How Overlanders are Ruining Overlanding

[Kevin108]

I'm sorry...overlanding certificate? Overlanding CERTIFICATE?!?

Only in Germany would they think of such a thing.

And Massachusetts...
To drive and camp on the Cap Cod National Seashore, you have to have your vehicle inspected beyond that of the normal annual inspection. Among other things, they have to make sure you have 4 wheel drive and that you have a (wooden) platform wide enough that your Jack wont sink into the sand should you need it.
.there are rules and etiquette also

Inn NC, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park has been usurped from the locals by certain activist groups and an out of state judge. What we were able to enjoy freely driving for more than a century now requires government training and decals purchased via onerous fees. Once a beloved destination I frequented, I no longer visit.

 

[Kent R]

I don't think it is fair to say only in Germany.

California requires you to take an online class to get your campfire permit.

If you give the bureaucracy a chance, they will regulate the fun out of everything. Self-regulating is the best if we can be consistent about it.

Just to be clear the campfire permit takes about 5 min on line and if you dont have time to do that you can drop by a CalFire or Forest Service fire station and get one.

 

[DintDobbs]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that SOME restrictions ARE necessary. Necessary restrictions vary according to region, landforms, wildlife, weather conditions, etc., but some are needed everywhere.

The problem that WE as consumers face is that the restrictions which the authorities devise for the supposed function of mitigating the issues caused by illegitimate users, in stead inconveniences the legitimate users enough that we abandon use altogether, and leave the areas in question to just the illegitimate users.

Of course we all know that this is the opposite of the intended effect, but the legislators look at the resulting destruction and say, "Our restrictions were not enough! Time to restrict the good guys some more, in hopes of stopping the bad guys that we're inviting in!"

This logic is not exclusive to our sport/hobby/lifestyle. It happens to fit nearly all new legislation since about the turn of the millennium.

 

[North American Sojourner]

I ran into this yesterday morning on my rounds. Rules say I can't enter the site until checkout time.
If the rule makers make it harder to enforce the rules, where do we go?
Zim

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I ran into this yesterday morning on my rounds. Rules say I can't enter the site until checkout time.
If the rule makers make it harder to enforce the rules, where do we go?
Zim
View attachment 265792

In fairness, Zim, theoretically they could return to the site any time before checkout, and clean up (um...) If the maid saw my hotel room at 9 or 10 am she'd be appalled!

 

[John_Dillon]

I was out testing my new setup this weekend, when a truck with a full bedload of junk came up the one way in/out trail I was on.
I think my presence alone detered them from dumping a truckbed full of stuff.
People can just be jerks. I dont know how to "fix" it. If it even can be fixed. But i know that I can do my part, clean up what i can, and not destroy. And teach others to do the same when possible.

 

[Loanrangie]

I was out testing my new setup this weekend, when a truck with a full bedload of junk came up the one way in/out trail I was on.
I think my presence alone detered them from dumping a truckbed full of stuff.
People can just be jerks. I dont know how to "fix" it. If it even can be fixed. But i know that I can do my part, clean up what i can, and not destroy. And teach others to do the same when possible.

Thats all you can do, unfortunately the morons ruin it for the rest of us that respect the outdoors and want to save it for the next generation and so on.
This is not confined to overlanders , there are just as many day trippers and weekend warriors that wreak havoc as well.

 

[A.K. Forister]

Let’s start by arresting, fining and incarcerating ”Influencers“ into oblivion.

While I think arresting and incarcerated people for being influencers is a stretch, I agree that what they do contributes to many problems. There was a lightly used trial to a ghost town that we liked to visit every summer. Last summer, a popular youtube overlander posted a video of a trip to this ghost town. It's not that this place was hidden or anything, but there were many other trails around it, and you had to really want to go to this place because it was so out of the way. His video named the place and how to get there, showed all of the buildings still standing, etc. He did say it was on private property and to please respect the trail, the structures, blah, blah. Well, predictably, it was overrun this summer and damaged, and now it's closed. So thanks youtube overlander. You benefitted from one of our favorite places, and that action led to the rest of us losing access.

 

[DintDobbs]

@ThundahBeagle @North American Sojourner I nearly said some thing similar - it could also be that somebody left their trash bag to go hike or some such, and raccoons/bears/other animals found it and got in.

Sadly, this is also its own problem, caused by the uneducated and ill-prepared.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Like the guy who stranded his brand new GMC Canyon AT4 up on Decalibron trail in Colorado?