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from the blame-it-on-the-guy-with-a-blue-ox? dept.
Joshua Tree national park 'may take 300 years to recover' from shutdown
The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take hundreds of years to recover from damage caused by visitors during the longest-ever government shutdown.
"What's happened to our park in the last 34 days is irreparable for the next 200 to 300 years," Curt Sauer said at a rally over the weekend, according to a report from the Desert Sun. Sauer retired in 2010 after running the park for seven years.
The park reopened Monday after the record 35-day shutdown, and park workers returned to a state of chaos, including damaged trees, graffiti and ruined trails. The reduced ranger supervision during the shutdown saw increased vandalism at the park, causing officials to announce on 8 January that Joshua Tree would temporarily close. It was announced a day later that officials were able to use recreation fee revenue to avoid the closure.
"While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure," said park spokesman George Land in the news release.
Related: Cost to Enter National Parks Will More Than Double
(Score: 5, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday January 30 2019, @10:12PM (22 children)
At the rate it's being damaged, the entire Earth may take thousands of years to recover. At least JTNP won't look out of place.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday January 31 2019, @12:17AM (21 children)
The vandalism certainly is regrettable. But the incessant need to connect it to the Narrative of "Orange Man Bad" is pathetic. Vandalism at the national parks happens all the time, even when the government is not shut down and everything is fully staffed by rangers. Pretending it doesn't defies experience and common sense.
For example, there are the miscreants who destroyed a natural bridge at Arches National Park a few years back (fortunately those guys were caught). Every national park in the West suffers graffiti all the time. Yellowstone has had geysers clogged up by visitors throwing their trash into them; visitors jump off the boardwalks next to prismatic pools all the time despite signs every 10 feet warning them not to.
I grew up in the middle of those places and love the natural wonders of the West--there really is no place on Earth quite like it--so it makes me sad and angry every time I read of such incidents. People suck.
On the bright side, the works of man are mostly ephemeral. Once we stop messing with it, nature quickly reclaims what is hers. Look at how wildlife around Chernobyl has rebounded.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stretch611 on Thursday January 31 2019, @12:38AM (7 children)
At what point is anyone in here blaming Trump? I did not notice his name or any reference to him in the summary, the original article, or any comment other than yours. (as of the time of my writing this anyway,)
While the shutdown was mentioned, there was no reference to any opinion on who/which side caused the shutdown. And to be quite honest, the shutdown was mentioned because it was the cause of the destruction.
So, tell me, which reference am I missing?
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday January 31 2019, @02:00AM (4 children)
Istartedi says I started it. He calls me the Instigator. Meaning the guy that starts something. And I did start it, very proudly. I'm a tremendous negotiator -- the best. But it's almost impossible to negotiate with OBSTRUCTIONISTS.
We need Wall, we need Border Security. But for so long we didn't have the votes in the Senate, the 60 votes we need. For so long I talked to Chuck & Nancy -- nothing but OBSTRUCTION. For almost 2 years. Then -- Midterm Elections. Massive Red Tide. We won tremendously -- everyone who took the Embrace. We won the Senate. We won Indiana and North Dakota. And I thought, beautiful opportunity. I'm a businessman. And in business, I learned the difference between opportunity and success. And our wonderful new Congress is an opportunity.
So I said to Chuck & Nancy, come to White House. Let's talk. With the cameras rolling -- we call it transparency. They came to my house. And I told them, we can go two routes with this meeting. With a knife or a candy. And I passed out the magnificent candy -- very luxurious, very delicious. I didn't show them the knife. But I passed out the candy, I said knife. So they knew I had the knife, right? And I had Mike Pence there. So it wouldn't be two against one. We call it smart negotiation. It's a lot like Diplomacy. But, no translator.
But, obstruction. They told me, do the C. R. Or do the shutdown. The Trump Shutdown, they called it. I said, I'll take it. And I said, I'm very proud to shut down our government for Border Security. For Wall. One way or the other it's going to get built. Border Security is extremely important. More important than anything. The people of this Country don't want criminals, Radical Islamic terrorists (prayer rugs) and people w/lots of problems & Drugs poring into our Country. So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame the Dems for it. The last time Dems shut it down, it didn't work. If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other through you or the Military or anybody else, yes. I will shut down the government. I'm going to shut it down for Border Security.
I shut it down, very successfully. And we're building the Wall. We have a large section of Wall going up in Texas. 112 miles. So beautiful. And with $5.7 billion we can get a lot more built. We need it. And we're going to get it. America First!!!
(Score: 2, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @02:34AM
-1 tiresome
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @03:21AM
So, I'm guessing you are just a troll. you don't give a shit about anything, save your own dim-witted view of the world. I can understand why you have sympathy for Trump.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @03:40AM (1 child)
Hmm, maybe a WALL around the Joshua Tree NP would have kept the (American) idiots out. Maybe approve and re-purpose the wall project?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:41AM
Just give it to Mexico, it's cheaper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday January 31 2019, @04:49AM (1 child)
**I** will blame him, as I just did in my recent post above -- because past policy has been to close the National Parks during shutdowns, but it got a lot of bad press last time in 2013 (closed gates of national parks were sort of the "face of the shutdown" in the media), so clearly Trump wanted to avoid that.
Yeah, I'll blame him. Does vandalism occur at other times? Sure. But the level of crap (literal as well as figurative) that happened here is at least partly on his head.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:43AM
ya know I can't tell whether
a) the level of crap pulled by vandals during the shutdown was higher then usual (let along how much higher), or
b) the level of media attention to crap pulled by vandals during the shutdown was higher then usual, or
c) a combination of both of the above
but given the pattern of media attention I've observed during the trump presidency I wouldn't be at all surprised of being in situation b
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @01:02AM (1 child)
Reminds me of that show Life After People, which showed what would (speculatively) happen to various parts of the world if all humans were to instantly disappear. That show really warmed the cold heart of a misanthropic curmudgeon like myself.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday February 01 2019, @04:21PM
Yeah, and according to that show, most cities are going to be damn near gone within 300 years, and even the freakin Sphinx might only survive for 500...I guess if they filmed it today they'd be talking about this wonderous graffiti at Joshua Tree that's going to be around for several hundred years...
< /sarcasm...mostly >
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @01:21AM
You're falling off the edge faster every day.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday January 31 2019, @01:31AM (3 children)
Weren't those faked [sltrib.com]?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday January 31 2019, @06:16AM (2 children)
If you read your link you'll see that while the particular videos cited were presumable fake, the damage was real.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:16AM (1 child)
You mean the bit that says "[...] Arches National Park, where no formations have been reported to be destroyed"?
There's general complaining about vandalism, but nothing that says the arches and hoodoos in the video were actually destroyed.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday January 31 2019, @05:07PM
I read that article as a reporting a lot more actual destruction than you seem to, but we agree on what the words are.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 31 2019, @02:00AM (5 children)
President Trump claimed responsibility for the shutdown. He really does not need your attempt to defend him (although his name is mentioned ZERO times in TFA).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Troll) by Phoenix666 on Thursday January 31 2019, @02:56PM (4 children)
I'm not defending him, but rather saying that blaming him for everything under the sun is childish and tedious. Even if he is not mentioned by name in TFA, the implication is clearly there. It's the current Left's version of a dog whistle. It's not cute; it's not clever; and it's risky because it absolves everyone of responsibility for the act, the vandals, and the people around them who don't restrain or report them.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:10PM (1 child)
So putting the responsibility where it belongs is childish and tedious? Lack of rangers to supervise the park due to a government shutdown 100% owned by Trump is a dog whistle?
Possibly, now stay with me here, just possibly people see the shitty behavior of the president having consequences in the real world and they are angry about it.
"Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different, or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup."
There is no secrecy needed, no one needs to hide their disdain for Trump or speak covertly about his shitty actions. There are two groups to blame here, the vandals themselves are #1, then the POTUS and his turtle companion.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:44PM
The vandalism is the fault of the vandals, not of Trump. When Obama was president and the parks were not shut down, vandals vandalized the parks. When Bush was president and the parks were not shut down, vandals vandalized the parks. Vandals vandalize the parks, rangers or no rangers.
It seems clear that you have no real grasp of how national parks work, how rangers operate, or how vast the territory is they have to cover. I have seen tourists go off-trail and leave garbage next to prismatic springs 100 yards from Old Faithful lodge, which has about the greatest concentration of rangers and park employees in the national park system. The litterbugs were not caught. The rangers don't stand next to every feature and patrol every length of path because there are far too many features and countless miles of trails. You would have to hire a force of the size of an army to patrol even the most popular areas of that one park.
So let's just stop with the churlish "Orange Man Bad" nonsense in connection to every event in the world. It's tiresome.
The vandals committed the crime, so blame them. I hate that they despoil our natural heritage, and hope they are caught and spend decades in jail.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:48PM (1 child)
The story is about damage caused as a result of the shutdown. It was Trump's shutdown, all 100% of it. "I will be the one to shut it down. I will take the mantle. And I will shut it down for border security." In fact, he was proud to shut it down. Remember how there was a funding agreement ready to go before Christmas, then Coulter made him change his mind and leave McConnell out to dry?
Of course every shutdown story is going to implicate Trump, you dumbass! He is the reason there was one in the first place.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:47PM
No, it does not implicate Trump. The people who vandalized the parks are implicated by the vandalism. They are responsible for the crime.
They also vandalize all the time, government shutdown or not. There's no delta there.
Washington DC delenda est.