Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: dhancock on September 30, 2013, 07:15:28 pm
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I'm heading to Mark Twain National Forest near the end of this month. I'm thinking about staying at Hercules Glades Wilderness. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions for the area? This is the website that I found with the most information: http://www.ouachitamaps.com/Hercules.html. Information seems to be short on areas like this.
Duh... I guess it isn't Yosemite. :)
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Looks like the Tea Party has effectively shut down anything in US with "National" in its title.
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It seems to be that way. Though I know National Parks are closed, I am not sure if the National Forests are closed. Needless to say, I do wonder how much money the government is saving by shutting down the national monuments, on which they don't seem to do maintenance on anyway, like the WWII monument. I think they are just trying to make the people feel the "effect of the shutdown," while those in control continue other parts of the government as normal - like their own paychecks. Not that I want to get into politics, but all parties could be blamed in their own way for being stubborn. I do wonder if there are any completely truthful politicians in the upper seats of government. Of course, I have more of my opinions, but let's not get into those. ;D They don't have much to do with the art of photography. :-X
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It seems to be that way. Though I know National Parks are closed, I am not sure if the National Forests are closed.
National Forests and BLM lands are officially closed and law enforcement rangers ARE on duty. The same goes for the parks but there access is easier to regulate, and there are rangers at entrance stations to turn people away. Basically if you're in a Nat'l Forest and meet a ranger you'll just be told to leave. If it happens twice you'll get a citation. We got to Grand Teton on 9/30 and everything started shutting down on 10/1. Things weren't sealed tight until 48 hrs later... the time allowed for those in lodges to make other arrangements.
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These links indicate National Forests and BLM lands are open:
http://www.ianplant.com/blog/2013/10/02/the-nature-photographers-guide-to-the-u-s-government-shutdown/
http://www.tracyhphotography.com/blog
Dave Jolley
http://www.pbase.com/hockingphotos
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Well... a few hours before I posted that reply I was told by someone camping on Nat'l Forest Service land that he was told to leave due to the shutdown, and the ranger said citations were being issued. Of course I don't know this person so maybe he was making things up. I also noticed that pull-offs located along the main highway in Grand Teton that were barricaded on 10/2 were no longer barricaded on 10/3. Note this is not the inner park road which is definitely closed, but the highway through the park between Jackson and Dubois that they can't close. It seems a bit like they're figuring this out as they go.
As for BLM:
http://www.doi.gov/shutdown/fy2014/upload/BLM-Contingency-Plan.pdf
Good luck.
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Thanks guys! I think I'll go ahead and see how it goes. Who knows how long this is going to last, but if I don't make myself obvious, I should be fine either way. At least, according to my conclusions. ::) I'll try to avoid those fireworks. :-\
Daniel
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When I worked for the Forest Service during the last three government shutdowns we stayed open. For the first two I even had to show to work in spite of being a non-essential employee!!
However, it appears that this administration is trying to make a point about the shutdown and making the Federal agencies toe the line. All Federal agencies with a couple of exceptions work for the President. Here in Washington state, the Park Service, is closing boat ramps in the middle of nowhere. The Park Service has always over-reacted to political events.
The closer you are to urban areas, the more likely it is that the Forest Service and BLM will follow closures since those sites are so politically visible. That is, the politicians notice and put pressure on the agencies to close public lands.
Out in Utah, and more rural areas the pressure is on the other side of the fence. So those areas will tend to stay open. To "legally" close public lands there have to be closure orders written and signed and POSTED. It is difficult to do in the event of an emergency like a fire.....but I guess political emergency is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT.
The one exception is the National Park Service. They are much more of a centralized and political follow the rules from their Washington office sooner rather than later.
The National Forests around my house are still open....but the office is closed.
Here is an article from Montana on the closures: http://missoulian.com/news/local/u-s-forest-service-workers-head-home-national-forests-remain/article_7abbed24-2ab7-11e3-bba4-001a4bcf887a.html (http://missoulian.com/news/local/u-s-forest-service-workers-head-home-national-forests-remain/article_7abbed24-2ab7-11e3-bba4-001a4bcf887a.html)
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Thanks, that answers that question. I appreciate your help Vladimir!