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Stand Up Against the Exploitation of Tragedy

Andy | December 15, 2012

Yesterday, when you opened Twitter and Facebook up, it seemed like one post or another was calling for people to “do something” about the “menace of guns” in our country, or improve the accessibility of mental health in our county.

I don’t oppose some of the those suggestions. Indeed, certainly we could probably do more ensure affordable and stigma free counseling was available to all. The President’s health law that passed in 2009, with Mental Health parity and a requirement for all to subscribe to a basic health care plan.

We could also consider some gun control restrictions — but the restrictions have to be reasonable in effort, and need to provide a very high standard against someone owning or possessing a firearm. It would have to require a judge, a jury, and a beyond reasonable doubt standard — as does any restriction of a constitutional right. We can’t just have government officials, on a whim, restricting people’s rights, because they don’t like their politics.

We also can’t just start stigmatizing or persecuting individuals just because we don’t like their views. We saw too much of that after September 11th. Rather then embracing conformity, we should embrace diversity, and encourage people of diverse backgrounds to be active and engaged members of our society. We have to stand up against political persecution. They may not be coming after you today, but your in line next.

What I fear, and already see is the worst coming out of people. People want to do something — regardless of what it means for our civil liberties. They want to stop violence, even if they really can not do anything. Even if it means hurting regular folks, they feel they must do something. This is plain scary.

Day is Done – Peter, Paul and Mary.

I think it’s time to step back, and put an end to this madness — the madness of saying we must do something now.

Public Parks vs Occupy Movement

Andy | December 23, 2011

I am concerned about what the Occupy Movement means for our public parks. Public parks are the commons in our society, the places where anybody may go to gather and to recreate. Public parks belong to us all, therefore private individual organizations must not be allowed to have exclusive use to them.

Inherit in the concept of a public park is that man is just a visitor, and that nobody resides there permanently. Parks are places where men dwell only temporarily for fellowship or solitude, it is an escape from the private places we normally reside in.

When kayaking on a lake or hiking a mountain, one may stop to enjoy the view. You only stop for a few minutes to enjoy the view, and then you move on. Your experience is non-exclusive, anyone can walk by when your there, or come by five minutes after you’ve left in solitude. Laws prevent you from building a house or setting up long-term residency there, you must move on an allow others to see what you once saw.

Campsites are same way. Whether in a DEC Campground or a back-country site, one can only set up a campsite and camp there for a set amount of time. Typically this is limited to two weeks except during Big Game Season. When your time is up, you must pack up your gear, and leave the site cleaner then you have found it.

When your camping, a campsite becomes your temporary place of residency. You unpack your gear, you make a fire, you set up your tent. You cook your meals there, you camp there, and you probably do your business in an outhouse or in woods a short ways from there. For all purposes, you live there and campsite is like your house for a short period of time.

A campsite is never an exclusive site. Campsites can get elaborately set up, with lots of canopies, tents, lanterns and other gear. Some people hang Christmas lights and drive in large RVs to campsites. You may dwell there for a while but after a number of days you must pack up and leave. Others may then use your campsite, enjoy the views and benefits the public lands provide for all that wish to use them.

Public parks are excellent places for individuals and groups to get together and discuss public business. They are good places to get together and protests. Many parks are large, and can accommodate large groups of people. Many parks are appropriate for camping and other recreational pursuits.

Yet, we can not allow any individual or group to remain in a park for too long of a period. Individuals must remain visitors, those who come only for a short period of time to enjoy the land in solitude or fellowship. Two weeks, needs to remain the maximum use for a piece of land, except in very narrow exception.

… Allowing people to stay too long in a park, only serves to undermine the concept of public lands and the commons.

Private Forestland Not Farms

Andy | July 26, 2011

When I was younger I used to think of the Tug Hill Plateau as a vast agricultural region. It really isn’t. There are farms in Black River Valley, but not so much up on the Plateau, especially as you gain elevation.

The signs going into Lewis County say “Adirondacks-Black River-Tug Hill”, and except for that relatively narrow band running along the Black River, Lewis County doesn’t have a lot of farming — much likes the rest of Tug Hill Plateau.

An elevation map of NY shows that most of the Tug Hill Plateau is between 1,000-2,000 feet elevation, but that’s high enough in NY to make agriculture unprofitable in most of state due to short growing season.

The Black River Valley, with it’s fertile soils notched between the Adirondack Foothills and Tug Hill Plateau make Lewis County a major agricultural producer, with 262 dairy farms, including some of the largest in state. The area around Lowville is excellent agriculturally, until you start back up in to the hills on both sides with their short growing seasons. Dairy farming makes up 20% of the land use in Lewis County (per 2010 USDA NASS), but almost all of that occurs in Black River Valley or slightly up the slopes of Tug Hill Plateau.

In many ways the Tug Hill Plateau is a fascinating region of the state. Unlike the Adirondack Park, only a relatively small portion of it is publically owned. About 2/3rds of it is private timber lands, with rest being public lands. It lacks any major cities or population centers, much of it is roadless, or where roads exist, they primarily service hunting camps or timberlands.

The remoteness of the Tug Hill Plateau remains a real fascination for me.

Think Locally, Act Locally

Andy | April 22, 2011

In 1970, Earth Day activists talked about Thinking Globally, But Acting Locally. Their argument was that what one community does, effects other communities. Yet, it’s too difficult to affect international communities, so it’s best to focus locally. Yet, today we see the problem with thinking too globally and ignoring local concerns.

On this Earth Day I would suggest a different approach to environmental problems: rather then thinking globally and acting locally, we should instead think locally and act locally. Despite all the hype about global commerce, and advances in transportation, we spend most of our lives locally in places that should matter.

Local places are any places where we reside, work, or otherwise spend time in. Too often local places do not get the attention they deserve. There is such a national and international focus on issues, and our nearby surroundings get ignored at the cost of bigger issues. This Earth Day we should pay more attention to our communities, to their needs, and their future.

Too often all the action and concern is over big issues. There will certainly be a lot cry and concern about Climate Change and fossil fuels this year. That’s a big issue. But what about our own communities? Is their a need to demand better transit options, better parks, and more businesses nearby? Especially with rising gas prices, we should be concerned more about our community’s well being, as it’s getting more and more expensive to get away.

We do not need any more cookie cutter communities or standardized designs that reflect global trends. We need to think more locally, more about building communities that suit local needs, not theoretical national or international trends. It’s time we moved away from a one size fits all, and work to develop communities that serve local needs efficiently and desirably.