Good morning!
I wanted to relay a story from this past weekend that I thought we may all relate to and see what you all think...We all wear many different hats - employee, supervisor, parent, spouse, recreationist - and it's alway interesting to see how and when these different parts of our life intertwine.
Last weekend, I went camping at Lost Lake, just outside of the Indian Peaks Wilderness in Colorado. Lost Lake is a very popular hiking and camping spot, only 1.5 miles in from a trailhead that is frequented by people from Denver and Boulder.
There are designated campsites around the lake, but you do not need a permit to camp there; though you do for the surrounding Wilderness area. Our intention was to camp at the lake, but, knowing it was first come -first served, we got a permit anyway, in case we had to hike further up the trail.
Wanting to get an early start, we set off in the morning and were at the lake in plenty of time to have our pick of a few different sites. Good thing we did! As the morning turned into the afternoon, the lake quickly became populated with other hikers and backpackers. Even though the sites filled up, that did not stop the influx of people wanting to camp. The lake contains 9 designated campsites, in my estimation there were 10-12 groups there, a couple that were right next to the water and the trail. In addition, I counted 3 addition fire rings in the woods behind our site, places where others had camped in the past.
Overuse of the resource is clearly an issue at this spot, as there were signs posted everywhere for areas the were being revegetated, a couple of them right along a social trail out to a cool rock outcropping.
This situation reminded me of the Authority of the Resource Technique (ART), which emphasizes the use of "education" instead of "regulation" and using the "voice" of the natural resource (not the authority figure) to promote conservation.
This weekend I was just a person enjoying the outdoors, not necessarily a spokesperson for the Center for Outdoor Ethics. What would you have done in this situation? Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to say something, but didn't? Or maybe you said something...what the outcome positive or negative? What did you learn?
Thanks for your thoughts! Email me if you want a copy of that article.
Sarah
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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3 comments:
@cooperhill : I sometimes come across hikers in the alpine areas of the White Mountains and try to educate them on not trampling the fragile resource (doing the rock walk). It's hard for me as my first instinct is to chastise them but I try and keep it upbeat and very informal as I have no authority. A lot of time people just don't know about LNT or "doing the rock walk". Sometimes it works sometimes I just get weird looks.
During the off season or low activity times dismantle inappropriate fire rings and attempt to naturalize areas. I advise people that I teach that they are not the "Leave No Trace police". We can only teach by example in these cases. (Just the other day) I had a person ask me what I would do if a trail was too muddy to use. My answer was, "go home". I explained that, to me, it was a fundamental part of the Leave No Trace ethic.
Hey all!
Thanks for your thoughts-some very good points and ideas! I wanted to comment on the fire rings. As far as dismantling them, while the intention is good, it's often best to inform the land management agency and allow them to decide how to resolve the issue. Many times they may have field folks inventorying and dismantling the rings themselves, so, make note of where they are and let the local agency know.
Happy 4th!
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