Re: [Paddlewise] Peace River experience-long

In a message dated 11/8/99 10:12:48 PM, dkruger_at_pacifier.com writes:

<< The part which locks me up, though is this: if paddlers (fat, skinny,
red-necked or green-necked -- makes no difference) abuse shorelines in the way
Peter alleges, I would not blame landowners and/or public officials if they
shut down camping.  We have lost camping on the ocean beaches round here for
EXACTLY that reason.  That is where I also disagree with Bob.  If others are
so negligent that MY opportunity to use a public resource is eliminated, then
it does become a concern of mine. >>

This is an issue that goes to the heart of all public uses of property from 
the use of private property to the use of public lands. As far as I am 
concerned, my right to use any facility ends when it infringes on another's 
right to peacefully use that facility. Obviously, in such a broad statement 
there are lots of exceptions. One is when the prevailing culture of that 
place is such that it offends some, then they probably should know this is a 
place they don't want to recreate and find another. If you don't like gay 
beaches, don't go where men hold other men's hands. OTOH, if the use offends 
the owners of the properties effected, they have a primary right to control 
how it is used up to a point. Use of the shores is a privilege, not a right. 
Privileges always carry obligations and in this case it is caring for the 
places we use and using them so that they are available for all to use, not 
just your kind.

> Do the "rednecks" have any less right to enjoy their pastimes on their
> river, then we do? It's a tough question with no easy answer...
    I don't think it is at all hard to answer. The rivers aren't "their" 
rivers but rivers that belong to all of us. Common courtesy should dictate. 
Of course, there are a lot of people who don't know what that means. That is 
why we lose our privileges to use them.
    The "vacation" mentality that overtakes people who are camping is 
astounding. They do things they would never do if they had to face the 
neighbors the next day. There is a wide gap between a legal right and a 
social right. I do not know that society has granted anyone the right to keep 
others awake all night, to litter, or to destroy public property. I do know 
the law proscribes such behaviors. Just because there is no litter patrol out 
on the river doesn't make it right that they leave their dropping all over 
the place. Just because there is no cop to tell them to turn it down doesn't 
make it right that they spend the night at 120 decibels.
    In the case of public parklands, there are more and more people demanding 
access to them. That is one reason our sport is growing at such a tremendous 
rate. If we want to use these lands we must, as Dave Kruger said, "be 
vigilant" that the behavior of the few doesn't take from us all the privilege 
of using the shores of the national waterways. We have to speak up and have 
our side of the story heard.
    That goes beyond the governmental bodies we should communicate with. It 
goes to informing people like the outfitters of the issues of the way they 
run their businesses. I know a number of these outfitters are young men just 
starting out and they haven't thought this all the way through. They have an 
image of a floating party. They need to be encouraged to think beyond the 
current season if they want to stay in business. Private put-ins can have 
sings reminding people of the obligations that go hand in hand with the 
privilege of using the rivers, such as do not litter, just as many of the 
public parks do.
    If we look like we are loosing the use of the shores we need to speak to 
the cause of that lose. We can loose it to closure or because other people 
using the land and rivers make it either unappealing or dangerous, as well as 
by overt legislation such as posting the shores. We must speak to these 
issues or those with louder voices will have us confined to small circles of 
water that have no shore and that no one else wants to use.
    That is why I plan to go to the hearing on Friday to speak to the issue 
of Sunday hunting in Maryland. Just last Saturday it sounded like WWIII while 
paddling a half mile on the Potomac River. I don't want to stop the hunters 
but I do want one day when it is safe to ride my horse or paddle a boat. This 
is the only way I know to at least tell someone who makes these decisions 
what I want.
    The bottom line for use of any public space is that your space stops at 
my space. That is the only way society can function peacefully and as we have 
more and more people out there our "space" will bet smaller and smaller. That 
is the price of use of public places.

In a message dated 11/9/99 8:35:39 AM, BDenton_at_aquagulf.com writes:
<< How do you define trash? My last trip in the 10,000 Islands National Park

area of the Glades I was camped out on a designated, reserved campsite. On

the other side of the Key were some young fishermen camping out, drinking

and having a great time. Their area is what I would consider totally

trashed, but it didn't bother them...


Think about it. There may be 250 drunken canoeists and 20 kayakers. Who's

river is it? Who's aesthetics should be followed? I would guess that the

real trash in that river is invisible, namely the contaminated runoff from

the campaign contributing untouchable sugar conglomerates. >>

    Trash is not an aesthetic issue alone but one of maintaining the 
intercity of an environment. Rusting cans leach into waterways. Those plastic 
thingys that hold the beer/soda cans trap birds, paper leaches chemicals into 
the water, plastic bags kill birds and other animals. Just the buildup of 
trash despoils the space. 
    In general, I'd bet that there are less than 2 drunken canoeists for 
every 2000 others using the space. Kayakers aren't the only users who want 
untrashed places to paddle in. Most people do not dump a lot of trash. It is 
the one or two bits they allow to fall to the ground as they travel. An apple 
core is no harm but the gum wrapper will be there for years. The soda can 
will be there even longer. It is the thoughtless dumping, like I see all time 
out of car windows.
    To retain the appeal and viability of the space to the majority of users, 
each user has to be responsible and be made aware that their personal 
behavior will directly effect the retention or closure of public spaces.

Joan Spinner
    
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