Anti trail vandalism post goes viral on FB

[WalkingStick75]

Several years ago I was hiking up to Clingmans Dome when I saw to people carving their names into a bench. Lots of people watching them do it but nobody saying a word when I was close to them I asked them what they were doing and was surprised to see one of the vandals was Dad. I thought it was two kids, all I could say is something to the effect of way to teach your kids dad! Sad some people have so little respect for public property.

[magneto]

Can't they just sign the register instead? How many of them know it's there? They might also benefit from reading a few entries...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Offshore]

It's moments such as this when I recall how much I truly miss Bloom County!

[AO2134]

I might get a little heat for this opinion, but oh well.

My view has kind of been that if it is a man made structure (shelter, observation tower, etc), I wouldn't personally do it and I would tell the person to stop, but I wouldn't raise a stink about it. It doesn't bother me that much.

If I see someone doing that to nature (trees, rocks, non-man made), I believe I should have the right to put my foot squarely up their . . . .

Quite frankly, I could easily make the argument that observations towers and shelters and privys, etc is vandalism. They are man made things not found in nature. I guess the problem with "tagging" man made objects is that it may encourage people to tag nature.

Just my two cents.

[Offshore]

Humans are just a very small portion of humankind?? 1 in 7.3 billion? I already have dementia but that sentence just doesn't make sense.

Your last sentence sounds like an apology for destructive human behavior (mountaintop removal anyone?) as animals obviously have no opinion regarding nature or their place on earth. With this mindset animals become non-participants in "our" world and are therefore in the way of glorious human progress. So obviously humans are god's gift to the planet, the shining city on the hill, and we are endowed with holy wisdom to ruin the world as we see fit.

No, you quoted out of context. One (meaning you) can only speak for humankind (because you are a human and not any other type of plant or animal) and since you are only 1 in ~7.3 billion humans, you can speak for only 1 in 7.3 billion - hence a very small voice.

We're actually on the same side - I've been working professionally in the environmental sciences (on the "good" side) for 35 years. The one thing I've learned is that there are never winner take all situations and that the best way to make progress on issues to have a seat at the table with all of the stakeholders and not to sit on the periphery with the attitude of "all-or-nothing" (Where you will be ignored). The other lesson I've learned is that no matter how sincere someone may be, the moment they start with anthropomorphising the animal kingdom or getting hyperbolic, their credibility disappears - often resulting in harm to the cause.

Quick example - several years ago, a local clean ocean group set up a table on the boardwalk at one of the beach towns here in NJ to protest an ocean outfall. (I agreed with them, BTW.) The issue was that they had an aquarium set up with dirty sudsy water and glitter (yes) when the material of concern in the outfall was colorless, non-sudsing, and not suitable for disco parties. People stood there and literally laughed at them. Now I doubt no one passing by knew the contaminants of concern from the outfall, but they knew it wasn't glitter. Yes, they meant well, but all they did was to reinforce the "environmental wacko" stereotype we hear mocked so often on certain media outlets.

[Uriah]

I guess the problem with "tagging" man made objects is that it may encourage people to tag nature.

Good point. If there aren't laws to help stop this sort of behavior, the behavior spreads. People, no doubt, need management. (But just the same, they need to manage the managers.)

[rocketsocks]

No, you quoted out of context. One (meaning you) can only speak for humankind (because you are a human and not any other type of plant or animal) and since you are only 1 in ~7.3 billion humans, you can speak for only 1 in 7.3 billion - hence a very small voice.

We're actually on the same side - I've been working professionally in the environmental sciences (on the "good" side) for 35 years. The one thing I've learned is that there are never winner take all situations and that the best way to make progress on issues to have a seat at the table with all of the stakeholders and not to sit on the periphery with the attitude of "all-or-nothing" (Where you will be ignored). The other lesson I've learned is that no matter how sincere someone may be, the moment they start with anthropomorphising the animal kingdom or getting hyperbolic, their credibility disappears - often resulting in harm to the cause.

Quick example - several years ago, a local clean ocean group set up a table on the boardwalk at one of the beach towns here in NJ to protest an ocean outfall. (I agreed with them, BTW.) The issue was that they had an aquarium set up with dirty sudsy water and glitter (yes) when the material of concern in the outfall was colorless, non-sudsing, and not suitable for disco parties. People stood there and literally laughed at them. Now I doubt no one passing by knew the contaminants of concern from the outfall, but they knew it wasn't glitter. Yes, they meant well, but all they did was to reinforce the "environmental wacko" stereotype we hear mocked so often on certain media outlets.

ticker tape parades are cool to look at, but what a joke....crazy.

[Lone Wolf]

I might get a little heat for this opinion, but oh well.

My view has kind of been that if it is a man made structure (shelter, observation tower, etc), I wouldn't personally do it and I would tell the person to stop, but I wouldn't raise a stink about it. It doesn't bother me that much.

If I see someone doing that to nature (trees, rocks, non-man made), I believe I should have the right to put my foot squarely up their . . . .

Quite frankly, I could easily make the argument that observations towers and shelters and privys, etc is vandalism. They are man made things not found in nature. I guess the problem with "tagging" man made objects is that it may encourage people to tag nature.

Just my two cents.

i'm with ya. trashing that tree in neel gap is unacceptable

[BirdBrain]

i'm with ya. trashing that tree in neel gap is unacceptable

Trashing anything (except trash) is unacceptable. Unfortunately we live in a society that not only accepts idiots, we celebrate them. Name the protest and then look at the destruction left behind from the celebrated protest. The destruction left in the wake of that celebrated protest will dwarf the carving up of a tree or shelter that we freak out about here. Yes... the protests only destroy human lives and human creations. However, when it comes time to rebuild those human creations, a whole lot of trees are going to be harvested. Our ire is misplaced. It is a society with no sense of responsibility that causes all of this destruction, be it on the trail or in the ocean or on the streets. That is not going away soon. If it feels good do it is the mantra. How that warm fuzzy feeling affects someone or something is not to be found.

[Offshore]

i'm with ya. trashing that tree in neel gap is unacceptable

Unfortunately, that carving looks to pretty much be the effective equivalent of tree girdling, so the tree will probably die. At least the idiot's monument to his/herself will die with it.

[full conditions]

Trashing anything (except trash) is unacceptable. Unfortunately we live in a society that not only accepts idiots, we celebrate them. Name the protest and then look at the destruction left behind from the celebrated protest. The destruction left in the wake of that celebrated protest will dwarf the carving up of a tree or shelter that we freak out about here. Yes... the protests only destroy human lives and human creations. However, when it comes time to rebuild those human creations, a whole lot of trees are going to be harvested. Our ire is misplaced. It is a society with no sense of responsibility that causes all of this destruction, be it on the trail or in the ocean or on the streets. That is not going away soon. If it feels good do it is the mantra. How that warm fuzzy feeling affects someone or something is not to be found.

That was amazing. Somehow, you managed to turn a thread about vandalism in the backcountry into a post about inner city riots. Magic!

[BirdBrain]

That was amazing. Somehow, you managed to turn a thread about vandalism in the backcountry into a post about inner city riots. Magic!

The two may seem to be completely irrelevant. However, the idiotic carving of a tree is only a symptom of a larger problem. The larger problem is people think anything is their for their personal consumption. It does not matter what the emotion is. If they are mad they destroy property through protests. If they are happy they destroy trees by carving. These are just two examples. I could list thousands. It all boils down to hooray for me and to hell with you. The golden rule is all but dead. That is why thousand year old relics are defaced. They are just having fun. It is no big deal to them .

[WalkingStick75]

I'm really surprised by those that comment reflects the impression that it is no big deal. Yes, would rather see someone carve into a man made object over a living tree but when these vandals carve into a picnic table, railing, bench, shelter whatever it is damages it and cases a park employee to spend time to repair or replace that item and those that do not get repaired or replaced it decrease the life span of that objet and will need to be replaced sooner. This is a price tag shard by every one.

[perdidochas]

Hey everyone we are going to pour this concrete right through the middle of our last remaining wildlands... and you better not right your ****ing name in it!

If we're going to sacrifice a natural spot, we might as well keep the defacement down. Also, you act like the type of people who are scratching their names into those rails aren't the same type of people who carve their initials in trees.....

[Uriah]

The larger problem is people think anything is their for their personal consumption. It does not matter what the emotion is. If they are mad they destroy property through protests. If they are happy they destroy trees by carving. These are just two examples.

Another example is governmental agencies (made of people) deciding to make the "backcountry" more and more accessible, not only to recreationalists but also to industry (mining, fracking, grazing, etc). Easy access is what helps destroy what we know as nature (which includes us and which, thankfully, will outlive us all). It invites those of us who seek an escape from the urban world and those who bring with them their ideals and urbanized conduct. A bridge in the "wild" assures us the area is no longer wild and is fair game for urbanized folk and their many strange behaviors. I have no problem watching someone destroy a bridge or a dam or a road, if done for the right reasons. This family, on the other hand, were (and are) purely just idiots, as most of us here have agreed.

[BirdBrain]

Another example is governmental agencies (made of people) deciding to make the "backcountry" more and more accessible, not only to recreationalists but also to industry (mining, fracking, grazing, etc). Easy access is what helps destroy what we know as nature (which includes us and which, thankfully, will outlive us all). It invites those of us who seek an escape from the urban world and those who bring with them their ideals and urbanized conduct. A bridge in the "wild" assures us the area is no longer wild and is fair game for urbanized folk and their many strange behaviors. I have no problem watching someone destroy a bridge or a dam or a road, if done for the right reasons. This family, on the other hand, were (and are) purely just idiots, as most of us here have agreed.

I agree too. Idiots are everywhere. Non shortage.

[Uriah]

Idiots are everywhere. Non shortage.

They're not quite everywhere, thankfully. Only where easy access is provided. It seems idiots hate hardship! They are, for example, difficult to find in space, at least to this juncture. And I've never met an idiot far, far from the nearest road or trail. Only sages, in fact.

[teefal]

Personally I'm miffed about *beavers*. The cut trees and divert water flow without regard to anyone else. And don't get me started on woodpeckers, or cicadas!

[teefal]

More seriously ... lionfish.

[teefal]

Humans are an invasive species.