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."
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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