Glad Karin checked back in. She does make a valid point. Steve Chamberlin's idea could indeed warrant a $500 fine. Putting unique identification on a Wag Bag might help in the short term by coercing people to carry them out. Leaving one behind is just plain littering, whether it is used or unused.

As for changing quotas: Maybe this was under the same District Ranger. A few years ago, Inyo did in fact apply day use restrictions to the North Fork (Mountaineers Route) unilaterally, without any notice or request for public input. In fact, it was one of the WPSMB Group Hikes that was cited as a reason that numbers of people needed to be limited.