[Rob del Desierto]

I know that this has been discussed dozens of times, especially on a certain Grand Canyon topic. I thought I would post this here, however. It is a NYT article talking about how we all need to be responsible for ourselves in the outdoors, and not rely on rangers/NPS/USFS to make our experience safer.
One quote:

the more rangers try to bring the nanny state to public lands, the more careless, and dependent, people become. There will always be steep cliffs, deep water, and ornery and unpredictable animals in that messy part of the national habitat not crossed by climate-controlled malls and processed-food emporiums. If people expect a grizzly bear to be benign, or think a glacier is just another variant of a theme park slide, it’s not the fault of the government when something goes fatally wrong.

Full article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... nny-state/

[paulhubbard]

it’s not the fault of the government when something goes fatally wrong.

Some democrats I know would argue that the republicans are to blame...

[azbackpackr]

it’s not the fault of the government when something goes fatally wrong.

Some democrats I know would argue that the republicans are to blame...

Well, isn't it?

[azhiker96]

Bleah, Democrats or Republicans. Neither have done much to prevent this kind of lawsuit. With the way our deficits and debt are going it may not matter soon anyway. The government can put them at the end of the list of creditors.

I can't control others but if I'm killed by a wild beast in the wilderness and any survivors file a wrongful death lawsuit, I'll come back and haunt them!

[Rob del Desierto]

Must be election season when D vs. R comes into play so soon. Those of you who are my friends on Facebook know how I feel about Ron Paul(-), but that's neither here nor there. The point in the paper is more germane to prior HAZ discussions on how backcountry trails should be managed. I remember a particular topic about Horseshoe Mesa and backpacker magazine. Couldn't find the thread to bring that old topic back from the dead.

[WilliamnWendi]

Must be election season when D vs. R comes into play so soon

I thought for sure Gun Rights would have been first!

[RedRoxx44]

Backcountry 101--Look at maps, several sources, look online, read up whatever resources you can find; old articles, books are best--historical, then more recent guidebooks, talk to old ranchers, locals, miners, other hikers, etc, then---
prepare for all of that to be wrong, changed, washed out, impassable, illegal, longer, harder than you thought. Then you'll be ok

[kingsnake]

Must be election season when D vs. R comes into play so soon.

There's needs to be a political equivalent of Godwin's Law ...