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Posted by Ballpark Frank (66.58.238.35) on 14:01:02 09/02/12
In Reply to: Using the White Creek area as a "case study" (Part 2) posted by Ballpark Frank
There is a parallel issue about resource protection. As visitor traffic escalates in a given backcountry area, signs of wear and tear emerge. In the case of the White Creek Group specifically, braided trails started proliferating close to the parking lot. It triggered even more wandering by innocent visitors who knew nothing of the area, but just followed their curiosity. Perhaps, more significantly, when you get high traffic within a mile or two of the road, you inevitably attract that small minority of folks with little or no respect for the resource. They can haul six packs or twelve packs of their malt beverage of choice, and litter the landscape with their empties. In recent years, I have found a rather disturbing phenomenon, i.e. progressively more and more cigarette but-ts in and around backcountry thermal features.
Hopefully, this treatise on the White Creek Group as a case study in high traffic resulting in no legal traffic is instructive.
Now, I would like to address any concerns about perceived snobbery on the part of the information "haves" versus the information "have nots". I have not seen anyone on this page deliberately refuse to divulge information since the days of the "Great Fairyland Basin Controversy", more than a decade ago. What is appropriate is to take the delivery of specific information outside the bounds of these chat pages, because we have absolutely no control over who sees the posts. I can't tell you how many times I have met visitors in Yellowstone who recognized me by one of my hats or my license plate, and they are lurkers. It has given me some feel for how many people visit these pages without posting. Anyone that has hiked with me during Loonions or other periods of Loon gatherings knows that I have been quite open about taking groups to a variety of backcountry thermal areas. At the same time, I always caution Loons about blindly publicizing specific information on cyber-venues where there is no control over who reads the information, and acts on it.
I have said this before, and I will reiterate it. I want my grandkids and their grandkids to have the same opportunities I had to witness the grandeur of backcountry Yellowstone. I don't want them to experience a Yellowstone that is mostly off-limits to everyone.
So, it is OK to ask for info on the chat page about a specific backcountry area, but please understand that there is strong pressure to take the answer to some more private process, like e-mail or the Secure Loon web site.
This is not about trying to keep visitors out of certain places, but it is about insuring that those who do visit those places are well-versed on the inherent dangers, and treat the resource with respect.
Ballpark
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