he wanted to have sex with her mother’

    Scandal-hit Kanye West allegedly told his wife Bianca Censori he wanted to have sex with her mother, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed against him by his ex-assistant – who is accusing him of drugging and raping her at a Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs recording session.

  • Michael Moore Dares Joe Biden to Use ‘Full Immunity’ in Last Days as Prez

    Michael Moore wants President Joe Biden to leave the White House a “hero.” According to the renowned filmmaker, the president ought to take advantage of “full immunity” and pass a “bucket list” of reforms in his last 100 days in office. “With a simple stroke or two of your presidential pen, you can make life better for millions of people in ways you never would’ve dreamed possible,” Moore wrote on his Substack on Saturday.Referencing the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity tha

  • Trump Thinks the Military Should Handle Citizens Who Disagree With Him

    Donald Trump suggested the U.S. military should be used on citizens who disagreed with him in an interview on Sunday, calling liberals “the enemy from within” and claiming they posed more of a threat than migrants.Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo questioned Trump on whether he was afraid foreign nationals within the U.S. could cause chaos on Election Day, particularly after President Joe Biden said he worried it may not be “peaceful.” (Bartiromo carefully omitted that Biden’s fear was over Trump’s rhet

  • La Niña expected to affect winter in Canada, here's what that means

    Comparing temperatures in the ocean along the equator between now and last year, it's evident that we are in for a La Niña winter. Meteorologist Melinda Singh explains what this means for Canada.

  • Abcarian: Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation looked bad at the time. It was even worse

    The FBI supposedly investigated sexual assault allegations against the Trump Supreme Court pick. A new report shows the probe was deeply compromised.

  • Man abused by girlfriend banned from using toilet

    Gareth rushed to a supermarket or local pub because he was not allowed to use the toilet at home.

  • ‘They stole our dream’: Couple’s retirement plans scuttled after thieves stole their vacant Massachusetts property and sold it for half its worth

    A South Carolina couple’s dream of retiring near Boston was stolen after their property was fraudulently sold by imposters.

  • TV Host Claims ‘Scary’ Diddy Parties Hooked Friends on Drugs

    A British TV host has shared insights from inside Sean “Diddy” Combs’ notorious parties, saying that she saw a lot of drug-taking from models who ended up either becoming addicts or meeting an untimely death.Precious Muir moved to New York City in 2005 when she was in her early twenties, and was told she had to “network” with big-name celebrities if she was going to make a name for herself.Muir said she was then approached to attend a party hosted by Combs in 2007 with a driver shuttling her fro

  • 3 dead in highway crash between Niagara transit bus, truck: OPP

    Three people are dead after a head-on collision between a Niagara transit bus and a pickup truck on a Welland, Ont., highway Saturday night, police say.Just before 10:30 p.m., police and other emergency crews responded to a call about a motor vehicle collision on Highway 58 in Welland, Ont., Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said at the scene Saturday.Police found a transit bus had collided head-on with a pickup truck, he said.The collision caused the pickup truck to roll over and burst

  • Trump Goes 0 for 2 with Back-to-Back Teleprompter Claims

    Donald Trump, while giving a speech Friday in Colorado during which he used teleprompters, falsely claimed that he doesn’t use them.Not only that, but the chronically truth-averse candidate repeated a debunked assertion on the same topic: that Vice President Kamala Harris used a teleprompter during her Univision town hall the day prior.“Did you see where she did a town hall yesterday and she used a teleprompter? I never saw a town—you don’t use teleprompters. We don’t use teleprompters, period,

  • Trump suggests a protester may get 'the hell knocked out of her' by her parents

    Former President Donald Trump called for a protester at one of his rallies to “go back home to Mommy” to “get the hell knocked out of her,” his latest instance of using violent language when confronted by demonstrators. The protester was ejected from Trump's Saturday evening rally in Coachella, California. Trump continued, imitating the imagined mother: “'Was that you, darling?' And she gets the hell knocked out of her.”