profdant139 wrote:
Adambeck, I am torn! The slogan for the national forests is "Land of Many Uses." That means I get to tow my trailer over forest roads and boondock in non-campground areas. So I ought to be in favor of unfettered mechanized use, right?
But when I am hiking, and an ATV roars past me on a non-ATV trail, I get annoyed. And when people boondock on previously-unused patches of forest, I get annoyed -- the public lands are being over-used and degraded. And I am (ouch!) part of the problem, no matter how carefully we park the trailer.
The goal of the forest service, especially, is to balance these conflicting uses, an impossible task. Assuming that the new administration tilts in favor of increased use and away from preservation, we who use the forests will have to participate somehow in the decision-making process concerning the new rules.
I don't want boondocking to be eliminated (and there is no risk of that, I think.) . But I would like to see enforcement of the rules that (for example) limit vehicle use to specifically-identified roads. There are parts of the Sierras that have been worn threadbare by folks cutting across the landscape, creating new "roads" where none used to exist. (This is a real problem, for example, in the Big Meadows area of the Sequoia National Forest and in parts of the El Dorado and Stanislaus forests.) If, however, the enforcement budgets are cut, then the rules become advisory, at best.
I would argue the amount of disruption caused by driving down an established FS road and camping near that in an established spot vs ripping around on a dirt bike/atv (usually with little to no muffler) through the wilderness are VERY different. So no I'm not for "unfettered" mechanized access.
I agree that it'd help greatly if current regs are more tightly enforced. I would like to see bigger fines for littering and vandalism in national forests. Maybe a $2000 fine and a one year ban from NFS and NPS. Happens again and you're banned for life. Maybe this would help keep the enforcement budget. There is absolutely no excuse to go to the one place reserved for keeping natural and pristine then trash it.
