Op-ed writer wants safer wilderness areas, but maybe people should just be better prepared
There’s a recent New York Times op-ed piece by a guest writer that is causing a bit of a stir in the outdoor community. And for various reasons, I feel compelled to jump in as well.
The writer, attorney Ted Stroll, is complaining that the U.S. Forest Service is being too strict in how it enforces laws regarding wilderness management. His case is that of some hikers who got in trouble and could have died after getting lost in a Minnesota wilderness area. Their complaint: not enough signs to direct them safely on the route they were supposed to be following.
No handrails or signs here. Just good, Oklahoma wilderness.
Stroll points out that in 1970, a cross-country skier also got lost in that same area and died. After that man’s death, signs went up, but those markers have since fallen into disrepair. The Forest Service chose not to replace them because the agency wanted to keep the area’s wilderness state intact.
His complaint is that such strict observances of the 1964 Wilderness Act make American wilderness areas less accessible to the public and more dangerous. He also hints at the possibility that the agency should allow more than just foot and horseback traffic through wild lands.
I can admire Mr. Stroll’s desire to look after the public’s safety, and for free access to its wild lands. But he must realize there are certain things about “wilderness” that are inherently wild, untamed and risky. Here’s how I view it:
If people construct a building for public use, there has to be some expectation that the public should be able to use that building – an office, stadium, school or home, for example – with the reasonable expectation that it’s a safe place to go.
We expect playground equipment to be safe for kids to play on. Our streets should be solid and safe to drive on. Places that have the hallmark of civilization are all designed by people, and those people should be held accountable for their projects’ safety.
Wilderness, on the other hand, is not designed by man. The religious among us will say that wild places are designed by God, and designed with specific purposes and plans in mind that don’t necessarily cater strictly to humans and our civilized societies. A more naturalistic outlook will note that wild places are created by things like tectonic forces, erosion, glacial advances and retreats, climate and the proliferation of flora and fauna, to name a few.
Wilderness areas are not designed by man. They are not up to code. They don’t have ramps, handrails and airbags. They lack phone service, water lines and proper sewage management. They don’t have storm shelters, thermostats and covered parking. If you walk into a wilderness, you have to realize that it ain’t Disneyland.
A trail, a person, and very little else. The Wilderness Act purposefully took a minimalist approach to signage in wild areas.
There is a certain level of responsibility that goes with venturing into wilderness areas. Go visit a city park, yeah, there’s a reasonable expectation of safety. Venture into the Grand Canyon or try scaling the Tetons as casually as you might stroll into that same park and you should expect trouble.
We have to get to a point where people are responsible for their own safety. Study your routes carefully. Learn how to navigate WITHOUT a GPS device. Bring enough food and water to sustain you in case you get lost. Wear the right clothes and have some form of emergency shelter and a first-aid kit at the ready. Tell people where you’re going, for how long and when you expect to return. Take some courses on wilderness survival.
Lots of things can go wrong in the wilderness. Simply going into wild places carries risks, but some of those can be mitigated by taking the right precautions before venturing out.
So before we start littering America’s wild places with signage, paving our trails and flooding them with bikes, ATVs and so forth, let’s first think about what people should do when they decide to interact with nature on its terms. And let’s let the wilderness stay wild. If this is asking too much, then the unwary – or unwilling – should think about sticking to the regulated, well-signed safety of civilization.
Bob Doucette
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Comments
No problem, Mike. Some things just need to be said, and this topic in particular needed to be put in perspective. Having done some wilderness trips in the past, it cannot be discounted how important personal responsibility is. That seems to be lost on some people.
Good article. Funny thing is if the trails were paved and warning signs were everywhere there would be more deaths. More people would come out unprepared and would ignore the signs anyway. Hold my beer and watch this…..
Cherie,
You might appreciate the efforts of a group of which I am a part. They call themselves Great Old Broads for Wilderness (greatoldbroads.org) and they are a national group that supports healthy management of Public (Federal) lands in the US. I like them because their highest priority seems to be having fun. They point out that no matter how old or able-bodied you are, whether you are backpacking for miles, or driving a car or riding a 4-wheeler to a wilderness boundary so you can catch a magnificent view, you can appreciate the existence and growth of designating wild places as Wilderness for the enjoyment of CURRENT AND FUTURE generations, of all ages.
Bob, I could not have said it better myself!
I take Boy Scouts into the deep wilderness every year to climb mountains, cross streams, swim in lakes, and just be boys in the wild. I have been exploring the wildernesses of the western US for 40 years and I instill in all my Scouts the respect for the severity of nature, and the need, when venturing into these wild and dangerous places, to fulfill in the most complete way the Scout motto of “Be Prepared”. I am always prepared, and when they are not, the stark truth of your comment “this ain’t Disneyland” comes clear as day. They learn the hard way there is no convenience store 35 miles from the trailhead at 10,500′ in a deep valley in the high sierra! If you don’t have it, and need it, you are screwed.
It is this danger that brings us into contact with the raw truth of nature and our raw true connection to it. Preserving it the way it is, despite those who have no training and no business going into these places, is of the greatest importance as our human existence continually develops to insulate us from this, our source.
The signs we should insist be erected should be like the ones at the foot of Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48. They say that the environment you are about to enter is so dangerous it will kill you, if you are not prepared for the wildlife (mountain lions and bears), the weather (electrical storms kill people on the open mountaintop of Whitney), or the silent danger posed by shear altitude of a 14,500′ peak (cerebral edema will kill you before you get off the mountain top). If you don’t belong in there and you ignore the warnings and enter and fall victim to the dangers you were warned of, you only have yourself to blame.
I agree that Wilderness must remain wild–or we might as well change its name and use. I don’t venture into wild places very often because I’m aging and cannot do the things I did years ago, but I’m hoping that the lands will remain for the enjoyment of those who can participate. I also believe that people who have to be rescued should have to pay for their rescues. Our tax dollars spread far too thinly these days.