Posted on 09/11/2015 6:54:56 PM PDT by billorites
The professional athlete who completed the entire Appalachian Trail in record-setting time paid a $500 fine Wednesday for drinking alcohol atop Maines Mount Katahdin in July, an incident that prompted a broader debate about hikers behavior in Baxter State Park.
An attorney for Scott Jurek said his client agreed to pay the fine because he did pop open a bottle of champagne atop Maines highest peak in violation of Baxter State Parks no-alcohol policy after his 46-day run ended July 12. But as part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped charges of littering and hiking with an oversized group, two citations that Jurek has fought ever since park officials disclosed them in a stinging rebuke of Jurek posted on social media.
He did consume alcohol on Mount Katahdin and he accepts responsibility for that, Jureks attorney, Walter McKee, said by phone after a hearing Wednesday in Penobscot County District Court in Millinocket. He didnt litter and didnt hike with too large a group, so he was not going to accept those charges, McKee said.
The judge did not require the Colorado resident to attend the hearing on the civil offenses. But Jurek repeated his contention Wednesday afternoon that Baxter officials tried to use his accomplishment to call attention to larger concerns about AT hikers in the park. He called the littering and oversize group charges false accusations and, in turn, accused Baxter State Park Director Jensen Bissell of tarnishing his image and reputation.
Im deeply disappointed with how the whole thing was handled overall, Jurek said in an interview. This could have all been avoided if it had been handled in a professional manner but, instead, he used me to benefit himself and benefit the park.
PATH TO RAISE BROADER PROBLEMS
The charges against Jurek a professional athlete and author and the resulting backlash did bring national attention to tensions between Baxter State Park officials and the overseers of the Appalachian Trail. For the past several years, Baxter officials have expressed concerns about the strain on park resources posed by AT hikers especially the thru-hikers trekking the entire 2,185-mile trail who are entering the park to summit Mount Katahdin, the trails northern terminus.
Bissell has warned repeatedly that the Appalachian Trail may have to find a new northern terminus unless the parks concerns are addressed. Those concerns include thru-hikers drinking alcohol or smoking pot on the summit, camping in unauthorized areas, hiking in groups larger than 12, trying to bring dogs into the park and flouting other park rules. As a result, groups involved with the AT have met to discuss ways to address the issue.
In a Facebook post after Jurek completed his run, Bissell suggested that the athlete had brought a corporate-sponsored event to Maines wilderness park an accusation Jurek strongly disputed even as he raised the issue of increasing pressure on the park from AT thru-hikers. Bissell has maintained that, under the clear mandate left by the late Gov. Percival P. Baxter, the parks creator and namesake, park officials first responsibility is to protect Baxters natural resources. Providing recreational opportunities comes second.
These corporate events have no place in the park and are incongruous with the parks mission of resource protection, the appreciation of nature and the respect of the experience of others in the park, Bissell wrote in his post, which garnered more than 950 comments. We hope for the support of the AT and BSP communities to help us steer these events to more appropriate venues in the future.
PROTECTING HISTORIC RELATIONSHIP
Heightening the concerns raised by Bissell and other park managers along the AT, more people are expected to flock to the trail as a result of the release this month of the movie A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. The movie is an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name in which humorist author Bill Bryson chronicled his failed attempt to thru-hike the AT. The trail saw a spike in users after the book was published in 1998.
Although few people expect the trails northern terminus to be moved off of Mount Katahdin, the prospect has generated media coverage in Maine and nationally because of the ATs reputation among hikers globally and Katahdins historic relationship with the trail. Although Percival Baxter never mentioned the AT in the detailed deeds of trust he left to guide the park, one of the men responsible for stitching together the trail between Georgia and Maine, Lubec native Myron Avery, was determined to end the trail atop Katahdin.
Representatives of the various groups involved with the AT including the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the National Park Service, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and Millinocket-area business owners met in July and are expected to meet again this fall to discuss ways to address the issues identified by Baxter officials. The organizations also have launched a public outreach campaign to improve education of AT hikers about respectful behavior all along the trail.
TEMPERED END TO ACCOMPLISHMENT
As part of the upcoming movie release, Redford filmed a public service announcement urging AT users to respect and protect the trail and all of our national parks by learning and employing leave no trace policies to minimize impacts.
Bissell said the talks are continuing.
We are satisfied with the outcome of the Jurek summons, Bissell wrote in an email Wednesday afternoon. We will continue to work with the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) and the NPS (National Park Service) to address concerns about the growing impacts of AT hikers in the Baxter State Park.
For his part, Jurek said he was unaware of the champagne until it was handed to him at the summit, and that the acquaintance who brought it was told beforehand by park rangers to simply keep it away from children and families. Photos of the mountaintop celebration show Jurek holding the opened bottle up in the air near the iconic Katahdin sign, with others watching as champagne sprays into the air.
As Ive read more about Percival Baxter
I think he would have been pleased with my AT adventure and summit up Katahdin, and I think he would have even congratulated me on my accomplishment, Jurek said.
Rules are for other people.
Wait ‘till the Muzzies impose Sharia on the AT.
Besides we already have way too many laws in an impossible (Catch22) situation where even the low information legal citizen is held to an illogical standard of having to be conversant in ALL of the rulz, at his peril. Even Cruz couldn't stay clear of violations. Daily.
They are there in Constitutional penumbras that I could readily construct.
wait til Obie from Nairobi renames it the Mohammad Trail
and people wonder why folks are losing respect for the law.....sheesh.
(and not the SUV)
Why not just move the northern terminus to Baxter State Park’s park ranger office? Have a guest book there for all hikers to sign, have a side room where you can celebrate with some champagne (brewed and sold only at that state park), have staff on hand to take photos and present a certificate of completion, and things like that.
Silly mountain; folks had to build a 13’ cairn on top to even make Katadin a mile high.
A mere foothill here in the “mountain west”.
Stereotypes are usually based on fact.
It appears that Maine has its own alternative to gravitation...
It’s not Maine that sucks; it’s a bunch of liberal nanny-staters that made a big deal out of this non-event that suck.
He should’a brought a 40 of that Okie 3:2 Beer ...... can’t be accused of getting drunk on that crap..... :o)
BTTT...
Not long ago, I Bill Bryson's One Summer: America in 1927 (New York: Doubleday, 2013), a very poorly-written book that looks at history with a one-sided left-liberal bias. I hope the book on which the movie is based is better.
I’ll stand with the runner, Scott. Silly law, fine paid, end of story.
“A mere foothill here in the mountain west.”
Ah, you start counting at a mile high. Cheaters.
yes but eastern mountains start much nearer sea level
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.