Vandalism on Palmateer Trail #482

[underbucker]

Sometime between September 24 and October 29 vandals tagged over 200 trees on Trail #482, the Palmateer Trail, inside the Mt. Hood Wilderness Area. They used bright, florescent-orange spray paint to place circles, lines and arrows on trees, all between 7-8 feet high. Painted trees are very close together: 50-150'. It is heart-breaking to see all of these blighted trees in an otherwise pristine wilderness setting.

If you have any information which might be of assistance to help identify the individuals responsible for this vandalism please share it. If you would like to remain anonymous, send info to me via PM and I will forward it to Federal Law Enforcement.

Thanks for helping to keep Oregon wilderness wild!

Underbucker

[kepPNW]

Wow...

Well, I can help you narrow it down a bit, maybe. Woodswalker and I hiked that trail on 10/24/17, and didn't see anything like this then.

[underbucker]

Thank you. That narrows it down to a four-day window: 10/25 - 10/28. USFS will over-paint the orange tags to make them less visible.

[kepPNW]

That narrows it down to a four-day window: 10/25 - 10/28.

Or late-afternoon 10/24... We headed north from Upper Twin Lake about 12:30pm and got to Devils Half Acre about 3:30pm.

USFS will over-paint the orange tags to make them less visible.

Glad to hear that. So sorry there's a need...

[woodswalker]

So sad. We did see some faded red lines on lots of trees in a section coming down from Frog Buttes to Lower Twin Lakes. Maybe from last year? It seemed a bit too frequent for anything we could think of other than tree harvest?
Colette Grace

[underbucker]

Thanks, Woodswalker.

Forestry Tech from Hood River Ranger District already on site today. He started to paint over tags but ran out of paint there were so many. Hope we have enough dry days left to get the job done before snowfall. The visual impact is really appalling.

With luck, our hiker community can provide enough info to identify those responsible.

Underbucker

[retired jerry]

maybe use a propane weed flamer to burn them off?

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Dragon-VT-2- ... dpSrc=srch

[underbucker]

No flamethrower. I think we've had enough forest fires this year. Grey primer seems to be doing a good job of concealing.

Underbucker

[Chip Down]

I feel like I'm pointing out the obvious, but maybe it needs to be said:
This appears to serve as route markers for somebody who wants to hike or ski the trail when it's under snow.

While I'm sure nobody here would approve of this crude method, the words "vandalism" and "graffiti" probably carry unwarranted connotations.

Personally, I feel bad if I realize I failed to gather up all my flagging when I leave a difficult route. Hard to imagine what kind of sociopath could spraypaint trees with a clear conscience.

[retired jerry]

"No flamethrower. I think we've had enough forest fires this year. Grey primer seems to be doing a good job of concealing."

That wasn't a totally serious comment. I'm sure you get lots of "helpful" suggestions.

Those flamers are not flamethrowers, just a large propane flame. Definitely a risk of forest fire, but like if it was raining it would be okay. Some advantages over painting over it.

It's a shame people would paint trees like that.