I just wanted to toss in a quick post here.  We have a lot of material coming but I want to hit this while it’s fresh.

We just got back from a quick trip to Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park.  Much more and some amazing photos about those to come soon.

While in BRCA I saw something really frustrating.  I am sympathetic to the cause of the Park Rangers because they have to accomplish so much with such little support and they rarely get any positive feedback.

We hiked one of the most popular paths in Bryce and I don’t think I have ever seen so many “cut” trails.  The main trail was solid and beautifully set into the landscape.  And then criss-crossing it dozens, maybe hundreds of times were a network of trails that led to every object of interest.  Every place to take a photo, every exposed single-file ridge to impress your girl-friend had been beaten down with the steps of the careless or the uncaring.

I have been guilty of going off trail and I will likely be guilty again.  I am trying to change that in places like this.  The National Park Service has two goals.  To provide a great experience for our people and to preserve the places that enable those experiences for future generations.  Those seem to be at odds with each other and therein lies the difficulty.

What is comes to is this.  We need to support the NPS in their mission.  The majority of the damage I witnessed in action was not done by Americans but by foreign visitors.  Before we get mad at them, Let’s think two thoughts.  Their culture is not ours and we can’t expect them to know how we treat our special places unless we tell them.  Also, let’s step back and examine our own examples to make sure we have been clear in showing proper respect to our land that we claim to love so much.

The original idea of National Parks was ours.  We saw the damage being done and acted to stop it where we could.  What I saw this weekend was a complete abandonment of the ideals and philosophy that brought us to such a great place.

Please, when you go to a park, think about how you can help the Rangers and the Park itself.  Take a little extra care to show respect, and if the opportunity arises to help someone understand how important the parks are to you, let them know.

Some of us cannot live without wild places.