jimindenver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2014
- Messages
- 5,266
- Reaction score
- 51
As our community grows out of popularity, financial need and the pandemic, our actions are causing the amount of places we can use to be reduced. i know not all of what has happened has been done by those on this board, on the road or even full timing. Then again, some of it is.
We are doing a great job of selling this lifestyle without bringing up the down sides or explaining how to act, Most new people are only hearing that you are free to do whatever and it is free out here, so get away with what you can. The problem is its not being gotten away with. You may think that you got away with it but the response is lets make sure they don't get away with it again. The result is what we are seeing now.
So many campfires were left hot by both locals and travelers that they were worried that we were going to burn Flagstaff down. The result was a ban on camping anywhere near town including A 1 mountain road where Bob use to hold the summer RTR.
Last year so many people, (and yes by that I mean dwellers too) stayed in one spot for as long as they could get away with it. Some will not move until a ranger kicks them out. We need people to understand that the rangers know that they are there. They know your rig and its plate. They know how long you have been there. They know if you were in another spot before. Should they have to kick you out of the spot, they likely will kick you out of the whole forest. The fines got much larger last year.
Another issue last year was the trash. Some entitled people take the concept of someone else will clean up after me to a art form. I'm not talking just their site but the road into it and beyond. It's ridiculous considering how many ways there are to get rid of trash here. (and no, filling up the bins at a gas station without spending a cent isn't the answer)
The last thing that I saw is that there were so many people that areas were full. So instead of finding a spot somewhere else they turned spurs that could handle one or two rigs into neighborhoods. Some simply decided to drive across virgin fields over vegetation because that tree just looked so inviting.
The result of the abuse is many roads have been closed. Many areas are now posted no vehicles. Some of those areas still open are posted no camping, no campfires. The entitled idiots that thought that they were getting away with it didn't and we lost a lot of places to camp when our numbers are growing.
We need to be better stewards of the public lands. We need to teach people to be too. Yes you can save money by not having to pay rent but we do it by the grace of those that control the land. Add in that no one said living this way was cheap. Either get permission to get water and toss trash or pay for it. It's unacceptable to put the burden of your existence on someone else just to save a little because what you do affects all of us.
We are doing a great job of selling this lifestyle without bringing up the down sides or explaining how to act, Most new people are only hearing that you are free to do whatever and it is free out here, so get away with what you can. The problem is its not being gotten away with. You may think that you got away with it but the response is lets make sure they don't get away with it again. The result is what we are seeing now.
So many campfires were left hot by both locals and travelers that they were worried that we were going to burn Flagstaff down. The result was a ban on camping anywhere near town including A 1 mountain road where Bob use to hold the summer RTR.
Last year so many people, (and yes by that I mean dwellers too) stayed in one spot for as long as they could get away with it. Some will not move until a ranger kicks them out. We need people to understand that the rangers know that they are there. They know your rig and its plate. They know how long you have been there. They know if you were in another spot before. Should they have to kick you out of the spot, they likely will kick you out of the whole forest. The fines got much larger last year.
Another issue last year was the trash. Some entitled people take the concept of someone else will clean up after me to a art form. I'm not talking just their site but the road into it and beyond. It's ridiculous considering how many ways there are to get rid of trash here. (and no, filling up the bins at a gas station without spending a cent isn't the answer)
The last thing that I saw is that there were so many people that areas were full. So instead of finding a spot somewhere else they turned spurs that could handle one or two rigs into neighborhoods. Some simply decided to drive across virgin fields over vegetation because that tree just looked so inviting.
The result of the abuse is many roads have been closed. Many areas are now posted no vehicles. Some of those areas still open are posted no camping, no campfires. The entitled idiots that thought that they were getting away with it didn't and we lost a lot of places to camp when our numbers are growing.
We need to be better stewards of the public lands. We need to teach people to be too. Yes you can save money by not having to pay rent but we do it by the grace of those that control the land. Add in that no one said living this way was cheap. Either get permission to get water and toss trash or pay for it. It's unacceptable to put the burden of your existence on someone else just to save a little because what you do affects all of us.