The failure of the Bureau of Land Management in the Wee Thump Wilderness (and other areas)

We are in the Wee Thump Wilderness. To camp here we must adhere to a fairly strict set of rules. That makes sense in terms of what a wilderness is:

From the BLM web site:

What is “Wilderness”?
Wilderness is a legal designation designed to provide long-term protection and conservation of Federal public lands. Wilderness is defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964 as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain…Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;

So what is the issue?

Cattle.

In all wilderness areas cattle are allowed to roam freely, completely obliterating the definition of a wilderness according to the wilderness act. We have seen the effects. Trampled natural grasses, cow pies that take decades to degrade, eating of plants that animals need.

Why is this allowed? And why the glaring exception made for cattle ranchers? They don't pay for the privilege of destroying our natural areas--the amount of money we receive for leasing the land doesn't even cover the administrative costs. It is a form of public welfare. The cattle aren't needed to feed us--only about 2% of cattle raised for market are raised on public land.

It is political. And cowardice by the BLM and our elected officials (no surprise there).

The Wee Thump has one of the few old growth forests of Joshua Trees left anywhere. They only grow about 1/2 inch per year. Some of the trees here are hundreds of years old.

The hypocrisy of creating a big set of rules for hikers like us, along with fines if we don't obey the rules, and allowing cattle ranchers to destroy the land and the Cliven Bundys to go for years amassing fines they don't pay is not lost on us.

It is beautiful and quiet here. We took a wonderful hike into this desert today. Now we'll clean the cow crap off of our feet and fix dinner.

 

Posted with Blogsy