greenjello85 wrote:This doesn't make any sense. If the rental isn't covering the cost of maintenence, why not just increase the rental fees? Everytime I've looked into one of these they have been booked out for months. Freaking MHNF.
My thoughts exactly, jello. Anything that books out six months ahead of time is obviously popular. Raise the cost $5 more per night or something but let's keep what we already have. But, the go-to move for MHNF always seems to be to decommission or defer rather than put forth a little effort. I was at the Zigzag RS recently and a guy came in and reported that when he was near Rock Creek, a giant truck pulled off the side of the road and a bunch of guys with rifles piled out of it and into the woods. The ranger behind the desk said to him, 'Well, first of all that's not our district. You will probably have to tell the people at Barlow. Second, it's not illegal to carry guns into the woods. But, if they are shooting someTHING they shouldn't, or someONE they shouldn't, well then we can do something about it.' After he left (looking fairly disheartened about the matter) I said, 'I couldn't help but overhear that conversation...' and she did a 'Yeah, can you believe he's bothering us with that?' face. I said, 'I would like to know at what point shooting someONE is acceptable?' She had nothing to say to that. And when the next person walked in and reported an intentionally-destroyed tree near Cast Lake, the ranger shrugged her shoulders like, 'So?' Even if there is nothing the ranger can actually do, discouraging someone from reporting future incidents by not even pretending to care really does send the wrong message.
In the past, I have thought some of the posters here were too harsh on an agency always strapped for funding and manpower, with enormous areas to cover. But I, too, have changed my tune in the last year after multiple incidents of incompetence (does it really take input from four rangers to figure out if the road to the extremely-popular trail at Trillium Lake is gated yet?); strict adherence to ridiculous agendas (such as forcibly removing the Owl Point signage and causing confusion as a result), and outright hostility like what I overheard.
Closing the Flag Point lookout, which provides an immersive experience for families to enjoy the outdoors, hurts all of us. The night my family stayed at the Clear Lake Butte lookout was the best and most unique experience we have had in the outdoors. Those kinds of experiences ensure that folks continue to see the value in public lands, and build the sort of stewards we will need in the future if we hope to retain our ability to recreate on our lands. It seems that with just a little effort and creativity from MHNF, maybe Flag Point could stay open.