16 replies to this topic

[ski3pin]

The huge increase in outdoor recreation that we all saw last season had impacts all across our local Sierra Nevada. Mono County to the south of us is trying for a united response -

 

Update on Dispersed Camping Summit Plans in Mono County

[LuckyDan]

It will be interesting to see how successful they are at pulling it all together in the end and how well they achieve their desired outcomes. I wish for them success in the endeavor and an enjoyable experience for the end user.

Thanks for sharing.

Edited by LuckyDan, 19 May 2021 - 07:27 PM.

[craig333]

With restrictions being lifted hopefully some of those who tried camping can go back to their usual modes of travel. 

[OutToLunch]

Around Flagstaff, the city, the county and the Forest Service have coordinated efforts to close certain areas to camping.  It was done partly to reduce fire danger.  About ten years ago, some campers up on the San Francisco Peaks failed to properly put out their fire and we lost the forest on a third of the mountain.  Housing to the east of the city got hit by mud floods after the fire.   The closure was also done because some popular areas were being trashed and denuded of vegetation. Forest Service was hauling a lot of trash out of the forests.   Now, Campers have been pushed farther out away from the city.  The program is in the second year and some of the areas are recovering quite nicely.

 

Wish I could say that education works but there are too many yahoos out there, too many people who do not understand that freedom needs responsibility to work.

 

Just an aside.  We’re going to Iceland later this year and have rented a camper van.  About four years ago, Iceland ended boondocking because of the abuse.

[billharr]

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo

 

I hope the education works. Most of us have enjoyed the backcountry and boondocking for years. I hope we all leave the areas we visit cleaner than we arrived. But just the number of people can be a problem. Last time I was at Alabama Hills there were hundreds of campers, many with bad habits. But the Covid may have changed things forever. People who were used to paying $50+ for full hookups at a campground have tried BLM campgrounds and liked them just fine. Next they may try a true four wheel camper and go to the areas we like so much. There is a reason there is almost a year wait to by a FWC. Just did a couple of nights on the North Coast and mid week no shortage of campers. State campgrounds that took reservations were all full. We stayed at Burlington campground and must have been 15 sites with reserved tags and no one in them. The CA state system it making the situation worse. People  don't cancel their reservation if they can't go, every little if any refund. And the price $35 to park at Westport Union campground, high for what you get. Drove by several areas where people just parked for the night and save $35. I am sure there sites will be marked not overnight parking soon. 

 

I am old and have seen several changes to back country camping. Both not good depending on your viewpoint. 55 years ago camped a lot in the Spicer Reservoir area. Once it as an accomplishment to to get there. New road and you can now drive your Class A to Spicers, not much backcountry camping now. Same at Utica/Union just too many people. Another area I have camped at is Elephant Lake now part of Carson Iceberg Wilderness, not gonna take a jeep there anymore. No easy answers just my opinion. 

 

I did see one of the best sunsets at Westport/Union.

 

[ski3pin]

In regards to education, I am a pessimist. I see no way that will work without aggressive enforcement - and that takes LEO's, prosecutors, and federal magistrates making it a priority. Caring for our public lands requires a lot of responsibility on all our parts. Maybe somewhere, sometime the balance will tip from users only to users who are also stewards. Again, I'm a pessimist. With the skyrocketing YouTube culture, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I hope I'm wrong.

[billharr]

In regards to education, I am a pessimist. I see no way that will work without aggressive enforcement - and that takes LEO's, prosecutors, and federal magistrates making it a priority. Caring for our public lands requires a lot of responsibility on all our parts. Maybe somewhere, sometime the balance will tip from users to stewards. Again, I'm a pessimist. With the skyrocketing YouTube culture, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I hope I'm wrong.

 

Not disagreeing on being a pessimist. But I feel that being a user and being a steward does not have to be mutually exclusive. I hope we can be both. 

[ski3pin]

Not disagreeing on being a pessimist. But I feel that being a user and being a steward does not have to be mutually exclusive. I hope we can be both. 

I agree Bill and have corrected my initial post to -  "users only to users who are also stewards"

 

Thanks for helping with my clarity.

 

[wicked1]

While I am a very responsible person.  And environmentalist.  I LOVE the woods, and don't want to see them damaged.  We have to be realistic.   At least when speaking about the national forests. 

Look at what they let industry get away with on forest lands!!  The campers are doing nothing in comparison.
Drive through and see well site after well site, leaking toxic fumes, making constant noise where it should be silent.  Then drive a bit further and see an clear cut area w/ a completely trashed abandoned logging camp, full of all their trash and left over bits of metal and other crud spread across the previous forest floor.  

Forests are apparently there to be used and abused.   If the industry gets a free pass for MASS DAMAGE.  then lets let the campers have a little fun.

I am literally driven to tears many time I go out because of the vast industrial damage to the forests.    I don't see why camping damage is even on their radar in comparison.. Other than the industrial damage comes w/ a pay check......
Heck, any of us can just go out and file a paper to start a mining claim and start raping the land, pretty much anywhere we want in the forest.  I've run into people doing so.. Living in a  little shack w/ a hole in the ground.  Clear cutting all the trees around.  Claiming the public land I'm on is THEIR land and I'm somehow trespassing. 

 

And a little advice about finding camp sites for the experienced here..  Use a camping app, just like all the beginners.  And if your camp site is on there..  abandon it.  Find one that isn't.  They're still out there, just a bit further down the road, and they're still clean. 

And then, DO NOT SHARE THE SITE.  STRIP ALL YOUR PHOTOS OF GEOLOCATION DATA.  Keep them secret!

Edited by wicked1, 22 May 2021 - 03:05 PM.

[AWG_Pics]

Unrelenting human population growth and better roads and vehicles plus unquenchable hunger for natural resources to feed our modern society = more stress on the land. It won't let up for the foreseeable future. Several of you know how to find out of-the-way, under-used sites, as do we. So I suggest we go out and enjoy what we can in as nondestructive manner as possible.

 

After a career spent trying to repair the damage done by humans to the environment, I do not see an optimistic path forward in the near and mid term. I can't tell you how many times I felt like the little dutch boy trying to hold back the rising tide by plugging a hole in the dike with my finger. But in the long term we will fade, wither and disappear. The earth and the environment will carry on -- humans are a passing illness, like a fever, whose ill effects will be lost to time eventually.