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If you go to a place like Desolation Wilderness, one of the reasons they can keep it feeling like wilderness is by enforcing fairly strict rules on visitors. In
by lacker 7y ago
If you go to a place like Desolation Wilderness, one of the reasons they can keep it feeling like wilderness is by enforcing fairly strict rules on visitors. In particular, the rules around where you can hike, where you can camp, where you can start a fire, and what sorts of activities you can do there.
In areas where the government doesn't enforce so many rules, there will be recreational vehicles, hunting, logging, all sorts of other disruptive activities.
So ironically, the only places that can still feel like wilderness are the places where the government takes some action to keep it that way.
- justinator 7y agoIs it ironic thought? Many of those disruptive activities you list aren't allowed in places legally designated as, (Capital "W") Wilderness. https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/key-laws/wilderness-act/default.php https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/key-laws/wilde...
- mikelyons 7y agoBut notice that it takes government enforcement to protect Wilderness, otherwise devils will do as they will.
- lacker 7y agoIt just seemed ironic to me because I once naively thought that the wilderness was an area where nobody did anything, and the government didn't enforce any rules. Then I got some handout with a big list of forbidden activities and realized, the government puts a lot of rules on the wilderness. There seem to be far fewer rules on the national forests. As a result it feels less wild because there are more people there doing non-wild things like riding ATVs.
- justinator 7y agoThere's a finite amount of land in say, the USA. The way the public land managed is not so wishy-washy for sure. Perhaps it's easier to understand when you live (like me) in a State where 1/3 of the land is Public - you start getting very familiar with all the different designations and what they all mean. It's a little archaic.
- a0-prw 7y agoThere's a finite amount of land on earth, so, yeah.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mikelyons 7y agoPeople who advocate for small government often fail to realize many purposes of government such as this. Another purpose is literally to protect us from enslavement by our fellow countrymen/countrywomen/countrypersons.
- fingerlocks 7y agoDo they? There is a tremendous amount of conservation effort from many privately funded, non-profit organizations. One could make a convincing argument that The Nature Conservancy, WWF, Sierra Club, et. al. do more work protecting our wildlife and wilderness areas than the government's neglected BLM land. Perhaps small government advocates prefer philanthropy over authority?
- mikelyons 7y agoWho is wielding more power? The petroleum industry, or the orgs you mention...? Government needs to be at least as big as the corporations it seeks to regulate, or things get squirrely. This is obviated by problems like campaign finance, Trump, fossil fuel subsidies, etc.
- kbutler 7y ago> Government needs to be at least as big as the corporations it seeks to regulate Why? Does the board need to be as large as the company? Seems like this would eventually lead to (or read as), "The government needs to be at least as big as the sum of the corporations it seeks to regulate".
- AnthonBerg 7y agoThe board wields the size of the company.
- mirimir 7y agoThe petroleum industry, even the largest individual corporations, wields more power than any NGO. I agree that things get squirrelly when corporations (or NGOs, even) wield more power than governments. That's most obviously an issue when large global corporations mess with small countries. Or small states in the US, for that matter. While it's also an issue even in the US overall, one hopes that antitrust enforcement would kick in before total domination.
- shkkmo 7y ago> So ironically, the only places that can still feel like wilderness are the places where the government takes some action to keep it that way. This is really only true of places that are easily accessible. The are plenty of places that would feel like "wilderness" that have far fewer restriction and little to no enforcement.
- vwcx 7y agoAgreed. Regulations like keeping fires/campsites at least 100 feet from roads are important. A casual glance at rules like this feel overbearing, but without them, the whole feeling of the park would shift.