Loved to Death? Balancing Backcountry User Impact and Stewardship
Dates: | April 8, 2022 |
---|---|
Meets: | F from 12 N to 1:30 PM |
Location: | Online |
Cost: | $0.00 |
Sorry, the signup deadline has passed.
The Greater Yellowstone area’s outdoor recreational opportunities are a significant attraction for visitors and new, prospective, and longtime residents. Pandemic cabin fever and restrictions on indoor gatherings have added even greater user pressure on the lakes, rivers, parks and trails that make our community so attractive. Are area trails and backcountry being loved to death?
A panel will discuss what happens when trails and backcountry areas become too popular. Some problems like trail degradation are obvious. However, other issues are harder to control and enforce, such as overflowing parking, trash, dog waste, and the inappropriate burial or removal of human waste. The panel will address the immediate and long-term impacts of the overuse of trails and other recreation areas, including environmental impacts, management strategies, and the burdens on government and private stewards. They will also discuss what the public can do to help.
Participants must register no later than 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 8. Upon registration confirmation, participants will receive an email with the Zoom link and instructions to join the program.
Friday Forum offers presentations and lively discussions on local and regional timely topics. Friday Forum is free and open to the public.
Fee: | $0.00 |
Online
This is a real-time (live) online class that meets at the specified day(s)/time(s) listed.We will send you a reminder email with login instructions one business day before the program start date. If there are additional sessions, we will send reminders the morning of those sessions.
Panelists
Panelists include Patrick Cross, executive director of the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation, Pat Doyle, marketing director at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Alex Sienkiewicz, district ranger for the Yellowstone District of the U.S. Forest Service.