I have watched Yosemite severely limit access to Half Dome; seen the Death Valley Ultramarathon ended; seen Inyo N.F. burn Whitney toilets and require people to carry poop in their packs.
1. Limiting access to Half Dome: Do the math. In recent years, the death toll on that attraction was steeply on the rise, with a shocking climax in 2009. The "recoveries" and rescues were taking their toll both financially & otherwise. Let the people have their way? Can we all pause and take a moment to remember what the El Capitan meadow used to look like when there was unlimited access...it barely resembled a piece of nature.
2. Seen the Death Valley Ultramarathon ended: let's all spell it out L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y (did I spell it correctly?) take a moment to review some of the astronimical lawsuits that have been pursued when accidents, deaths occur on public lands (a good enough reason to not allow the San Gabes to be protected? Not good enough in my book, because even without the designation, a lawsuit would still occur if someone gets hurt)
3. Burning the Whitney Toilets: My, how our memories become selective over time. I recall horrendous overflow, folks crapping around the outhouses when they overflowed. A sanitation and ecological nightmare. Am I against composting toilets? Nope -- Just the situation as it existed at the time.
Guess you know where I stand.
I seem to recall skiing in a National Park (Yosemite) in the recent years, so all of the hysteria about blocking bikes, etc., most likely will not pan out. They allow JEEPS to to rumble through the Monument Valley (which is a National Monument) thus, its most likely that BIKES would not be offensive on Baldy area.
