Posted on 02/05/2008 6:04:26 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
BS. Their own policies are to blame. They've made it increasingly hard to get into nature. Everythings fee'd, no dogs allowed, and I've even had park rangers give me grief about having children in camp sites and on trails. Like one toddler who stepped off the trail is going to cause real erosion damage.
I had a friend who was hiking in a national park, and her toddler had to go ! It was at least a mile back to the nearest toliet, so she let him go beside the trail. Unfortunately, a ranger came along, and became incensed, threatening them with a $100.00 ticket and federal prosecution. They won't be visiting a national park soon, I can tell you.
The message is pretty clear that people are not welcome in these places, so people don't go.
In fact, park police are so understaffed there’s another story out today saying they can’t adequately protect icons like the Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc.
High entrance fees, poorly maintained campsites and trails, overabundance of rangers writing tickets for small infractions.
That’s always been a problem for me. I’ll be coming into a large land inheritance in the future.
Now...I’d like to sell that land and reap the profits; and I will sell to the highest bidder, be it a nature group or (more likely) a developer. Groups like The Nature Conservancy, 1000 Friends of WI, et al will be doing their hardest to keep me from selling it at all, or selling it to them at less than market value.
But it will be MY land. Shouldn’t I have a CHOICE? What business do they have interfering with my RIGHT to make a profit? Ever heard of Eminent Domain? Hundreds of people have had profitable land underhandedly seized from them through the works of these groups...and just like you said...working behind the scenes with local GOVERNMENT.
You can trace every “for the good of the environment” action that local GOVERNMENT takes back to the influence of these types. Read up on your local DNR. Why is it that someone that owns lakefront property isn’t allowed to put in a pier for their boat? Well, EnviroWackos don’t want you actually USING the lakeshore that you OWN...so they work with the DNR to pressure them into denying you access to your own property!
Two sides to this coin. You’re on one and I’m on the other. :)
Sure I have been many times and enjoyed it immensely. I have a friend who still own property on the island although he will be losing it soon to the NPS.
The only thing about Cumberland is the campsites are crowded and the vermin are voracious. They have the smartest and boldest raccoons I have ever seen.
The backcountry sites, if you are so inclined, are less scenic, but very secluded and peaceful. Watch out for the wild horses and pigs in the spring. They get pretty territorial.
I will back you up there if volume comparisions are the same. And I have to say that in my experience, the horse packers are major slobs.
yep.
I visited Watkins Glen one year and took a trip up the gorge.
Garbage everywhere.
Luckily, when I got to the top there was a store that sold garbage bags.
I passed out bags to everyone that wanted one and on the trip back down we all picked up the trash.
Matter of fact, I gave some bags to some of the people going up and they picked up the trash too.
Met a lot of interesting people that day.
We totally filled the bins at the bottom when we were done.
Needless to say, the gorge looked a lot better when we left, then when we got there.
I like to go by the rule of pack out MORE than you pack in.
Well we definitely ‘packed it out’ that day!
:0)
....boldest raccoons ....
I have been many times. I love to camp at Brickhill Bluff and then explore the north end in detail. The racoons were pretty bold there.
I have camped several times at Hickory Hill too. It is nice and grassy and open.
I have climbed Mt Cumberland Island..... 33 feet high as I recall.
LOL Close all the roads, ban hiking, biking, whatever, and then complain because no one visits the parks? BWAHAHA
We went to a state park this summer—absolutely loved it—and there were all of 20-30 (or less) parking spaces! Granted, this was Joyce Kilmer National Forest, on the side of a mountain, but still. Most of the parks we visit have a lot of parking and it’s always full.
Make up your minds already! This is like the city of Berkley and our Marines!
” What business do they have interfering with my RIGHT to make a profit? Ever heard of Eminent Domain? Hundreds of people have had profitable land underhandedly seized from them through the works of these groups...and just like you said...working behind the scenes with local GOVERNMENT.”
If you have land that the NC considers environmentally important, then I’m sure they’ll pitch you about conserving it. You can refuse to talk to them. That’s your right. Or you can listen and if you don’t like the deal, walk away. How is that interfering with your right to make a profit?
Do you have an example of NC colluding to seize land through eminent domain? If so, please show me, otherwise I have to assume you’re just making it up. I know for a fact the every single piece of land in my area owned or preserved by the NC was negotiated in private with the landowner. Same with a local land trust group. No government involved and no eminent domain.
I wouldn’t blame the environmentalists. I’m an assistant Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts. We take kids out camping all the time. There are plenty of places that we can go - that’s not the problem. The problem is that we aren’t video games or TV or mp3 players and that when you go out on a trip with us, you actually have to do something to take care of your own comfort. Once the kids figure out that there’s no personal electronics to occupy their attention, that they have to make their own fun (not to mention their own food, etc.), we start to lose them. And the parents don’t encourage their kids to stick it out for a while; they’d rather go the path of least resistance and let their kid spend the weekend with a game controller in their hand than get outdoors and do something that’s good for them. After all, what’s more important; being your kid’s friend, or being their parent? Let’s just say that there are a lot of parents whose answer for that is different than mine.
Kudos to you for banning electronic devices from your campouts — did the same in the troop I had as a Scoutmaster. While you may lose some boys with weak-willed parents, the ones you keep will benefit beyond your imagination. I am sure you are probably doing it already but it is important to be clear about the rules with the parents when they are considering your troop because it makes it more likely you will get their support.
BTW, try to make a Philmont trip, if at all possible. It is a total experience that cannot easily be duplicated on your own. My son went three times and once to Boundary Waters. I got to accompany him to Philmont the first time and would love to go back.
Hate trash and trashy people. I refuse to let my kids throw things in the water or the woods. Had one of my daughter’s friends with us one time coming back from town. She rolled her window down and started to pitch something out.
I caught her, called her on it, and she just looked at me, attempted again to throw her trash out the window. My kids were all holding their breath. I said, “Do it and I will stop this car right here in front of God and everybody and you WILL go back and pick it up.”
Her response? She looked at my kids, who were all about to die laughing, met my eyes in the rearview, and rolled her window back up.
Thanks for cleaning up! People look at you weird when you do, but oh well...
Folks, in my opinion your criticisms are misplaced. Those areas that are being kept roadless are not areas where young kids would be going on camping trips anyway. That’s not the problem.
I’ve been a Cub Scout or Boy Scout leader for 15 years. There are plenty of state parks, etc., that there’s good access to and that the kids can have a good time in. We go camping every month and we have no problems in finding places to go. The problem is that the parents don’t want to take the effort to tear their kid away from his game controller, TV and iPods and get them outdoors, especially if it means that they’ll have to take the time to do it with them.
I can really get off a rant on this; the parents who PROUDLY state “To me, roughing it means room service”, who see deadly risk in every single aspect of going outdoors, who think that somehow their kid is different than every other kid Scouting has been able somehow to deal with for the last 98 years and “he can’t do that”, who have waited hand and foot on their kids for their whole lives and thus can’t adjust to cooking their own food and (horror!) cleaning up their own dishes, etc., etc.
Sorry, folks. I know the mindset on this blog. But this can’t be laid at the feet of the environmentalists. It’s the parents. I’ve been working with (and against!) it for 15 years.
Maybe if they stopped demanding a license for every darn thing you do, more people would engage in outdoor activities. The government takes the fun and spontaneity out of everything.
See my post 37.
Less people visiting....GOOD....more room for us!
I’m quite clear about the rules with the parents. Many of them are quite devious with me in return, however. I explain very carefully that no cell phones are allowed. At which point I get asked, “But how will he call home?” I explain very carefully that he won’t call home, that he doesn’t need to call home, that if something happens I’ll call them. The usual response is to look at me as if I had just told them I was from Mars. They clearly figure that their kid will have a psychological breakdown if he can’t call home. It seems to me that if an 11-year old kid has to call Mom to make it through the night there’s something wrong. Yes, kids get homesick. No, it won’t kill them. But the apparent thinking is that getting homesick will cause the kid permanent damage. So as a result, after carefully explaining to the parents that no cell phones are allowed on campouts, about 1/4 of them will have them anyway. At least. And then I take them away, give them back to Mom after the campout and tell them to make sure he doesn’t bring it again. At which point Mom looks at me like I’m crazy again, and the odds are 50:50 that kid will never go on another campout.
This last year at summer camp I had one kid, 15 years old, who came with his father. The kid did not have a cell phone. Dad did - he’s an adult. Mom proceeded to call 2x a day to make sure that the kid was going to merit badge classes and - I don’t know, was wearing his rubbers. Apparently Dad can’t be trusted to keep him on track. The kid ended up going home in mid-week.
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