Thread 2846824

>When I visited Yosemite National Park shortly after the government shutdown, I expected it to be deserted. I wasn't expecting it to be quite packed — and free.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/spent-2-days-yosemite-national-142948337.html

>>2846824 (OP)
What a handsome young Jewish man.

Poor Forest Jannys, I wouldn't work if I wasn't getting paid either. And all the useless make work email jobs the government has pay at least 5 times what a forest/fire janny would male.

>>2846824 (OP)
It's been free since the start of the shutdown, same with nearly every other park. Also the Valley is extremely packed even on weekdays right now. No permits are needed for stuff like dome attempts. People are sleeping in vans and rvs in the parking lots (fuck van lyfers), but hey they are cleaning the trash bins at least. The Tioga Pass is much better experience at the moment crowd wise, or really just anywhere that's not the Valley area. Also people with dogs and kids are just letting them roam off trail and shit. This isn't a Yosemite only issue either. A lot of the big parks are a mess. They should have just closed them completely to avoid the damage done by these people.

>>2846880
I'm about to drive 20 hours to see a friend and pick up some stuff and planned to sleep in my van for at least one night. Id rather go to a park than Walmart, so how do I find out if a camping area is free at the moment? I can't find any info on one of the parks I'm looking at website.

>>2846882
Literally all of the national parks are free at the moment. Some are closed off, but most are still open to the public. There's basically no rangers. You might see one or two at most and they probably don't give a fuck. There's way too many people to police it.

Also any kind of reservation system isn't applied right now. Zion right now is another shitshow atm btw.

>>2846890
wait so I can do skyline drive for free?

>>2846880
>Also people with dogs and kids are just letting them roam off trail and shit.

The shits of the dogs will do no harm to the park I think they dissolve pretty quick and they are good for the soil and plants. And as they are outside the trails you won't get the bad smell.

>>2846891
Yes, all of the parks that charge money are free right now. The only exception is if they fully close the road which most of the big national parks haven't one.
>>2846892
trampling on the vegetation is the probably. especially kids and adults who do it. Lots of foreign tourists don't give a fuck.

>>2846893
>trampling on the vegetation is the probably.

What vegetation is going to be destroyed that is not going to be there in a short time? Some bushes?

>no rangers
Remember law enforcement does not stop working during shutdown, and they have cameras in all the popular places of every park. They may take their time, but they will grab most all the people doing dumb shit

>>2846892
Dogs off leash and in areas they arent supposed to be is a problem for multiple reasons;
>they chase and harass and kill wildlife
>they dig and piss and shit everywhere, and yes every shit does have an impact and we are talking about tragedy of the commons
>they get into encounters with bears that lead to human deaths or us killing bears because they killed dogs that surprised them
>they leave unnatural predator scent everywhere that stresses wildlife
>they get in fights with eachother or attack people
>bark and run everywhere and generally ruin wilderness character
>lead to bad outcomes like bags of dogshit abandonded on trail

>>2846899
>bags of dogshit abandonded on trail

You have to be so retarded to pick your dog's shit when he is shitting in the wilderness, then put it in a bag and the left it on the ground.

>>2846897
>They may take their time, but they will grab most all the people doing dumb shit
Don't kid yourself. They aren't going to investigate shit happening now unless a major crime is committed

>>2846899
>>they get in fights with eachother or attack people
I never understand this one. I was at Glacier this weekend and people had their dogs out at the top and some of the dogs clearly were not friendly to other dogs. Like what the fuck would you bring a dog to a place with other dogs if you know it doesn't get along with others. Was just constant barking as I watched this lady struggled to hold onto the leash

>>2846902
A standard practice for many people if their dog shits early into a walk or hike is to bag it and leave it there to pick it up on the way out, so they can dispose of it elsewhere and not have to carry dog shit with them. But even the best intending person every so often forgets, or an animal has moved the bag or something and it gets abandonded.

>>2846909
I see... But why not just carry a little shovel and bury the shit?

>>2846911
>just dig up off trail everytime your dog shits
People like you ruin parks. There's a reason most places are leave no traces, including your own human shit if it happens.

>>2846912
If you dig a hole, put the shit in, cover it and put some rocks at the top. In a place like that where nobody is going to be digging again there. You will never notice it.

look, call me insane, but im not bringing a shovel with me just to poop
hire someone to remove the poop from the trails or add actual bathrooms at the trailhead
I could live without dogs, they are kinda annoying, but I don't mind them too much, as long as its not bully breeds, those can fuck off

>>2846917
>look, call me insane, but im not bringing a shovel with me just to poop

You don't need it, you can make a hole with a rock or even your hands if the soil is not hard.

>>2846913
>just destroy the local environment it's fine no one will ever notice you just dug up every planet or organism leaving in that spot!
Stay in China, tourist.

>>2846880
Tbh it sounds like the park is actually being enjoyed by people

>>2846890
Depends on the park. GSMNP is business as usual (including permits), as the states stepped in and fully funded everything. A ranger asked for my permit last week. First time it’s ever happened.

>>2846913
We are talking about popular trails in popular national parks. There are just too many people; they will dig in the same place as others. And many wont dig properly, many wont bother at all, and in many places like the desert or alpine the environment just cant degrade such poop fast enough. Same reasons people have to pack out their own shit in places like mt whitney.

>>2846951
Ok maybe if there are a lot of people it would be noticeable. But what happens if someone is in the middle of nowhere and have to take a shit then? You shit in a bag and carry it?

>>2846949
GSMNP contains a major highway that passes between two states, and two major urban areas in those two states. GSMNP is literally a highway, with "national park land" designated on either side of it.


There is no closing or shutting that down.

>>2846953
In actual backcountry, and assuming I can find enough soil to dig deep enough, yes I will bury. But in some desert and high alpine places I will pack out my shit. Some national parks and other things even require packing out in some backcountry, either because of the number of people or because the camping is in designated sites; eventually people are gonna use all the possible spots within a reasonable walk from the campsite. They have good tech now for that too.

just got back from a weekend trip to sequoia, slept in my car in the sherman parking lot friday night, hung out in the touristy areas before they got crowded, then fucked off on some longer loops. slept at a dispersed campsite on saturday and did some hiking around. store was open (I guess it either makes enough to pay salaries or it's a concession thing) and selling ice cream, people were surprisingly respectful without forest jannies around. only saw one fire (none allowed) but the group at least had an extinguisher handy. overall it was better than expected but i'll stick to the national forest next time.

>>2847604
USFS isn't around either

>>2847604
It’s a concession. Parks don’t sell things, even the ones inside visitor centers are run by a non profit like the NPS foundation or Friends of such and such

This is from a previous shutdown.
>KENNESAW — Apparently a Cherokee County man thought, if there was ever a good time to look for Civil War artifacts at Kennesaw Mountain, a partial government shutdown would be perfect.
>He was wrong.
>Rangers are still on the job at national battlefield on Cheatham Hill Road. They caught the man taking his metal detector to the park and digging up artifacts.
>A Cobb County police officer spotted the man heading into one of the most “archeological sensitive areas of the park,” said Park Ranger Anthony Winegar.
>Rangers waited until the man returned to his car with his goodies.
>“He did appear to have several objects that were from the Civil War time period,” Winegar told Channel 2 Action News.
>The suspect, only described as a man from Cherokee County, is facing several federal charges. The items have been seized.

>>2847644
Tbh given how many issues Yo, Semite is experiencing right now I doubt they have the staff for this. They have a bunch of base jumpers swarming El Cap today.

>>2847753
>>2847644
I went through yosemite last week and there was 2 rangers that I saw while driving. I did the entire valley + passes.

>>2847753
None of the law enforcement staff have stopped working. They will collect info on the base jumpers and eventually charge them. They just got a bunch of guilty verdicts from base jumpers last year.

>>2847815
lol good luck

>>2847644
>Civil War era
>archaeological
150 years ago is not archaeology lol

>>2847885
>150 years ago is not archaeology lol
lol. sure it is. Archaeology is the scientific study of past human life and activities through the analysis of physical remains like artifacts and sites. lol

>>2847885
All artifacts at least 100 years old are deemed "historical" and protected under ARPA (arc resource protection act). It may be dumb, especially from an old world perspective, but thats the law. Yes it includes trash like brand name cans that still exist today. It was done so things like pioneer cabins and mining camps and shit are protected because america really cares about their pioneer history.

>>2847885
>>2847898
Based retards.

>>2847888
>>2847898
thats why we build condos on native burial grounds while caring about what kind of canned beans some syphilitic gold miner was eating in the 1800s. pathetic

>>2847925
weak bait