Yes this is true, but even with stable population it will continue as long as endless drive for endless economic growth continues. Population is only part of the problem.
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Northern WI wolf attack
- Thread starter Blukanu
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"Annual net loss in rural lands." Maybe this depends somewhat on the location.
The percentage of urban land in the US is around 3%. That includes a lot of rural areas.
Why have managed the other 97%. I left the East Coast over 50 years ago because it was too settled and too private.
We have hundreds of millions of acres of National Forest. We have a similar amount of range lands managed by the BLM.
Nevada is 87% Federally owned land, mostly USFS, BLM and Wildlife Refuges with some military lands.
The acreage of designated wilderness areas continues to increase. Most of the USFS wilderness areas have been established, but there are hundreds of WSAs, Wilderness Study Areas under consideration for wilderness status in the BLM system.
Fifty miles south of Reno I have a small 2.5 acre homestead, but it is next to one million acres of BLM literally. We have had wild horses and bears in the yard.
I wish every person that lives in the East and the Midwest could do a road trip and drive around the West. I don't mean the National Parks which are now mostly loved to death. I mean the National Forests and BLM lands where you can camp with no one around. Where the gas stations are 100 miles apart.
The percentage of urban land in the US is around 3%. That includes a lot of rural areas.
Why have managed the other 97%. I left the East Coast over 50 years ago because it was too settled and too private.
We have hundreds of millions of acres of National Forest. We have a similar amount of range lands managed by the BLM.
Nevada is 87% Federally owned land, mostly USFS, BLM and Wildlife Refuges with some military lands.
The acreage of designated wilderness areas continues to increase. Most of the USFS wilderness areas have been established, but there are hundreds of WSAs, Wilderness Study Areas under consideration for wilderness status in the BLM system.
Fifty miles south of Reno I have a small 2.5 acre homestead, but it is next to one million acres of BLM literally. We have had wild horses and bears in the yard.
I wish every person that lives in the East and the Midwest could do a road trip and drive around the West. I don't mean the National Parks which are now mostly loved to death. I mean the National Forests and BLM lands where you can camp with no one around. Where the gas stations are 100 miles apart.
Yah, i've lived and camped and worked in remote areas all over the west. Everywhere the human foot print is spreading, nowhere is it getting smaller. Many places I go where it used to be desolate, now there's people. exurban development. Its actually worse in the West than it is in my part of the Midwest, but its now starting here too.
Drawing a line around a spot and calling it wilderness or park doesn't mean wilderness has increased. Those places were always there, and everywhere around it it is shrinking and getting fragmented and degraded and populated. Houses, dogs, murderous outdoor cats, lights, noise, people.
I used to hike and backcountry ski in a 2nd growth area a few miles from home. I never ever saw another human there, or a human footprint, or signs of a dog that wasn't a wolf. Well it got discovered. Foot trails were built. I went there and walked 100 yards before I stepped in dog crap. I haven't gone back. Since then, more trails have been built for mountain bikes. They widened the trails for skiing. Now they have groomed ski trails. A kiosk and bathrooms were added. People love it. People love it so much they move here and build new houses and driveways, fragmenting the forest even more. More people need more trails, of course. My friends go there, and tell me what great time they had. I want to punch them in the face.
Naturally the motorized crowd felt slighted, so a trail had to be built for them too.
Now a local group has formed to build MORE trails. Hiking trails, mountain bike trails, fat tire snow trails, ski trails. More, more more of everything. I don't know anywhere in the lower US the same things aren't happening or won't start happening. If there is such a place, don't tell us.
People don’t respect wilderness rules, especially at the state levels. Mountain bikes, ATVs, trail clearing, many prohibited activities are left to the discretion of the local DNR ranger. If rangers grew up doing those activities, possibly in the same area, they won’t enforce the rules. Even illegal dumping gets shrugged off.
The East vs West debate is obvious when it comes to this subject. There are lots of rural counties in the West that have lower populations now than they did 100 years ago. Nevada is one of the most urban states. That means few people live outside of Reno and Las Vegas.
Our wilderness areas tend to be large in the West. Past about 5-10 miles there are few people out there. The PCT would be an example of an exception. The National Parks are loved to death so I mostly avoid them. Finding solitude is easy.
Our wilderness areas tend to be large in the West. Past about 5-10 miles there are few people out there. The PCT would be an example of an exception. The National Parks are loved to death so I mostly avoid them. Finding solitude is easy.
Lotta half empty glasses in this thread.
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