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Alabama Hills BLM meeting (online)


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#1 billharr

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Posted 08 April 2022 - 02:30 PM

I will sign on and listen to what is said. Sad to see so large an area for dispersed camping being closed. But as Pogo said "We have met the enemy and he is us".  Any time a government agency says they are making "exciting changes" it is not a good thing IMO.

 

Link for BLM information.

 

Map of area closed. 

 

From BLM Facebook page:

 

Join us for the second Hills Happenings Event!
The BLM and its partners have begun making exciting changes to camping in the Alabama Hills as described in the 2021 Alabama Hills Management Plan. At this Hills Happening virtual event, you’ll hear a short presentation on what’s happening and then have the opportunity to ask questions. We’ll also share ways you can help preserve this phenomenal landscape!
Click on this link to register: https://bit.ly/3wsaU8B
Please contact jking@kearnswest.com with any questions about registration.
For more about the Alabama Hills, visit: https://www.blm.gov/...t/alabama-hills

 


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#2 ski3pin

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Posted 08 April 2022 - 03:43 PM

Please keep us posted, Bill. With all the damage that was/is being done by the hordes showing up at the Alabama Hills, something desperately needed to be done. I was/am getting really tired of stepping in human waste, seemingly around every corner. The few portipotties they are setting up is a poor solution. The Alabama Hills is one place WAG bags needs to be required and enforced.


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#3 teledork

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Posted 10 April 2022 - 08:38 PM

I have not been to the Alabama Hills for eight years - doubt I'll ever go back.  Even back then it had long since been the most horrifyingly trashed place I had ever attempted to camp. Ski mentions poop, I got sick of crunching glass beneath my shoes with just about every step.  And the Tuttle Creek campground - so many generators running I could not hear the creek when I was right next to it. 

 

 I'm with you, Bill - when they feel the need to say the "changes" are "exciting" my BS monitor begins to shriek but I know something needed to be done because too many people are (insert adjective(s) of choice here) But thank you for the notification. I tried to register but something failed so I'll try again. 


Edited by teledork, 10 April 2022 - 08:43 PM.

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#4 dennis 221

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Posted 11 April 2022 - 02:08 AM

Yep to bad I enjoy the rocks.but it was a pig pit out there.sad sad sad
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#5 billharr

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Posted 15 April 2022 - 06:26 PM

Quick summary, Not much of a meeting IMO.

 

  • Everything west of Movie Road is day use only, no camping. 
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  • Camping only in marked areas.
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  • No more than 50 marked campsites. Number of sites will be reduced if BLM can not manage. 
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  • Sounds like pit toilets will be added later. 
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  • Permits will be required next fall. 
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  • Permit will be like a fire permit. Go online read and take a test. Permits will not be site or date specific, just like a fire permit. 

 

The BLM is setting up a problem with only 50 sites in 18,600 acres. Nearby Tuttle Creek Campground is very small and has 83 sites. The permit is problematic to say the least. Who is going to check and what if you do not have one? I see more restrictions coming in the future. Guess there is just too many of us. I see one large paid/reservable campground in the future, surrounded by day use area. 

 

 

On a positive note. I scored two nights in the valley at Yosemite for May. They released the campsites held for high water this morning. 


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#6 Lighthawk

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Posted 15 April 2022 - 11:26 PM

Thanks for the summary, Bill.


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#7 ski3pin

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Posted 16 April 2022 - 01:04 AM

Thanks for the summary, Bill.

Yes, thanks Bill.


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#8 teledork

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Posted 16 April 2022 - 06:45 PM

When I was at San Jose State they sold an unlimited number of parking permits. It was commonly referred to a a hunting permit.  I rode a bike. 

 

I don't see this going well at all. If they don't want to set up some kind of station to issue permits and keep count it seems pretty clear that they will not be committing staff to this plan. 

 

I think about the time and resources Mono County has put into  attempting to manage the dispersed camping crowd after the disaster of 2020. We now have shiny brochures about how to "camp like a pro" and my favorite "poo like a pro" *** and a further commitment to more "studies" on how to "educate" visitors. My suggestions included taking advertising funds to put more enforcement out there and requiring something like a campfire permit for dispersed camping. I asked the powers that be if they really believed someone who will trash a place will take the time to stop at the visitor center to pick up a shiny brochure telling them how to poo. At best I was ignored. I was also labeled a cynic. Yeah - and your point is?  

 

***actually my favorite was the campaign out of Mammoth Lakes Tourism which included a jingle called "Don't Be A Bleephole" but it was disappeared two days after it went live and the public outrage was authentic comedy


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#9 AWG_Pics

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Posted 17 April 2022 - 12:01 AM

I was also labeled a cynic. Yeah - and your point is?  

 

 

Personally, I am a easily amused pessimistic skeptic.


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#10 teledork

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Posted 11 May 2022 - 03:43 PM

Personally, I am a easily amused pessimistic skeptic.

I think that is a much better description of my attitude as well. And I was amused especially because I was accused of cynical non-participation after writing up and sending off my ideas and participating in zoom meetings while they refused to consider what I (and a couple of other people including a former county supervisor) had to offer. 

 

The fact is that any place that spends millions of dollars on advertising to bring in more and more tourists and outsources the problems like garbage and excrement and unbearable crowds to the tax paying locals (and the decent visitors) is committing suicide. Are tourists going to return to a trashed location to fight with people for a parking spot?

 

And I am hearing more and more mumbling from residents about leaving Mono County because we are tired of picking up after the guests of the business sector and tired of having to curtail our own outdoor activities because there there are too many disrespectful people (and not all of them are visitors!) and real tired of a local government which values tourists over residents for the benefit of private businesses. Fortunately I go places that are not nearly as popular but the clean - up I had to perform a couple of weeks ago was so gross I am not sure I want to tell the story. 

 

I have been admonished that tourists pay for the county services I use but I have also scoured the budget for a breakdown of property tax vs tourist dollars and they fail to categorize funds in a manner which would be enlightening and have yet to find a county official who is even the slightest bit interested in answering my question. 

 

I'd be gone from here if I could find another home that would feed my soul the way this place does. I can understand that others also need that food but I think there are far too many people who  have no soul. 


Edited by teledork, 11 May 2022 - 03:54 PM.

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