Can you get arrested for hiking? You Bet.

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Three persons were handcuffed and arrested for hiking in the national park. WHY? There's a 4"x6" sign that says "Don't walk, hike or trespass on park grounds" Since when did park grounds become off limits?

And yes Doreen it was our friendly "well armed" ranger/nato guys.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 11, 2002

Answers

Kenneth I guess you don't understand, those people are tree terrorists and they were on there way to scratch the bark on that big oak down younder. really bad people!

National park? Lets see.....who owns that chunk of land??????.....nato?

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 12, 2002.


Jim it was down right scary to see park rangers pulling guns and arresting a mother, her son and two friends for "hiking without a permit". The locale gossip lady said they were fined $100 each for their trespassing.

That is so sad.

Yeah I bet they even scratched their name on the rocks too. :o)~

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 12, 2002.


This sure seems to have gone way over the edge..

Question is what can/should/will be done about this???

Why is there no hiking/walking allowed???.......strange!! Ya can't walk in a Nat. park.....is it gonn'a hurt the Ky. blue grass?

Kenneth is there any you can follow up on this? I'm really curious.

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 12, 2002.


Kenneth, what Nat. Park was it? I have land and family in Transylvania County, and our land borders on three sides with Pisgah National Forest. I'm curious to find out about this!

-- Uncle Jake (jakesimmons@charter.net), January 13, 2002.

Just another example of the politically correct enviromentalists, who wish that there were no people on the earth to mess up the pristine perfectness of nature.

Folks this kind of stuff is going on everywhere, unfortunately most of it never gets published. Every year there are more restrictions on using OUR (Not the governments) national parks and wildlands. Soon they will be unavailable to the "PUBLIC". Only those who truly care about mother nature (politically correct envirmentalists)will be allowed into these sanctuaries .

This political correctness stuff has got to stop. I read a quote recently that explains why political correctness seems to be accepted by many people. "Political correctness, at its core, is intimidation." David Kupelian. It took a little while for the thought to really sink in, but when it did I could see that he was totally correct on this .

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.



I can understand getting permits in order to avoid overuse of land (the trail going up Mt. Whitney is often referred to as "the subway" because so many people are on it), but they shouldn't be more than $1. Same with county and regional parks, which often charge for cars but not for walk-ins. Well, I'm sorry, but not everyone is within walking distance of a park. Parks should be open to all.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 14, 2002.

Why ban hiking? Environmentally it is far less damaging than those yahoos running around tearing up the scenery on their ATV's. Why not go after THOSE people?

-- Nexar (Arax7@mvn.net), January 14, 2002.

Why ban hiking?

Because they can. It suits their purpose. They don't want anybody on this land.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.


Kenneth, is there a website for this story? While it does sound awful on the face of it, as with any story there are two sides. The "local gossip lady" may not have all of the details.

For example, they could have been off the trail--there are lots of fragile areas that get damaged when people hike and camp off trail. Many people ignore permit rules (which really are there to make sure parks do not get overused, although they should not be so expensive) and contribute to overuse of the park. And so on.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 15, 2002.


Yes Bob in Wi......Beware of the extremist's.....they keep inching away at these sort of things..Komrad Klinton wanted to close the gates on some of the parks!

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 15, 2002.


It happened on the cusp of the property just purchased by the Kings Mountain National Park. Other than the locale bit I've not seen any more on it. The "Gossip Lady" is usually more accurate than 85% of newspapers. She has a lot of time on her hands.

This doesn't surprise me as much as it used to.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 16, 2002.


I'm currious..where's Kings M.N.P.

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 17, 2002.

Sorry, but I'm very skeptical that you can't "walk, hike or trespass on park grounds". This sounds like false reporting. I hike all over parks and national forests all the time. Sure, there are some areas off limits (like the rangers' front yards, for instance), but I will have to see proof that there is some national park where there is no hiking allowed in a widespread sense.

I do agree, however, that there are more and more restrictions on our use of public lands. Some are for good reason, some not. (In MY opinion, as only one person)

An example of "bad" rules: the USFS started requiring a pass to use many trails in the NF's. They claimed they wanted to sell these passes to pass the cost of using the trails on to the users of the trails. I'm ok with that, just as soon as they quit taking my tax dollars to maintain the parks and national forests.. Right!

Then it turned out that the law allowing the NF's to charge us to hike on these trails only allowed the NF to do this on a small number of trails, and the NF charged on many t imes as many as they were supposed to. Think they'll reimburse us (not me, actually, as I refused to pay) for their illegal charges? Maybe. I doubt it. They should fire the people who did this, though.

Over the last thirty years, the fed govt has been gradually making it harder and harder, and more and more expensive, to float the wild and scenic potion of the Rogue River, in my neighborhood. The reason is allegedly so that they can provide us with a "better experience" when we float the river. Also, to prevent overuse of the river corridor. I agree with the overuse part, as there are so many people floating the river, even with the restrictions, that there are huge "toilet paper gardens" all around most camping areas. And there are few camping areas, since hte river is mostly canyons, without beaches.

Gotta go; Floriduh, here I come!

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 18, 2002.


I don't agree with fees to cover the cost of trail maintenance. There are lots of prisoners (and people who could perform community service) who could be doing this work, and, if you made it easier for people to use the national parks (by NOT charging to get in) in the first place, the trail maintenance would truly be minimal, as the trails would be kept clear by walking on them. Duh.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 18, 2002.

Plop down $20, Get your eye scan and thumb print......ah we need to take a quick look into your backpack...ah- you know there's no pocket knives allowed in the park.....Ok then, your now free to walk the park! And oh yes- thanks for walking with us!

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), January 18, 2002.


joj I challenge you to VISIT. I live in the middle of this "FREE" park. You can camp out in my front yard. I'll personally deliver you to the trail head. After that if you have left $165 bucks with me I'll come bail you out of jail. Nuff Said.

I report only things I see first hand or hear from relaible sources.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 22, 2002.


Kenneth, don't get your tit in a wringer! How about you just tell me what the name of this national park is, and a bit more about the situation there? I just got back from the east coast yesterday, so I don't think I want to come camp out in your front yard just now.

You mentioned your willingness to take me to the "trail head". Aren't trailheads there for people to take walks on trails? I'm confused. But please do tell the name of this park. I'll volunteer to check it out electronically.

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 25, 2002.


Kings Mountain National Military Park Antioch, SC 864-936-7921

joj I get pissed when it is infered that I would LIE. That'd not my style. If I report something and I make an error I'm the first to admit it. I tried to find something using Google search engine but didn't find any articles on it. Then again I couldn't find anything on the woman that was murdered right here on our road either.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 25, 2002.


Go ahead and get pissed, if it makes you feel better. I don't know you from a lump of coal, so don't take it personally, if you think I defamed you.

Ya'know, your original post referred to a "national park"; not a naitional military park. I am clueless as to what a national military park is, nor would I be particularly interested in visiting one, I suspect. Nevertheless, it does appear somewhat oxymoronic that they would prohibit hiking at a "trailhead"!

I'll go see if I can't find some info.

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 25, 2002.


Here's the scoop on the park:

Lots of camping, horseback riding trails, hiking swimming, a museum, etc. I wonder if you were in some restricted area where they were digging for the bones of Robert Lee or someone?

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 25, 2002.


Nope joj that's the POINT! the park recently changed all the rules. Since the Sept 11 incident they have restricted all hiking on the "approved" trails. That is what I said was Strange.

As for getting pissed I don't know you well enough to get pissed and I know how to NOT post.

I've gotten private e-mails from people that didn't want to get flamed here about similar things happening in other state parks.

joj personally I suggest if your near any of these parks you read the 4x6" blue and white sign. Other than that have a nice day.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 25, 2002.


Since Sept.11 huh? Sounds to me that it can be traced back to this whole "War on Terror" business more than it can be traced back to the desires of some over-zealous environmentalist.

-- Nexar (Arax7@mvn.net), January 26, 2002.

Now that's an interesting scenario. Making the world safe for us amerycuns. Let's prevent those damned terrorists from sneaking up on us through all the national parks! By god, we'll just fine them a hundred bucks apiece if they don't follow the rules!

Sounds like a very sensible plan, brought to you by John Asscropped.

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 28, 2002.


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