[pct-l] Presumptuous. Self- righteous. Intolerant

[Ryan Hull]

I'd like to ask for a little grace in this entire discussion, and I hold up
one of my own mistakes as an example.  I can say, from personal experience,
that it is entirely possible to overlook signage just like the mountain
bikers did.  Earlier this summer 2 friends and I went floating down a river
on inner tubes.  All THREE of us truly failed to notice the FOUR signs
indicating that this was not allowed.  We were excited to get out on the
river on a hot day and it never occurred to us that what we were doing
mightn't allowed so we weren't looking for anything contrariwise.  Near the
end of our float a cop called us out of the river and handed each of us $85
tickets.  I didn't contest the ticket because I was in fact breaking the
law (ignorance is no excuse), but it was an honest mistake.  Had we noticed
any one of the signs indicating that inner tubes were not allowed we
absolutely would have spent the couple dollars to rent an allowed canoe or
raft and it never would've been an issue.  When we climbed onto our tubes
at the river there were maybe a dozen people in the parking lot near us.
If even one of those people had said to us, "Hey, you probably shouldn't do
that because..." we would've gratefully gone back and rented a legal boat,
but nobody did so we continued in our ignorance.

We cannot know whether the bikers saw the marker and ignored it or whether
it was really an accident.  It doesn't excuse the fact that they were
there, but it is encouraging that when they were informed of their misdeed
they turned back the way they came.

The same thing goes for campfires.  I do not believe most people willingly
break these sorts of laws when they are aware of them.  I tend to agree
with others who say that greater awareness is the first step towards
combating man-caused fire issues, both real and imagined.  Will that be
enough to completely stop the problem?  Probably not, but it would at least
reduce the number of accidental situations like I got myself into with the
inner tubes.

Again, I'm not saying those who have fires in ban areas should be excused,
and if they are caught by those with authority to issue
fines/citations/whatever they should get what they have coming, but please
don't assume that they are doing it maliciously.  If you happen across
someone on the trail breaking a law like a fire ban, please, inform them
kindly that they're doing it illegally.  They may actually thank you!  If
they persist, though, by all means report them or do whatever your
conscience considers right (so long as it's legal ;) ).

Humbly,
-Ryan



On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 4:01 PM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Yes, Timothy, in thinking back about what you wrote, I have conccluded
> that you are right. Your description of myself and my action is fairly
> accurate. There are other adjectives that might also apply, including my
> sometimes even being radical when trying to make right something that I
> consider wrong.
>
> First, let's consider "presumptuous".  I will sometimes be willing to step
> forward, as I did relating to illegal campfires on the PCT, rather than
> remain silent. I wanted  to call attention to what I saw as a very
> real threat to the trail, the surrounding environment, and people's homes -
> mine included. When you live in Agua Dulce you become conscious of the
> possibility of wildfires.  But, are not those who blatantly ignore the
> campfire ban and take the liberty of (knowing that it is not
> enforced) having a fire anyway - - - .  Are they not also being
> "self-righteous"? Are they not "intolerant" of the law - a law that will,
> hopefully, help protect against human-started wildfires. In my opinion,
> it's up to US to do what the Forest Service can't do. Gary did the right
> thing when he confronted two groups of hikers who had illegal campfires.
> Would you have joined them or simply walked by and said nothing? I recall
> Jeff Saufley telling me of his
>  having confronted mountain bikers illegally riding on the PCT. This
> spring, while helping BCH Ray Drasher clear some trees on Section D, we
> came upon four mountain bikers illegally riding on the PCT. I took their
> pictures and told them to get off the trail immediately. They claimed that
> they did not know that they were not allowed to ride bikes on the
> trail.  They did turn back. About 200' from where we confronted them was a
> road crossing. The PCT that they took was conspicuously marked with a sign,
> which included a bike with a red slash through it. Since there were four of
> them, I can't believe that none saw that sign. Wheeled vehicles are not
> allowed on the PCT or in any Wilderness Areas. My observation is that the
> continuous track is a groove that can become a rut when there is rain.
> Water will run down grooves and ruts -very hard on a trail that is
> already difficult to maintain.
>
> As for being radical, some thought I was radical when, in the mid-1970's,
> I joined, and became very active, in the Greenpeace Foundation. Some
> thought it radical when Greenpeace confronted Soviet Whalers, positioning
> human volunteers in inflatable Zodiac boats between the whalers and the
> whales. Those old enough to remember know that we got a lot of media
> attention. Everyone became conscious of the plight of the whales. With
> public support, we made positive progress with the International
> Whaling Commission in saving whales from extinction. The good fight
> continues with ex-Greenpeace Captain Paul Watkins. He is Captain of the Sea
> Shepherd. I'm sure most have seen Whale Wars on Animal Planet. I had met
> Paul Watkins aboard our ship, the James Bay, in 1976. Our Greenpeace ship
> and crew was about to leave San Francisco Harbor to confront Soviet
> whalers. I was to become a media spokesman for Greenpeace. I helped
> Governor Jerry Brown (yes, he was
>  Governor then too) raise a substantial amount of money to fund his
> contribution to the cause, "California Celebrates the Whale".  The Governor
> felt that if you want to save the whales you must first celebrate them. The
> all-day event was held in Sacramento.
>
> MendoRider
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