[pct-l] Public Land Management

[CMountainDave@aol.com (CMountainDave@aol.com)]

Once again it boils down to management policies. The problem with the NFS, 
NPS and BLM is that each district is a separate "fiefdom" and the 
superintendent answers to virtually no one until his screwups become obvious. 
Then the NEXT guy in charge uses him as a scapegoat saying in effect, "you 
know, the last guy in charge was really screwed up, but trust me I'VE got it 
right this time. It becomes an endless cycle and will NEVER change until a 
check and balance system with some sort of public oversight to scrutinize  
management decisions.
  Here's a fine example. We had the superintendent of Olympic National Park 
address our local outdoor club last month. He lamented on the fact that 
shelters built by the CCC nearly 70 years ago were in sad shape and how a 
bunch of user fees were now necessary to restore them to original condition. 
It's become a major priority for him. Well, guess what? Many of those 
shelters were DELIBERATELY allowed to rot and many of them were burned to the 
ground by past managers because "they weren't compatible with the wilderness 
setting." So one supt. decides to build them because it would be great to be 
able to get out of the rain. The next guy's whim is to get rid of them 
despite public protest by deliberate neglect. Then the next guy says " Oh no 
what a grievous mistake was made. Let's restore them"
   And you can bet your last dollar that some future supt. will say what a 
waste of money restoring all those non compatible with the wilderness 
shelters. We must get rid of them
   Bottom line: whatever whim or fancy of the current supt. becomes policy 
only to be repudiated and overturned by the NEXT supt. What a screwy, 
frustrating, inconsistent system. And you wonder why the hell there is a bear 
and fire problem???One dude says you MUST do this (hang food, fight fires). 
The next dude says you MUST NOT do this (hang food, fight fires). What the 
hell ever happened to good old simple common sense logic?? Public oversight 
is the only answer but will forever be resisted by the egos of the managers 
who don't want ANYONE looking over their shoulders and questioning their 
decisions.
  I hiked a trail in Yosemite once where one "bright" supt. decided to pave 
the first three miles to solve erosion problems. Guess what, it didn't and 
now there are asphalt chunks all along the trail. And on and on and on. God 
save our wilderness areas because those in charge sure as hell won't. 
Credibility? HA!! HA! HA! Under the current system NEVER! And before I'm 
accused of just being a whiner with no solution, I iterate and reiterate- 
PUBLIC OVERSIGHT, PUBLIC OVERSIGHT, PUBLIC OVERSIGHT. All I really want is a 
management system I can trust. Is that too much to ask?