The story of the Wells town office tracing improperly disposed-of trash back to its owners is just one example of how the tightening of administrative screws at municipal dumps is complicating the lives of tourists in “Vacationland.”

In the Wells case, summer residents with no approved place to dispose of a bag of weekend trash and garbage, and who resorted to using a public trash receptacle, were tracked down by junk mail and other evidence in their debris and warned by the town that they faced fines in the future.

Although this coastal community was unusually persistent in its pursuit of these dumpers who violated municipal regulations — failure to sort and separate trash, failure to leave said trash at the approved transfer station — and the cases involved regular visitors who presumably should have known better, the town’s predicament, and that of its guests and taxpayers, is not unusual.

It’s tough enough for local residents to remember whether the local landfill is open Tuesdays or Thursdays or every second Saturday, but it is cruel to challenge casual visitors and vacationers (who left behind their own local set of arcane solid waste regulations), to master yet another set of rules and timetables.

Communities must tighten up landfill procedures. They should demand sorting to expedite recycling efforts, but they also should acknowledge that the system needs to be flexible.

Even in an ordered world where clear glass is separated from garbage, and aluminum is segregated from paper, there should be room for dumping, at a premium price, for forgetful local residents and especially for the visitor who doesn’t want to drive six hours in a hot car with a bag of week-old chowder, empty dog food cans and decaying London broil.