Sadly, the video points to several instances where there were very bad outcomes for outdoor recreation. National parks are having to close their gates when they get too full, or implement reservation systems to keep the places from getting too crowded.
When help isn’t available or reachable, the inexperienced and unprepared sometimes just die. It’s hard to find a worse outcome than that!Sadly, there’s no simple plan that can fix this. Insane people would tell us that we need to end or severely curtail public access to public lands, and that would probably provide a short-term solution, but it would backfire spectacularly.
What seems obvious is that there’s no way out without better education. Some of this can happen at trailheads and admission booths, but, a big part of what kept honest people honest is failing to work like it used to. Letting commercial interests and click-hungry influencers fill that void leads to what we’re seeing today. So, we’ve got to find other ways to encourage more responsible outdoor recreation.
Clean technology also can play a role. We’re already seeing an increase in apps that inform people about nature , and we’re seeing a lot more people using solar power instead of dirty generators to bring some of the comforts of home along. We need to encourage vehicle manufacturers, accessory providers, and everyone involved in the outdoor recreation industry to continue to step up on this so that fossil fuels and irresponsible practices like outdoor party lighting don’t continue to be the norm.