The Question That None Of Greater Yellowstone's Conservation Groups Are Willing To Confront

[Nameless Range]

I thought this was a good short essay. Maybe a little harsh, but the premise isn't just limited to the GYE.

Maybe folks are sick of this sort of doom and gloom. I know I kind of am. But I also think we have to resist the urge to flinch away from the uncomfortable.

The Question That None Of Greater Yellowstone's Conservation Groups Are Willing To Confront

How is industrial-strength outdoor recreation and amenity development better than the resource extraction it is replacing?

mountainjournal.org

" Amid all the cheerleading to create more access to the backcountry, building more trails, filling the rivers with more boaters, monetizing visitors every way possible and having state tourism bureaus spending many millions annually in advertising to promote our public lands, many of which are already crowded, few are reflecting on the ecological toll being exacted. ....


Covid-19 is revealing many now-visible horrors of outdoor places becoming deluged with a flood of people on public lands that exceeds the carrying capacity of those places. State and national parks are short staffed, their employees stressed out and overwhelmed dealing with unruly visitors and natural resource abuse—all of this related to outdoor recreation and the downside of nature tourism. It is a startling glimpse into our fast-approaching future.

Few conservation organizations are willing to discuss limits and the virtue of emphasizing quality experiences that protect wildlife and natural values against their over-exploitation. "

 

[madtom]

Well said. “Loving a place to death” is very real.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I have to say that the impact of recreationists around Bozeman has been an eye opening experience for me.

Two things stand out. The first was a trip up to Hyalite when the parking lots were at full capacity and all the restrooms padlocked. Seems like everyone was finding out the answer to what wild bears do in the woods.

The second was a day hike up to Windy Pass. There was some kind of endurance race/hike going on and there must have been 30 vehicles at the parking lot.

I didn’t think to mention the herds of humans in the rivers earlier, but that too.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

Maybe folks are sick of this sort of doom and gloom. I know I kind of am. But I also think we have to resist the urge to flinch away from the uncomfortable.

I think too many people are shying away from reality and allowing problems to continuously snowball to the point of no return. Or maybe people see the problem but dont care due to the money in the industry. The problem definitely stares you in the face when you pull up to a trail head, way over packed and garbage everywhere. I never want to see another wad of toilet paper on the ground again

 

[madtom]

There’s also an effect of shifting baselines over time. 50 years from now, the level of use that alarms us now will seem like an empty mountain to people then.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

One thing I've noticed, especially moving away, is how little green space there is in the west. Ok, before you go WTF are you insane hear me out.

I'd venture a high percentage of user days on various areas are people wanting to do light day use, so on the trail for 45 min to 2 hours. Biking, hiking, and running. Far fewer people are doing overnight type excursions (though this happens).

Denver doesn't have much in the way of urban green space, there's the high-line canal trail and a few others that are dirt in places. The reservoir on the west, etc. but for the most part you have to drive to get to all of these. Personally, it took me 20 min to get to Cherry Creek State park via car, and I had to pay to park etc... super inconvenient all things considered. By the time I was actually running or biking I could be up in the front range... so that is where I went... every day.

Honestly I think Bozeman had similar issues... most of the time if I went on a bike ride I drove to the trail head, Leverich was ~8-10 miles from the house, which is just too much added distance to a quick after work ride.

Contrast this with where I live in Boston (I can't speak for the whole city). I can run and mt bike from my house on dirt. There are thousands of acres of green spaces in the metro area. I never get in my car to exercise, on the weekends I often even waffle with leaving the city because there is outside stuff to do from the front door, or accessible via the T.

I'm not saying the east coast is perfect, also the west is arid so your ability to put 5000, people in 1,000 acres park and make them feel alone is just not gonna happen.

Nevertheless I think western mountain planners really need to think about what things will look at 10 years from now, and need to provide substantial local, within city limits, open space. Right now open space is not even considered. Bozeman had like 3... pretty awful if I'm being honest parks with city limits. Pooper park in the spring

The idea that everyone in western metro areas will just leave every weekend to recreate is not sustainable.

 

[MTGomer]

Covid has really brought out the worst in how people treat the outdoors.

it has also shown that relying on tourism for an economy is a bad idea. On the list of things that are ‘essential’ spending a lot of money traveling around staying in lodges and seeing the sights can both be restricted by government and cut out of the family budget pretty quickly when less money starts coming in. I’m not saying that tourism economies are bad, but they’re sold to us as sustainable, yet the idea seems to be to perpetually grow them at the expense of the resource.

 

[rtraverdavis]

It’s not just spaces in the outdoors that are being abused right now either. Since Covid hit, and especially since the protests began, the level of trash and graffiti in the city I live in has sky rocketed. It’s as if a sort of nihilism has crept into society, like the feeling that people are just going to do whatever they’re going to do and none of it matters currently pervades. I think the psychological effects of everything going on in the world right now are hard to understand, and it’s rearing its ugly head all over the place—including our holy of holies, the Great Outdoors.

 

[nrpate05]

Yea its getting bad, Colorado is pretty much ground zero. Trails and constant recreation are really impacting wildlife too. Elk herd in Aspen/Vail area has declined over fifty percent in a little over a decade and will probably never be the same. Winter range development, changing habitat (loss of sage, influx of PJ, fire suppression) and vehicle collisions are all compounding factors, but nonstop recreation and trail development seen to be a big driver. It's happening in other places too. The southwest herds are struggling and went to a limited draw for archery. CPW is proposing to do the same with GMU 14 near Steamboat. Hunter overcrowding is a big issue driving it too, but calf recruitment is way down in both areas. A lot of the small towns in the state see the benefits from an influx of recreators and want to have their own trail network. Makes sense, but wildlife is taking it on the chin. The DWM's are screaming at the top of their lungs that this is a real issue, but oftentimes it falls on deaf ears. From what I understand the CPW trails committee is starting to take it more seriously but a lot of damage has been done. In addition to surface shitting, E.coli in our rivers, trash and outright disrespect for public lands, my optimism is waning...

Hopefully NGO's start to try to educate their members more. I know BHA does some good work with the trails issue and makes their voice known with the state. Would be nice to see some nonconsumptive groups advocating more for wildlife protections. We shall see...

 

[JLS]

Covid has really brought out the worst in how people treat the outdoors.

It’s certainly put the spotlight on it, because there are SO many more folks out right now. See it every day here.

 

[Jape]

The pandemic combined with how accessible and paraded everything is on social media has made outdoor rec explode this year. In hiking areas where I wouldn’t see another person on a Saturday just 5 years ago, I will see 20-30..... on a Wednesday.

One of the solutions I have heard proposed is toll roads into popular areas. While that might work, I hate the idea of reserving the outdoors to those with greater finances.

 

[Schaaf]

I imagine we’ll see many stretches of river with the same restrictions as the Smith in the coming years.

I’m always thankful of where I live. I rode my bike 5 times this week on public land, only five minutes from my front door and didn’t see another person.

 

[HSi-ESi]

I think this is an area where Organization's need to step up and do some planning to get ahead of the curve.

The great news, as I see it, we now have full funding of LWCF - so getting projects moving forward should be much easier than before. These issues are going to take time and money to overcome.

 

[geetar]

One thing I've noticed, especially moving away, is how little green space there is in the west. Ok, before you go WTF are you insane hear me out.

I'd venture a high percentage of user days on various areas are people wanting to do light day use, so on the trail for 45 min to 2 hours. Biking, hiking, and running. Far fewer people are doing overnight type excursions (though this happens).

Denver doesn't have much in the way of urban green space, there's the high-line canal trail and a few others that are dirt in places. The reservoir on the west, etc. but for the most part you have to drive to get to all of these. Personally, it took me 20 min to get to Cherry Creek State park via car, and I had to pay to park etc... super inconvenient all things considered. By the time I was actually running or biking I could be up in the front range... so that is where I went... every day.

Honestly I think Bozeman had similar issues... most of the time if I went on a bike ride I drove to the trail head, Leverich was ~8-10 miles from the house, which is just too much added distance to a quick after work ride.

Contrast this with where I live in Boston (I can't speak for the whole city). I can run and mt bike from my house on dirt. There are thousands of acres of green spaces in the metro area. I never get in my car to exercise, on the weekends I often even waffle with leaving the city because there is outside stuff to do from the front door, or accessible via the T.

I'm not saying the east coast is perfect, also the west is arid so your ability to put 5000, people in 1,000 acres park and make them feel alone is just not gonna happen.

Nevertheless I think western mountain planners really need to think about what things will look at 10 years from now, and need to provide substantial local, within city limits, open space. Right now open space is not even considered. Bozeman had like 3... pretty awful if I'm being honest parks with city limits. Pooper park in the spring

The idea that everyone in western metro areas will just leave every weekend to recreate is not sustainable.

The west does get talked up as an outdoor recreation paradise but so much in the East gets overlooked.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I imagine we’ll see many stretches of river with the same restrictions as the Smith in the coming years.

I’m always thankful of where I live. I rode my bike 5 times this week on public land, only five minutes from my front door and didn’t see another person.

Just wait till little Siberia becomes the next Moscow.

 

[fish_hunt_ski]

I have to say that the impact of recreationists around Bozeman has been an eye opening experience for me.

Two things stand out. The first was a trip up to Hyalite when the parking lots were at full capacity and all the restrooms padlocked. Seems like everyone was finding out the answer to what wild bears do in the woods.

The second was a day hike up to Windy Pass. There was some kind of endurance race/hike going on and there must have been 30 vehicles at the parking lot.

I didn’t think to mention the herds of humans in the rivers earlier, but that too.

There’s been a lot of surface shitters out there.

 

[Irrelevant]

Maybe it's the shifting baseline but I don't see that many more people in the woods around here. More car campers, yes. More boaters, yes. I also stay away from the popular areas, so maybe I'm just not seeing it.

Small tangent, I actually started to have a rather heated back and forth with Wes Siler of Outside Mag over his IG post where he talked about installing a light bar to see 1.1 miles away for "safety" driving the FS roads around Bozeman. I mentioned the impact to the wildlife and he told me to get a clue, he was stuck on the notion that if I see an elk I won't hit it, therefore it's good for elk. He has no concept of actual wildlife impacts nor the recreation impact on others. Can you imagine of everyone had light bars that shined 1.1 miles or blasted music that could be heard 1.1 miles away (I'm sure you all can)? Or way you need 1.1 miles to stop? There's so much on social media that is more environmentally harmful that the recreation community is willing to admit. Thankfully the guy only has 22k followers, but still, I expect better. I know I've quit telling people where I go on the weekends, and have started stapling small signs on every pullout I can find that simply says "bury your poop"

 

[MTGomer]

Maybe it's the shifting baseline but I don't see that many more people in the woods around here. More car campers, yes. More boaters, yes. I also stay away from the popular areas, so maybe I'm just not seeing it.

Small tangent, I actually started to have a rather heated back and forth with Wes Siler of Outside Mag over his IG post where he talked about installing a light bar to see 1.1 miles away for "safety" driving the FS roads around Bozeman. I mentioned the impact to the wildlife and he told me to get a clue, he was stuck on the notion that if I see an elk I won't hit it, therefore it's good for elk. He has no concept of actual wildlife impacts nor the recreation impact on others. Can you imagine of everyone had light bars that shined 1.1 miles or blasted music that could be heard 1.1 miles away (I'm sure you all can)? Or way you need 1.1 miles to stop? There's so much on social media that is more environmentally harmful that the recreation community is willing to admit. Thankfully the guy only has 22k followers, but still, I expect better. I know I've quit telling people where I go on the weekends, and have started stapling small signs on every pullout I can find that simply says "bury your poop"

I give props to Wes for answering “are you open minded enough to...”
Truthfully with a “no”

 

[MJE2083]

Popularity and over use is probably the lesser of several evils when it comes to public land. Do you think GAOA would have passed if it was not for the fact that the vast majority of American's have a deep appreciation and respect for public lands? That appreciation, by and large, comes from experiencing these places first hand.

 

[Nameless Range]

Popularity and over use is probably the lesser of several evils when it comes to public land. Do you think GAOA would have passed if it was not for the fact that the vast majority of American's have a deep appreciation and respect for public lands? That appreciation, by and large, comes from experiencing these places first hand.

Though I understand what you’re saying, I don’t believe it’s either/or. I don’t think this is an easy solution. People need to be able to get out and recreate, but we need to put a lot of thought and planning into how they will do it without crossing the threshold on the landscape. In addition to that, we are running out of time to protect many landscapes. Conservation organizations that protect acres, whether the public has access to those acres or not, are more and more valuable in my eye. In addition, once certain places have established recreational use on them, they seem to be lost forever in certain aspects. It’s why I hate the term “front country”. It’s a loaded place-name.

In northern Jefferson county where I live, I’ve seen change on public lands to an alarming degree. Over 60% of the homes in this county have been built since 1990. Places I hunted only 20 years ago are now connected to the South Hills trail system, and I would never walk up them with a gun on a weekend. You’d run into 50 people in the first hour. It happens so fast. Juxtapose this against the fact that forest plans are written every 20 or 30 years.

The rallying cry of powerful and numerous recreation advocacy groups is “More Trails!”. A friend on Facebook who shared this article , wrote it is time for a “time out“ on this mad push for recreation at all costs so we can step back and think about what the hell is happening here. I believe he is right.