Profdant, it is not unquestioned at all, because there is nothing new here.
Before 'legal' trash dumps existed, people dumped in unofficial ones. Some people never stopped. Many rural areas are still too far from official dumps, amd people have unofficial ones. Old dumps are treasure piles for archeologists (google 'midden').
I'm not saying this is a good thing. I am saying that the article is not reporting news. It is an attempt to drum up exactly the emotional reaction ('Something must be done now! We have to get rid of these people or they will destroy our treasured way of life!) that you had.
I am saying this to you because I trust in you and your profession, your training. I know that you can look critically at this article even if it caught you off guard.
PS: We're not going to lose boondocking. The decision makers at the FS and BLM are people who have boondocked all their lives. They value boondocking, even if they don't call it that.
