Public land uses

[Zach]

The OP and all the replies have included some balance, I think, which is critical. No one wants all the public land to be wilderness, but I think we all recognize that having some wilderness is important too. From my perspective, I think the tiny percentage of public land that is roadless/wilderness is a good start, but I would like to see more, or at the very least not lose any of what we have now. I spend most of my hunting days in designated wilderness, and even there, solitude is extremely hard to come by. Last year, we backpacked in six miles and saw just as many people as we had the year before when we only went in 2 miles, which leads me to believe that we have already reached a saturation point. I now think one would have to go to AK or Canada if you really wanted to have a day alone in nature.

The more "getting away" is advertised, the more it will become common place, IMO.

I took my daughter to 21 last year for her deer hunt. We only had a weekend to hunt due to her schedule, which means not getting away. Hunted fairly close in, but not the "popular" spots, never ran across another hunter and she got a pretty good buck. We all know how much traffic and how many roads are in 21.

 

[Yellowstoner]

I'm all for wilderness when it makes sense. Just taking a place that's filled with roads and logging cuts in an island mountain range and making it wilderness for no good reason doesn't do us any good. I, like many others, feel like there's a pretty common-sense line that we need to draw between motorized/non-motorized.

 

[elkduds]

This woman is bad-ass. Only 4 hours to climb 2000 vertical feet in a mile-long staircase. How many gloves were shredded?[video=youtube;vvbsllw7fyg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=vvbsllw7fyg[/video]

 

[COEngineer]

We all know how much traffic and how many roads are in 21.

Congrats to you and your daughter on the buck and the low pressure hunting spot. But no, we don't all know how many roads are in 21. I don't even know where that is without looking at the hunt atlas.

 

[Gr8bawana]

There should be places where there is no human development. I hope I don't live long enough to see the day when anyone can drive or walk a maintained trail to every rugged spot in our country.
Once a place gets developed there is no going back. What happens when someone decides they need a concession stand of some kind at the top of those stairs? Then they'll need to build a road up to the top to supply the store and utilities for the store.
Let's keep wild places wild as much as possible.

 

[Zach]

Congrats to you and your daughter on the buck and the low pressure hunting spot. But no, we don't all know how many roads are in 21. I don't even know where that is without looking at the hunt atlas.

NW part of the state, Rangely. Land of O&G....and some decent deer.

 

[COEngineer]

From Wikipedia:

O&G may refer to:

Obstetrics and gynaecology, surgical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs
Obstetrics & Gynecology (journal), a scientific journal
O&G (magazine), a magazine published by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Oil and gas, hydrocarbons extracted from the subsurface

I'm going to assume you meant the last one.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

From Wikipedia:



I'm going to assume you meant the last one.

Anyone who has been to Rangely knows there is no confusion on that point.

 

[Zach]

Anyone who has been to Rangely knows there is no confusion on that point.

or anyone here on this site more than 1/2 a second.. Well, almost anyone.

When my hunting friends say O&G, I always think OB/Gyn.....

Engineers should never assume.

 

[dannyb278]

I worry that people could be so myopic that the only way the would be willing to advocate for a wild place, is if they were guaranteed the opportunity to go there.

 

[Sytes]

My worry is that people are so polarized in what they want, they simply divide a large base of outdoor enthusiasts...

 

[Deleted member 28227]

or anyone here on this site more than 1/2 a second.. Well, almost anyone.

When my hunting friends say O&G, I always think OB/Gyn.....

Engineers should never assume.

I work in Oil and Gas and my wife delivery a baby last night so that acronym is up in the air in our family too, I was just taking a pot shot at a high school rival

 

[Huntkook]

I agree that it may be a nature lover that helps save the wilderness areas. That being said at some point we have to stop the development or it will no longer be a wilderness.