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The Pros and Cons of Getting a Camping Permit

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New York State requires you to get a camping permit if you stay in a spot or a campsite for more then 3 nights. I have never bothered to get a permit, unless the rare times I see a forest ranger, and he asks me to fill out a camping permit. I generally do not get camping permits, because I don’t stay more then 3 nights in any one spot – if I was a hunter, setting up a base camp in big game season – it might be different.

Pros.

  • It shows that you are using the land, providing justification for the DEC to spend more funding on that piece of land versus another piece of land.
  • It’s nice to stay at one site for an extend period, if you plan to stay in that general area, so you don’t have to pick up and remake camp every couple of night.
  • You don’t have to necessarily camp at a designated spot or farther then 150 feet from road or water if you get the permit for another place.
  • In case you are reported lost or injured, the forest ranger knows where to look.
  • There is no charge, and all you have to do give forest ranger a call with your license plate and other basic information.

Tent

Cons.

  • You have to plan where you are going a couple of weeks in advance to give the forest ranger a change to mail you the perm
  • Staying in one place leads to more wear on the campsite.
  • It can be be boring to camp in one site for an extended period.
  • Do you really want to tell the government where your camping, so it can track you?

Camping Down By Otter Brook

… in many ways the cons are longer then the pros.

Our Low National Saving Rate

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One of the most concerning news stories of recent weeks is our low national savings rate. Last year it was a negative 1.6%. The previous year it was negative 1%. This year’s rate is the lowest in over 70 years.

For most Americans, that’s just another financial figure that goes in one ear and out the other. For some it’s not surprising, as they know first hand the impact of our mounting debt on their finances. They know what it feels like to be beholden to the bank.

Yet, for those who have a real understanding of this figure it’s pretty scary. It means we are spending more then we have money coming in. And a lot of that debt is not going to things that are improving us or building our country. It’s one thing to be borrowing money to get an education or buy an house or pickup truck, it’s another to buying more toys then you really need.

There is a lot of evidence that we are buying more toys then we need. We are too often sold consumerism and become blind to our own means or the costs of our consumption. Indeed, the personal financial transaction is minor compared to all the stuff we are amassing as individuals.

Roadway

All those material possessions had to come from somewhere. They involved the exploitation of some material whether close or far away from us. They may have or may not have brought money into the local community. More likely then not, these days, they didn’t. And then they have to go somewhere.

There is no problem with making investments into the future. Likewise, there is no problem with purchasing material goods. But we need to be reasonable at what we buy and realize that there is only so much we really need. We need to focus more on ourselves and our communities, and stop buying things.