Locked Gates Ahead

Dave

Dave

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As the Overland enthusiast ranks have grown over the last decade, the number of facepalm worthy incidents on public lands, and on social media, is at an all time high.
In recent years, Death Valley in particular has seen a rash of theft and vandalism. Evidently, some people think it’s cool to drive illegally on the salt pan at Badwater Basin and the Racetrack Playa, or to steal fossilized footprints left by prehistoric animals as well as Native American artifacts. Some have even taken to tagging graffiti on rocks. Real cool bro. Real cool.
I’ve led several groups throughout the furthest reaches of Death Valley, and it boggles the mind that anyone would defile such a magical place.
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The latest insult came in late October 2017 when unknown vandals scratched graffiti into the mud bottom of Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley National Park, an area considered sacred to the native Timbisha Shoshone people. And if...
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Well Said Dave.

We, as a community, are the only ones that can truly effect change in the behavior of other members of our "community of interest" as you call it (I like that term). No governmental authority is going to be able to do it, and truthfully I would hate to see platoons of Trail Police deployed into the back country. The most cost effective thing, when an area is abused will be to close it to all access. It is up to us to establish the bounds of acceptable behavior and to define and educate others about what is unacceptable or Taboo. It is going to take all of use saying loudly, clearly, and often what is acceptable behavior. Sure we have to say it to our buddies on the trail, but we also need to say it to the IG warriors whenever we see those posts. We need to make sure that others see them as the asshats that they are, and not something to emulate.
 
There is a coarseness in our society that reaches for outrage, for attention, for celebrity. I think we should give it to them. Whenever we see an example of this disgusting behavior get the facts, cooperate with law enforcement to see these people punished. Those of you on social media insist that those platforms understand that they are complicent in damaging these places by allowing the posts. There are a lot of people who hate this country and the folks who love it. They advertise themselves with decals, stickers, attitude. If they are your friends or children of your friends, coworkers, neighbors, call them out. Nonviolent confrontation educates and can work. Most of these types have been enabled and coddled all their life. Perhaps now is the time to see they are shut down by shining the light on them.
 
Beautiful land with scenic road in the Carolinas... behind locked gates. Grab a NC gazateer and try to follow it through national forest and you will find yourself doing lots of 5 point turns. Responsible use and publicizing service is more important than ever.
 
Bravo and well said @Dave!

And it is good to remember that Tread Lightly principles can be applied to any outdoor activity from hiking and paddling to hunting and spelunking.

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For cripes sakes I remember exploring far back into a beautiful cave system in WV only to find that some rat bastards had slupped in cans of spray paint to tag a cathedral room. God, I wish we would have caught them in the act..
 
Excellent read and well said Dave. We are all on the same page and quite sick of where the industry (and society) is heading and the example it is portraying to the newcomers. Honestly though, I find it more along the lines that the people defacing nature are ones who simply don't care. They know better, but to them, it's just to get their name all over instabook and get 'likes.' These neglectful folk are willing to put everything at risk for their own selfishness. Such a sad trending of events which, that I am sad to say, is probably going to get worse...
 
Well said Dave. Honestly I hate how the overlanding niche has exploded, how every Joe, Jack and Jane have to advertise themselves on the vehicles. How now overlanding is vehicle dependant travel, not how you do it. I belong to one group that I initially supported but now abhor as it’s bringing far too many people into the “overland” lifestyle and adding acceptance of reckless wheeling or mudding as an overlanding pursuit. The entire thing just saddens me immensely.
 
I’ve had several folks reach out to me on the back channel regarding this article. A common complaint by many is that leadership in certain groups actually looks the other way on things like vandalism, trail blazing, and drinking or smoking marijuana on the trail.

Clearly, there seem to be more and more of these incidents now that social media blasts it around the world in 30 seconds. They’re having similar issues in Australia as well.

My expectation is that our membership here sets the example for all other groups and individuals. We’re certainly on that path.
 
Bravo, Dave, bravo.

Your article perfectly articulates my own fears about our favorite wilderness areas in danger of being "Loved to Death". We can make all the noise we like about "the land belongs to the people", but the fact is that if the public using the land can't do so as good stewards, those lands will be closed to us. At best, they'll be taken away as a toy from a destructive child - until we're grown enough to treat our things better. More likely, though, we may lose general access altogether - with land use parceled out on an increasingly stringent basis.

None of us want that. We owe it to ourselves, and our children, and their children, to act to protect our lands. This means calling out bad actors, and having no tolerance within our community for same. This does not only mean helping to identify vandals. It also means not saying things like "lighten up, it's no big deal" when one of our community tries to educate another user who may have (through ignorance, rather than malice), erred and caused damage. It means taking every opportunity to encourage stewardship and care in the use and enjoyment of public lands.
 
Well said.
Our public lands are under attack and those who would wish to take them from us don't need any more reasons to do so. We all are stewards and need to do everything in our powers to protect them for future generations.
 
Dave said:
I’ve had several folks reach out to me on the back channel regarding this article. A common complaint by many is that leadership in certain groups actually looks the other way on things like vandalism, trail blazing, and drinking or smoking marijuana on the trail.

Clearly, there seem to be more and more of these incidents now that social media blasts it around the world in 30 seconds. They’re having similar issues in Australia as well.

My expectation is that our membership here sets the example for all other groups and individuals. We’re certainly on that path.
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Just one of the ways this group differentiates itself.
 
An excellent read. I have shared it with a community of interest down here in Texas. A few individuals have made it clear that they don't care about the fallout from their actions but the leadership has taken a stand.
 
The big question is how do you balance responsible 4 wheeling with sustainable activity. In Vermont, Vermont Overland does a Camel Trophy event and a rally. In both cases they are using unmaintained vermont roads and ripping up the ROWs. Having lived at one point on a similar road in Maine I can understand how the situtation can escalate.
 
The Raven said:
The big question is how do you balance responsible 4 wheeling with sustainable activity. In Vermont, Vermont Overland does a Camel Trophy event and a rally. In both cases they are using unmaintained Vermont roads and ripping up the ROWs. Having lived at one point on a similar road in Maine I can understand how the situation can escalate.
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You're referring to the "Vermont Overland Challenge". Yes, your observation is correct and the residents along those class 4 roads are often disturbed to the point of bearing arms on rare occasion. The owner of the event and the "Vermont Overland Rally", is a lawyer as well and quite versed in their rights to use those right-of-ways and it has been a delicate balance of entertaining both parties interests. Their enterprise also sponsors several cycling events and naturally this, and the "Vermont Overland" events, brings in tourist dollars, which Vermont is sensitive to since so much industry has left that state in the last few years.

So now we have an even more complicated issue that borders on the political, not just stewardship of the environment. What can we do as individuals? I used to go to these events... it's a nice drive there from Virginia; the state is beautiful; Maple Creamees; I have relatives there I can visit. However, what you describe is one of the reasons why I choose to no longer support the event with my dollars.

We have the option to always "vote with our feet". That's one option... another more "activist" tactic is to question their practices on social media. Be that voice. That voice may embolden others to do the same and potentially influence others to pressure event organizers to adopt more responsible policies.
 
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The Raven said:
The big question is how do you balance responsible 4 wheeling with sustainable activity. In Vermont, Vermont Overland does a Camel Trophy event and a rally. In both cases they are using unmaintained vermont roads and ripping up the ROWs. Having lived at one point on a similar road in Maine I can understand how the situtation can escalate.
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Well, as far as I know, Tread-Lightly and 4-wheeling aren't mutually exclusive. One of the principals of Tread Lightly (at least, as I remember it from my backpacking days), is to minimize damage by (a) travelling on hard-wearing surfaces and (b) using existing trails to keep the damage localized. The back-end of this is that trails are repaired and maintained.

4-wheeling can apply the same principals - in particular by focusing on keeping users onto a set of routes that can be remediated, repaired, and maintained. In the case of events that put a large amount of wear onto these routes in a short amount of time, adding in some work to repair them before walking away would go a LOOOONG way. I know very little about Vermont Overland specifically, but I'm wagering that if they were able to demonstrate to the local community that they're doing maintenance and repair as a part of bringing in large numbers of people, then the locals would have a lot less to complain about.

One of the things that I've always loved about the Desert Rendezvous events here in SoCal is that, while the 100+ rigs definitely have a visible impact on the area where we camp (even if we don't leave one speck of trash, just moving that many vehicles through a small area has an effect) - the net effect of our cleanup work has made American Adventurist an appreciated asset to those who manage the area.
 
Yes, that is the one, I was there in 2016 to get a feel for what it was. What I saw was generally appalling, involving significant stream sedimintation, reckless driving, littering, excessive noise, property destruction and even someone deciding to block a road, lighting a fire in the middle and cook lunch. As I am currently involved in a lawsuit involving rights of ways on unmaintained roads in Maine I can tell you that I would be very surprised if Peter was an expert in the nuances of road law as it’s a VERY complicated issue, or at least it is in Maine.

At the moment I’m considering attending Vermont law school due to their environmental law program...but i need to further evaluate my motivations.

Regarding where to put my money; I agree and perhaps a certifying approval could be created to guide those wishing to maintain standards of responsible overlanding?
 
Herbie,
One big issue about VT overland is when it occurs. Usually in the fall, during the NE rainy season and after the growing season. This results in bad erosion, stream damage and significant damage to the public ROWs

Herbie said:
Well, as far as I know, Tread-Lightly and 4-wheeling aren't mutually exclusive. One of the principals of Tread Lightly (at least, as I remember it from my backpacking days), is to minimize damage by (a) travelling on hard-wearing surfaces and (b) using existing trails to keep the damage localized. The back-end of this is that trails are repaired and maintained.

4-wheeling can apply the same principals - in particular by focusing on keeping users onto a set of routes that can be remediated, repaired, and maintained. In the case of events that put a large amount of wear onto these routes in a short amount of time, adding in some work to repair them before walking away would go a LOOOONG way. I know very little about Vermont Overland specifically, but I'm wagering that if they were able to demonstrate to the local community that they're doing maintenance and repair as a part of bringing in large numbers of people, then the locals would have a lot less to complain about.

One of the things that I've always loved about the Desert Rendezvous events here in SoCal is that, while the 100+ rigs definitely have a visible impact on the area where we camp (even if we don't leave one speck of trash, just moving that many vehicles through a small area has an effect) - the net effect of our cleanup work has made American Adventurist an appreciated asset to those who manage the area.
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Back in the early 90s, I was serious into organized caving. We did digs trying to find and map new cave systems. Often, we'd dig open new passage in existing cave. To find passage, you look for air movement and typically dig through breakdown (piles of rocks). If you found new passage, you'd carefully survey and map it. If the passage was through a delicate area, we'd use flagging tape to mark the trail. Even a hand print on a white formation, just to maybe get your balance, would do damage. Delicate unbroken small formations would be flagged. These new finds were really only known to other organized cavers, but invariably with in a year, the passage would be damaged if not trashed. This occurred within a pretty formal group that had good understanding of the process and the impact. Ultimately the only way to limit damage was to gate the cave or keep it secret. Both work to a point.

The reason for this ramble is that I often cringe when I see trip reports on-line for any type of adventure. I've written them my self. Posting enticing pics of a remote destination should be done extreme caution, no matter whether they be on public or private land. I posted a while ago that I didn't like the State by State guide for that reason. I have no problem with sharing info among trusted friends but do not see the value spoon-feeding step by step directions to the general public.
 
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