Re: [Paddlewise] Loss of Kayaking Areas on Vancouver Island. BC, Canada

I agree.

I have no experience with this set of owners. But I do have  
experience in similar situations with other tribes.
  Often kayakers are not a big enough deal to get much done. You are  
dealing with a tribe not an individual and in my experience that is  
dealing with a bureaucracy that is slow and inefficient. I agree that  
if they own the land there are not many alternatives. Personal  
relationships can work as they do in all of life, but coming in from  
the outside as an unknown and trying to get such permission is  
difficult. This is my experience.

Look at it from their point of view. Why should they give permission?  
Some kayakers are bad guests for one thing. As for $, I am not sure  
we represent enough of them to bother with.

I do not think it is a red and white thing. It is that land and  
beaches formerly in the public domain are now private. Now the  
owners, not the public, get to decide what to do. We no longer get a  
vote.

As for the "white thing to do", I am not sure what that is. The U.S.  
has placed a very high value on private property and the rights of  
the owner to do whatever he/she wants. If you paddle around the  
American San Juans, you find that the owners are generally aggressive  
about asserting those rights.

First Nation natives and kayakers have often been on the same side of  
the political divide.



On Nov 2, 2007, at 3:32 PM, Harvey Golden wrote:

> it seems to me that a good
> starting point would be to ask the new owners
> permission to use launching and camping sites.  I know
> its not the white thing to do, and we have a tried and
> true history of fixing such inconveniences with
> violence and rascism, but it might be a nice gesture.
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