Vandalism is a problem for all public lands. Experience has shown that
it doesn’t matter it if is the most highly managed piece of ground or a
beautiful back country byway far from civilization, stupid people are everywhere.
For example in 2010 there was a highly publicized act of vandalism at the Red
Rock National Conservation Area (NCA). I wrote about this in an article titled
Learning the Hard Way (http://www.savegoldbutte.com/2010/12/learning-hard-way.html)
. Gold Butte is not immune from
vandalism either with the most highly publicized incident with the digging up
of Art Coleman’s grave in 2014. These two BLM managed areas of public land are
at near opposite ends of the management perspective yet they both experience
vandalism.
The Red Rock NCA is the most visited BLM managed land in Southern
Nevada with visitor counts over 800,000 per year since 2008. The Red Rock NCA
is also the most highly managed BLM administered land receiving the most dollar
per acre expenditures for protection. Despite all the protections, rangers and
money spent on protection, vandalism still occurs in the Red Rock NCA. Gold Butte sees a small fraction of the visitation
that the Red Rock NCA does, as well as a fraction of the spending on this BLM
designated Area of Critical Environmental Concern. I speculate that if you
could reduce the numbers down to the lowest common denominator, the number of
people visiting and the dollars spent per acre in relation to the number of
vandalism events, the numbers would be proportional in comparison.
It may seem logical that the more we spend the more we can protect. I
don’t disagree that more money for public lands management wouldn’t be
beneficial however, the difficulty is in the details of the dollars and how
they are spent. Money alone is devoid of moral responsibility. Without a strong
sense of moral obligation to our history and a value alignment between the
managing agencies and the local communities, any additional money would be apathy
at its best. The issue is not the amount of money being thrown at the problem;
the issue is the course that public lands management is being directed in overall. So where
does the course correction start?
If we truly want to curb incidents
of vandalism towards cultural sites in our public lands then we need to start
in our local communities first. If local communities have a strong connection
to the land then they will take ownership and responsibility for ensuring its
conservation. For instance if local boy scout troops are encouraged to camp and
enjoy local public lands, those boys will grow up with fond memories of the
area and want to see it well-looked-after. These troops as well as other
service oriented organizations could also potentially become a resource for future
volunteer based projects in the area. Having our future leaders invested in the
multiple use landscape from an early age would be our best safeguard for public
lands.
Another way to help promote
local involvement is to get more school field trips funded to visit local
public lands. The rising generation needs to see and experience the geologic curiosities
and cultural sites within their local area. I remember as an elementary student
loading up in a big yellow bus and traveling out to Valley of Fire. One of our
stops was the petroglyphs at Atlatle Rock. I still remember to this day walking
up the long stair case to gaze into the etchings on the bright red sandstone and
thinking how cool they were. I didn’t
need to read from a text book why it was important to preserve these ancient
drawings because I felt a personal connection with them at a young age
surrounded by my peers. We need more young people could connect to public lands
on an individual level and learn from seeing and experiencing history, local
culture and geology. More could be accomplished with one trip of the importance
of protecting cultural sites than ever could in a classroom or by threat of
fines.
Getting the local community
involved in public lands management really is not an insurmountable barrier to
overcome however the task is a shared responsibility. The federal agencies
involved that manage these public lands and their policies have to create an
environment that encourages and even allows this type of relationship. This is an area where the federal government
is failing horribly and quickening their pace at doing so.
For example as a young
scout we use to have many camporees and overnighters in the Virgin Mountain
area including White Rock and Whitney Pockets. Less than two decades later after
receiving my Eagle Scout and now being involved with scouting we cannot have
these same types of activities within the parameters set by the BLM. Another
example is when the Virgin Valley Stake wanted to do a youth Pioneer handcart
trek where part of the route crossed over the Gold Butte ACEC but couldn’t due
failed policy and inadequate bureaucracy which deters instead of encourages
local connections to history and public lands. Many of the youth who would have
been involved with the trek had pioneer ancestors who did cross this land in a
wagon to help settle this land. Another example is when we put on the ST.
Thomas celebration to commemorate our local heritage and the Park Service
stymied the permit process and blatantly downplayed our community’s connection
to ST Thomas. There are many more local examples from just the Southern Nevada
region and this is certainly not a regional issue. This is failed federal
administration in action.
The trust of the local
communities in the federal government’s ability to manage our public lands is
eroding at an ever quickening pace. The feds are responding by cutting out the
need to call on the communities input on their policies and the sidestepping
communities with the implementation of those policies. It is this ever eroding chasm that will be
the downfall of the diversity found within our public lands across the west. The
more the feds work to circumvent local communities and culture the harder time
they will have at maintaining public lands.
Local land managing
agencies need to be more attentive to local community values and align their
managing practices to encompass and protect the values that are important to
the local communities. It is true that the public lands were created to be
enjoyed by all who want to share in their beauty but that does not mean that narrow
special interest groups should be given the same credence as those who chose to
live, work and play locally and strive be involved in public lands management on
a daily basis.
If we want
vandalism to stop, if we want the next generations to appreciate the cultures and
the relics left behind upon the landscape then it is up to all parties involved
to work together to protect all aspects of our public lands. Public lands
management is most successful when starting from the local office and reporting
progress on up, not top down mandates with one size fits all policy directives
from a political appointee burdened with cost of what it takes to get to the
top.
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