Does leaving no trace restrict us

I've just listened to a podcast where the idea of "leave no trace" was seen as restrictive. The speaker sees humans as part of the environment as was happy to "leave positive trace". So, what's a positive trace, especially where you don't own the land and are sharing it with others. Are permanent firepits positive or negative? Each person has a different idea. This weekend 10 of us met on Dartmoor and had a good time, i certainly didn't feel restricted by making sure i left no trace. I could have left some land art or totem carved on a sheep's skull, but it would not have been to everyone's tastes. Even weaving a wicker man with Tall Martin's tent inside would not have been seen as positive by everyone. Especially Martin. No, we can each argue over what we think is positive improvements, but i don't own land and i pass through the environment like a shade, just like ancestors before me, at the whim of laird or chieftain. A mere footnote in the history books, the crofter, sailor, tiller of land, infantryman or driver. No pyramids or holidays to the likes of us. The least we can do is leave no trace on the environment as we pass its care on to the next generation.

In the snow of far-off Northern lands

I was reading Tom Managan's blog, catching up on the story of the mountain lion attack. Then something strange sunk into my brain. Baychic commented that "Alas, I am not allowed in that park either, amen." (source) Scrolling up the page, I read that "Foothills’ limit to Palo Altans".

So, off to find the park's website, and here's the details:

Foothills Park is open to Palo Alto residents and their guests only. Proof of residency is required. Guests must be accompanied through the entrance by a Palo Alto resident. Limit of 15 guests in two cars per resident. Names of guests cannot be left at the gate. Groups of 25 or more must make a reservation. (source)

Wow.

I looked for a reason. They turned Kurt Russell away for not being a resident (pdflink). In the "Ask a ranger" section, the question "Are only Palo Alto residents allowed in the park?" is answered, but not "Why?" A shame, as the rest of the worksheets are very, very informative. There's even one on the WW1 training camp that was there (pdflink), and some of the troops were sent on the Russian campaign - an oft forgot sideline in The Great War. IIRC, it was the only time that the USA and communist Russians were in open land warfare.

A short search with the terms "why restrictions residents foothills park" finds a good article on the history of the park in MetroActive, and some articles in the Palo Alto online from 2006 and 2007. Informative.

It is a quarter-to-Two in the morning. And it is dark in the Palo Alto hills. Link to the rotating webcam at Fire Station 8. No sign of the mountain lion.

Title sourced from the US Marine Corp's hymn, and used by Leo Daugherty III as the title of an article about the USMC and Revolutionary Russia. Investigate this further if you like your politics with a dash of confusion. White Russians. Red Russians. Germans. British. French. USA. Conscripted troops trying to get home. Weather.

Personal Wind Turbine

This came through on Kirou's newsfeed: the alternative power source HYmini is now available for purchase.

A quick search and there's a longer article on CoolHunting. I'm more interested.

I find the manufacturer's site: hymini.com

I finally see a photo giving me an idea of scale. I'm impressed. I want to see if I can secure it to a pack during the day and use it to generate and store power. Even tie it between 2 guylines overnight.

YouTube search brings up some good videos, for example, this one:

I want one for the next long hiking session. After 3-days, I get concerned about recharging the mobile phone. And finally, it looks like the output is via USB instead of some proprietary connection.

Landscapes as Living Spirit

From Jake Page's article "Sacred Ground" in "Native Peoples" magazine:

We had been profoundly privileged to join the Hopis on a pilgrimage they have made every four years or so since before memory to eight outlying shrines that denote the land that the Hopis feel spiritually responsible for, a vast area in northeastern Arizona. The elders had asked us to go on this pilgrimage to “document” it for National Geographic so the world would know of the Hopis’ responsibilities.
The priests prayed for the land and for the well-being of all living things that dwell there. Later they told us the pilgrimage had clearly been successful. Almost everywhere we had gone, it had rained the next day. So much rain fell around Grand Canyon Village after we passed through there that authorities had to close all the roads for 24 hours.

...

Tens of thousands of such holy places are gone, but thousands no doubt remain—modest little shrines here and there like those on the former Woodruff Butte—hidden in canyons, sitting atop high mountains and fronting our oceans. They include whole mountains, like the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, Arizona; entire mountain ranges, like the Crazy Mountains in Montana; as well as lakes, tiny springs still running in cities, and ancient burial sites.

I have purposefully removed the negative paragraphs. You can read yourself how one sacred place was used to make a road, or a landowner taking a bulldozer to another place. We humans are short-lived creatures - for good or bad, we seem to long to leave our mark on the landscape. Maybe we think that people will remember us for it? For good or bad.

Action Day: Environmental Issues

One of the main environmental issues that affects me directly is the destruction of the wild places in the UK. I may be viewed as selfish, but I don't see why massive pylons should be driven through scenery like this:

Alternatives arrangements can usually be found, whether skirting national parks, or underground, or via sea lines. These may be expensive in the first place, but if power companies were made to incorporate aesthetic losses in to their calculations, then the scales may balance differently.

We all need places to escape to, and Scotland employs a lot of people in the tourist industry. What happens to the local economy when tourists stop coming to see the likes of this?