"Closing" Public Lands in the Off-Season

[Azurerana]

As opposed to just posting someone else's article, here is a topic starter:

What do you think of public lands being 'closed' in the off (non-typical tourist) season?

As cavers we're used to bat cave shutting when the cave is being used as a hibernaculum or maternity site. There's some rationale there: endangered species protection and so forth. (What got me to thinking about this is the many years Wyandotte Cave had year round tours, and the Indiana bats did just fine; now that it is state owned, it's closed in the winter. )Lynn R. just posted the article about Blue Spring being shut down to divers, though no one has presented any evidence that the divers, in reasonable numbers, adversely affect the manatees. One cave near St. Louis, Illinois Caverns, used to be wide open when privately owned; the owner gave it to the state of Illinois, which now enforces an 8 a.m to 2:30 open time(3:30 off the property )because they lock the gates, rule. Consequently, this cave which is 6-7 miles of passage, may no longer be explored entirely, simply because of lack of time (and cavers, for the most part, not being early risers).

Eugene and I just had a similar experience on Forest Service land Sunday. It was a beautiful November day--shirtsleeve weather. I ALWAYS want to go to geological sites in the fall and winter, to take photos, because the leaves are down. Anyway, we looked on the web, and the USFS site said the site was open April 1-Oct. 31. This is an hour and half drive, so we went anyway, to see how 'closed' it really is. Sure enough, big Closed for the Season sign at the US highway entrance. We drove about a mile down the road, and found a locked gate (and a parking area with a restroom--does that make sense?) It would be another mile hike all downhill to the site, and then a half mile hike from the closed campground to the feature of interest. As it was about 3 p.m., and we didn't know if the 3 mile hike would constitute trespass or not, we turned around.
Tuesday I talked with a USFS official who informed me the area was just closed to vehicular traffic--we were welcome to hike in, as they generally did not have vandalism problems with walk-ins. There was no such sign anywhere near the parking area, nor on the website. We'll probably go back, but earlier in the day. (If it ever quits sleeting around here.)
I'm getting a bit irked with the concept that if you aren't a lemming, and realize there are more seasons than tick season and chigger season and deer season, you are locked out of public land which we are paying for. What about people who work summers, and only have late fall and winter for leisure time? You many not be aware of this--for example--but there is next to no tent camping near Branson off-season--RVs and motelers--hey, come on down. But even the state park camping shuts down (one of the few state parks in Missouri to have no off-season camping. (Ok, off-season camping is bring your own water and use the privy, but so what? )
There is at least a month of good weather after Halloween, and often a month before April Fools day, plus, some people actually like to camp and hike when it is cool to cold. I had a GREAT time at Grand Canyon two years ago in December--hey there was snow there, too.
Comments? Am I just nuts? Who do I write letters to?

[Azurerana]

I'm answering myself to temporarily bump this article up. I really am interested what people think about this.

Azurerana

[Brian Roebuck]

Public lands should be open all season unless there is a very good reason to close it. I am sure the traffic is less during colder weather but as you point out with the leaves down you can actually see the land. I expect part of the reason they get closed is due to budget pressure on the people who are hired to patrol the lands. Some parks allow more access than others and this can be for many reasons. They have to monitor people going in and out, report traffic to the states, and do other tasks that likely make it harder to do in winter I suspect. All of them answer to somebody higher up though. Never underestimate the ridiculous schemes used by managers to measure how effective their staff may be. I digress.

Some caves and public places are closed for other reasons such as species protection etc. I usually do not have too much problem with this if it is known but in fact it often is not publicised due to fear of retaliation on the species or even the land managers. Often the public gets the least representation in such cases. The species being protected can provide a long lasting source of job opportunities for some of the folks involved. This is not a bad thing in itself but it can be easily abused. How many species have I heard that have made a documented come-back that are still listed as endangered? Should we still close their habitats and keep people out? Is the welfare of people who for example obtain water from a cave that has protected bats within even considered in the plans to protect those bats? The politics, government, and ethical reasons for sharing lands between the public and nature have become huge lately. Pressure is increasing to keep out greedy developers and incorporate wild areas into parks and natural areas. With this comes large government and rules. Rules are usually made by people distant from the actual lands who are not interested so much in public welfare and recreation as their own career opportunities. It is sad and unfortunate that often this appears to be the case. Thankfully some rangers and land managers have sense to balance public land use in creative and open ways. They do it because they love the land and want the rest of us to share in that experience. It makes their job much much more difficult however.