SAVE the BUFFALO RIVER - Mgm't Plan input time (DUE AUG 31)

[Chester]

Got an email from Susan W. and it seems it's input time for the Buffalo River's future managment plan. So whether you want to see them ban beer and camping on gravel bars, etc., write in and voice your suggestions.

Website for comments and upcoming public meeting places>>>
http://www.nps.gov/buff/gmp_info.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dave Smith]

Bump....maybe this can be make a sticky for a while??

[Chester]

Dave, I changed the title and used the word SAVE. Maybe that'll work,,,, maybe not. One of the received suggestions already, has been to ban alchohol on the river. That's BEER too folks!

[Richard]

I am working on my comments.
Hmmmm, if they ban beer then I will have the river all to myself.
Suggestion #1: Ba . . .

[prophet]

bump. anyone have any suggestions/comments to bring up? i'm pretty happy with the current system but i don't go during the crowded summer weekends. should rental boat numbers be decreased?

[Bob Stout]

My biggest concern is the T.P. blossoms one sees up almost every sandy draw off the river. The net effect is that everyone using the Buffalo is swimming or boating in a cesspool.

[GutIt]

Carry it out. One way or another. Required.

[Cowper]

One comment was to INCREASE rental boats and begin limiting private boats. That's why we need a lot of private boaters to provide input.

Bob, Terry - we're on the same page! I'm planning to propose that they phase in some rules similar to what we see on Western rivers for overnight users - carry it out. Providing rentals for the necessary equipment could even prove another source of revenue for outfitters...

[lbaker]

Agree with all, especially the tp issue Bob stated. When I was on the OS trip last month, I was disgusted by the minefield of tp.
Sent my comments.

[Richard]

The last thing, in my opinion, that we need is a permit system. I would much rather have to deal with crowds.
But the TP issue is a big one because people simply don't see that as a problem. They go, then they leave and think nature will take care of the problem. If they even think.

[Jim Krueger]

I recently voiced my opposition to the idea of having to haul off 'poopy-pops' for those 'float camping' on the Buffalo. I will continue to feel it 'should' be unnecessary here in Arkansas, or in the rest of the Southeastern states due to our soils and climate, but I think I too am having a change of heart on the matter... I'm not a float-camper, but if friends like Richard, Bob, Cowper, and others are seeing situations as they have referred to, it's unacceptable to me as well. I really do feel this shouldn't be a problem if all paddlers would work their way a hundred yards or so up in the adjacent woods&fields to do their business, but on even day trips down the river, I frequently see other types of litter at streams edge, so I know it's probably not realistic for me to think 'a good many' paddlers are representing themselves very well. Moreover they are probably not inclined to make better efforts.

Best Regards
Jim

[Clif]

lot's of the "goodies" left behind near the river is not by campers but by day trippers.

[Jim Krueger]

Clif,

In the countless day trips I've made over the last thirty+ years, I've personally probably only made 2 'emergency' bowel movements :shock: . My feelings would have to be that day floaters are not the majority of the problem.

Jim

[Bob Stout]

Most of my river trips in recent years have been on "Western Rivers" with my raft. I purchased an ECO-Safe toilet system, primmarily for use while camping on the Buffalo - however, I've found that I get a lot more invites on western river trips - not because of my charm or good-looks, but because I have the toilet system, and I'm also pretty handy with a dutch oven.

[Butch Crain]

Since I am only a very infrequent user (a label heavy with meaning that I believe applies to all) of the Buffalo, I won't offer my comments to the park service - I'm thankful for the chance to post them here for consideration by a lot of thoughtful & intelligent people.

The tp blossoms are only a symptom of a much larger underlying problem - general overuse by hikers, paddlers, and surrounding communities.  The cumulative impacts are too many to list here, and are largely invisible to the casual observer, and up until now the Buffalo system has been largely self healing.  But overuse impacts are real and measureable.

As much as I hate to disagree with my buddy Richard, the only real solution is a use permit system.  If we as lovers of the outdoors are willing to limit the activities (rightfully so, within reason and with the scientific insight of natural resource professionals) of others in national forests, regional watersheds, and now thankfully in overarching climate issues, then we should be equally open to limiting our activities in special places like the Buffalo.

Again given my level of use, it's easy for me to say, but I somehow rest easier just knowing wild places exist.  The old debate about a tree that falls in the woods is no mystery to me, the sound it makes is no less real because I'm not there to hear it.  If on occasion I get a permit to hear that tree fall along the gravel bars of the Buffalo, it's just gravy.

A permit system is inevitible, maybe not this year, or this decade, but with increasing recreational and municipal pressures, it will happen sooner or later.  Better that avid outdoors folks like ACC members get in front of it.  Rather than let the distaste of our experience with permit systems in other parts of the country deter us, use those experiences to propose a system that works for all, but more particularly works for the Buffalo.