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Growing Outdoor Recreation

Lauren

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Every summer when I venture into the wilderness (hiking, biking, or just driving a scenic road), I think to myself, "the crowds are definitely worse than last year", never really knowing if that's the case, or if I just forgot how many people are regularly exploring those areas. These two reports came up on my Newsfeed recently, and thought I would share them as a gentle reminder to those venturing into the out of doors to leave no trace, pack in-pack out, and research the rules and regulations of the area before you go. I'd also like to hear some honest discussion on where the Forest Service (or other local service) should go from here, ideas on how to regulate, and how much should they regulate. What about education for "first time" explorers? The thing I love most about the outdoors is that there isn't much regulation, it's more of an honor system...what do you do when people aren't acting honorably on their own?

Discussion of trash and crowds that the Forest Service is dealing with in New Hampshire

"The Forest Service expected this. Additional porta-potties and dumpsters have been set up in high use areas. What they didn’t expect was the more recent shift in public behavior.

"We're seeing human waste along trails,” Benna says. “We're seeing graffiti which we haven't really seen, on boulders and rocks along the trails, not just on our signs. And we're also seeing a lot of people, like 100 volunteers, you know, go into the forest and pull out, you know, 300 pounds of trash.”

The reason for this, Benna says: First time visitors to the forest who just don’t know what’s expected of them."

How Much is Too Much - A discussion from a forest ranger in New York State

"I was a little taken aback, over my three season of stewarding is it has been a rare occurrence to find people camped above tree-line, let alone readily admit to it without the slightest inclination that they had done anything wrong."
 
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fatbob

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Not just the US. In the UK with COVID related shutdown of campsites and accomodation and a lack of other activities to do (like pubs/clubs/music festivals etc) there have been more people going to the countryside to recreate or just hang out and party. Of course closed car parking and removed trash bins etc (because the relevant brains trusts didn't want to encourage or endorse travel to these places) has resulted in widespread littering, fly camping, illegal fires and abandoned tents/lawnchairs etc.

The only consolation is that once things are back to normal many of those people will be back getting their kicks other ways.

My opinion is that a little foresight would at least have provided for better parking and litter disposal. And rangers/National Trust wardens could have stayed employed in an educational/soft policing role rather than putting out a "you shouldn't be here at all" message and shutting up shop. When you're dealing with first timers they don't think anything of dumping bags of garbage at a logical place if you don't provide a bin and frequent collection. That's not malicious - just they have no appreciation of how it's little better than dropping the trash where you stand once squirrels and foxes and wind gets at it.

I get the steward account and it's quite powerful but I think it would be better if she was employing less of the "Poor me- why are these people so ignorant?" and a bit more "How is it we are failing to educate these new people as to the rules and their importance (i.e. it's not just cos we're killjoys)?". The good thing is that she doesn't seem to have gone down the "I am the law!" avenger style approach so at least she was fulfilling an educational role.
 
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Philpug

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It has been an issue here too. There were pics posted of graffiti on trees here in Tahoe, very disappointing. We are avoiding a couple of popular trails that we we hiked regularly last year.
 
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Lauren

Lauren

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The only consolation is that once things are back to normal many of those people will be back getting their kicks other ways.

I really hope this is true. But part of me thinks that this has been a growing issue for awhile, and the pandemic just accelerated it. While I do agree we will see a downturn, I don't think it will go back to "normal". I think a lot of places are going to have to reevaluate what normal capacity is.
 

Gary Stolt

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It's good that people are enjoying the wilderness, hiking and biking, etc. Unfortunately, I believe it is a cultural thing that says it's someone else job to pick up after me. Some parts of the country are better than others. I grew up in MN where most people seemed to be conscious of not littering. In KY, a beautiful state, the roadside litter is really bad. People think nothing of throwing out their fast food cups, bags and everything else. Lots of businesses and organizations sign up to pick up along roads but new litter is always visible. I dare say that fisherman can be the worst offenders as tons of trash washes up on shore where the wind blows. If you are a fisherman, I'm sorry but you need to pack out what you pack in and not throw it in the lake. We do quite a bit of state park hiking in KY and TN (both do a really good job with state parks) and it's obvious where the park system picks up litter on a regular basis. And yes, we do tend to avoid those areas where people have left their candy wrappers and drink cans along the trail.
 

Bad Bob

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Spokane has a number of large acreage city and county 'nature' parks, and they are taking a beating. All city pools and splash areas are closed; it turned every swim-able beach along the river into a human zoo, they have to be a petri dish for COVID. There are some popular climbing cliffs withing view of a road, lots of painted graffiti on them now and the parking lots are jammed. The trail heads for mountain bike trails have a lot more vehicles there too.
With the reduced tax revenues it is going to be tougher for governments to get things back to grade again when this is over.

Outside of this discussion but it is even harder to get a tee time at the golf courses.
 

Wilhelmson

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Graffiti and trash are different where people are disrespectful. Otherwise just post clear concise logical rules which average people will understand and follow. Put up a bunch of no parking signs and silly rules and people will disregard them all in defiance.
 

Andy Mink

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Coming from a background as a Park Ranger, I can vouch for the growing disrespect in recreation areas. There is a growing "all about me" attitude. You can see it with dog owners who don't leash or pick up after their dogs. Mountain bikers who poach new trails. Same with hikers, OHVers, and others. Idiots who toss their still burning cigarettes out the car window. It really has gotten worse over the last couple of decades.

Several years ago there was a post on FB about a bridge in a state park in I believe Oregon. There was a family carving their initials into the railing. Not just the kids, but the parents too. I shared my thoughts and was surprised to find I was in the minority. Many people thought it was no big deal. It's just paint. The park rangers will fix it anyway. Boomer. I get furious when I see the disrespect I've seen at National Parks. Cutting switchbacks at Rainier. Walking in sensitive areas at Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone. Hiking off trail to boulder at Rocky Mountain. Litter everywhere. And when you call someone out on their misbehavior they get all offended. If you really want to see high end dirt baggery go to a Tahoe beach on July 5th. Even weekend use covers the beaches with trash. We have a gem like Tahoe and people can't comprehend how to use it.:nono:

Signs only help those who read and comprehend. Others just need a good old fashioned ass kicking. People don't respect themselves anymore. How can they be expected to respect anyone or anything else?
 

AmyPJ

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Coming from a background as a Park Ranger, I can vouch for the growing disrespect in recreation areas. There is a growing "all about me" attitude. You can see it with dog owners who don't leash or pick up after their dogs. Mountain bikers who poach new trails. Same with hikers, OHVers, and others. Idiots who toss their still burning cigarettes out the car window. It really has gotten worse over the last couple of decades.

Several years ago there was a post on FB about a bridge in a state park in I believe Oregon. There was a family carving their initials into the railing. Not just the kids, but the parents too. I shared my thoughts and was surprised to find I was in the minority. Many people thought it was no big deal. It's just paint. The park rangers will fix it anyway. Boomer. I get furious when I see the disrespect I've seen at National Parks. Cutting switchbacks at Rainier. Walking in sensitive areas at Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone. Hiking off trail to boulder at Rocky Mountain. Litter everywhere. And when you call someone out on their misbehavior they get all offended. If you really want to see high end dirt baggery go to a Tahoe beach on July 5th. Even weekend use covers the beaches with trash. We have a gem like Tahoe and people can't comprehend how to use it.:nono:

Signs only help those who read and comprehend. Others just need a good old fashioned ass kicking. People don't respect themselves anymore. How can they be expected to respect anyone or anything else?
Yup.
Heck, we have people cutting the trails at Snowbasin right now, pulling out rocks, etc. and it makes me pretty disgusted.
Trash and general nastiness are a huge problem at our local reservoir, Pineview, too.
I have to admit, I don't get it. I just DON'T get it. Do people treat their homes the same way? If so, I shudder to see how they live.

Speaking of human waste along trails, there are no potties at one of the more popular MTB/hiking trailheads at Powder Mountain. I had to pee, so I walked around some construction shipping containers and there were two piles of poo, BIG piles of poo with paper next to them, and I about threw up. PowMow definitely needs to put some potties in up there.
 

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