Loving it to death

[RobertD]

Instagram really killed wild places, didn't it?

It's hard for me to sit here back east and complain about not wanting others to go crowd up public lands. But then again, I've got some skin in the game even as a NR. The thought of surface scatting by some hipster who'll be back in Portland or SF next week drinking a latte and flexing on social media while some young deer hunter has to walk past their refuse on land that he or she helps fund is ultimately really frustrating.

It's right up there for me with people who hold signs outside courthouses to "protect" grizzlies but don't know or care about problems facing say sage grouse or bighorn sheep. I don't like it, I want these people to go home and I feel disappointed in myself for feeling that way. I'd love a backpack tax but I'm also afraid that would just embolden people to abuse it more. Yikes, I better take a deep breath or two...

 

[Irrelevant]

Rivergeddon

Pandemic Crowds Bring ‘Rivergeddon’ to Montana’s Rivers (Published 2020)

As urbanites flock to forests and rivers to escape coronavirus threats, trailheads are cramped with parked cars and fishing on the Madison River is like a Disneyland ride.

www.nytimes.com

 

[FI460]

Rivergeddon

Pandemic Crowds Bring ‘Rivergeddon’ to Montana’s Rivers (Published 2020)

As urbanites flock to forests and rivers to escape coronavirus threats, trailheads are cramped with parked cars and fishing on the Madison River is like a Disneyland ride.

www.nytimes.com

That first picture is gross. I'd drive straight through that loop and away from that circus.

 

[marshman]

Too bad for Montana, it looks a lot like Washington states environmental free fall in the 80's and 90's, crap it is still going on today.

 

[Nameless Range]

Rivergeddon

Pandemic Crowds Bring ‘Rivergeddon’ to Montana’s Rivers (Published 2020)

As urbanites flock to forests and rivers to escape coronavirus threats, trailheads are cramped with parked cars and fishing on the Madison River is like a Disneyland ride.

www.nytimes.com

From that article:

“Now, many residents are concerned that the state that calls itself the Last Best Place has bragged a little too loudly and too often.”

I think so. Moving forward, I would love to see our offices of tourism focused not on getting folks to come here, but intelligently planning and controlling the recreation and actions of those that do. We can see where we are headed, and it is extreme. So let’s think about and look into some radical and maybe unprecedented ways to hold fast to what’s good.

I’m not saying I know exactly what those would be.

 

[diamond hitch]

Montana is full- I hear North Dakota is nice.

 

[Carnage2011]

Rivergeddon

Pandemic Crowds Bring ‘Rivergeddon’ to Montana’s Rivers (Published 2020)

As urbanites flock to forests and rivers to escape coronavirus threats, trailheads are cramped with parked cars and fishing on the Madison River is like a Disneyland ride.

www.nytimes.com

Must not have been during the salmon fly hatch. Way too much available parking in that photo.

 

[mtmuley]

Montana is full- I hear North Dakota is nice.

Kinda true as my home in the Bitterroot is getting pounded with newcomers. I can tell just by driving down the road. mtmuley

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Montana is full- I hear North Dakota is nice.

People aren’t that gullible.

 

[widnert]

That first picture is gross. I'd drive straight through that loop and away from that circus.

What's funny here is that is not even a fishing access site pictured in that article. It's the parking lot at the base of the college "M" trail just outside town. It has nothing to do with fishing. Just an easy to access hiking trail that every tourist and college kid that comes to town uses and believes they're experiencing Montana. Typical journalist can't even get the proper photo on the article to really show the madhouse that is Black's Ford on the Madison on a hot summer day. Driving by there you'd believe every soul in Bozeman was on the Madison that day.

 

[Irrelevant]

What's funny here is that is not even a fishing access site pictured in that article. It's the parking lot at the base of the college "M" trail just outside town. It has nothing to do with fishing. Just an easy to access hiking trail that every tourist and college kid that comes to town uses and believes they're experiencing Montana. Typical journalist can't even get the proper photo on the article to really show the madhouse that is Black's Ford on the Madison on a hot summer day. Driving by there you'd believe every soul in Bozeman was on the Madison that day.

True, but the caption is correct, and the article was written in the fall, not in August.

 

[BigHornRam]

Montana is full- I hear North Dakota is nice.

Not according to the census.

Montana leads all 50 states in decline of self-response rates for 2020 Census

Missoula County’s self-response rate increased from 70.4% in 2010 to 71.6%.

www.kpax.com

 

[Labman]

Is High-Flying Bozeman, Montana Losing The Nature Of Its Place?

Analysis: Is this capital city of Greater Yellowstone, along with Gallatin County, becoming the poster children for how not to develop a wild corner of the American Serengeti?

mountainjournal.org

 

[Irrelevant]

Is High-Flying Bozeman, Montana Losing The Nature Of Its Place?

Analysis: Is this capital city of Greater Yellowstone, along with Gallatin County, becoming the poster children for how not to develop a wild corner of the American Serengeti?

mountainjournal.org

Holy cow, talk about a Debby Downer. But great journalism.

While reading it I couldn't help but think about how many active threads are all on the same general topic. Some resource being impacted by many small actions.

 

[Hunting Wife]

The sprawl in the Gallatin Valley is crazy. I only lived there for 6 years and the rate at which habitat turned into subdivisions and shopping was unreal.

Is High-Flying Bozeman, Montana Losing The Nature Of Its Place?

Analysis: Is this capital city of Greater Yellowstone, along with Gallatin County, becoming the poster children for how not to develop a wild corner of the American Serengeti?

mountainjournal.org

This article should be required reading for every person who is moving to some small town in “the West” while trying to assure everyone they love the place as it is and don’t want to change it.

 

[mtmuley]

The sprawl in the Gallatin Valley is crazy. I only lived there for 6 years and the rate at which habitat turned into subdivisions and shopping was unreal.


This article should be required reading for every person who is moving to some small town in “the West” while trying to assure everyone they love the place as it is and don’t want to change it.

Pretty much the same in the Root. I love this place, been here mostly all my life, but it's getting to the point I don't want to be here. My family's place way North of Shelby is looking good. Gonna miss my wife though. mtmuley

 

[Northwoods Labs]

Montana isn't the only being loved to death unfortunately.....

 

[MlyHunter35]

20 years down the road is going to be very interesting to see what outdoor recreation looks like. Is it going to be flying to your favorite peak on your quad copter Jazzy? I sure hope not.

 

[one ate E grain]

Overuse isn't a bug, it's a feature. FS, BLM, Park Service, they all close and block off alternative places to park and funnel all traffic to their designated parking. Fewer places to patrol and clean up. They reduce or eliminate dispersed camping shunting everyone to camping cheek by jowl in places operated by rec.gov. Rec dot gov charges double what the FS used to, and pays some senior dirt poor wages and a free place to camp.

I'm an obsessive off trail hiker. 99% of our public lands are empty, but good luck parking and accessing them. Ya there's feces, big deal, if they closed an area for 3 years it would all have melted down and gone back into the dirt, but they can't do that because they've invested millions in sweetheart deals with rec.gov in the form of hard surface parking, one way traffic loops, state of the art pit toilets, and above all else fencing and toll booths to collect money to access the land we own. From a private for profit contractor.

We're in the midst of a pandemic, and one clean safe enjoyable activity is to recreate on our public lands, we even passed landmark funding bills to permanently fund the LWCF. So what do they do? How do they rise to the occasion? By closing public lands.

 

[Gabedenzine]

As a younger generation hunter, the stories I've heard from my dad and grandfather got me excited.
I still have opportunities now, but I fear if I have kids that they might have less chances and places as they get older...