The Jerk Store Called - Part Too Many

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to the Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.  It was a pretty cool experience as I am from Michigan and I don't get to see desert that much.  I was kind of amazed at the amount of plant diversity I saw there.

Unfortunately, I was still learning quite a bit about the DSLR at the time, so many of the pictures I took aren't quite at the standard I'm at now.  I think I might go through them and post more of them at some later date since I didn't post them on here originally.

That wasn't the reason I'm writing this post.  As you know, the government is currently in a partial shutdown.  I'm not going to get into the politics behind it because I think the politics stink.  When the government is shut down, anyone that is considered as "non-essential" is furloughed.  Anyone that is considered as "essential" is forced to work without pay until they figure out how to open the government again.

National Park rangers are considered as "non-essential" and basically the national parks are closed.  However, closing a national park usually just means the gates are closed.  There aren't typically gates around the parks.  Because of that people can still get in the parks.

Which leads us up to the reason for this park.  Because people can get into the parks, there are some that are trashing them.  I'm reading stories about trash getting piled up in places and the bathrooms getting full of the stuff that are usually in bathrooms.  While those stories are disturbing, they aren't as disturbing as the one I read.

I read story about how some people either cut or pushed some joshua trees down.  Then those people proceeded to four wheel around the park.  When I went to the park, I remember reading that you shouldn't stray too far from the paths because it can damage the ecosystem for decades.  I also remember reading that some of these trees are hundreds of years old.  So why would someone trash something that has been around before their ancestors came to this country?

Especially when you consider that there are so many places that are designated specifically for four wheeling.  I mean why ruin something that other people enjoy for your pleasure?  When I go into natural areas I take the advice of the signs that are sometimes posted, "Take only pictures and leave only footprints".  I'm not a huge environmentalist but I do like to keep my footprint at a minimum.  I certainly wouldn't want to harm something that is older than my great-great-great grandparents.

So really, the only explanation that I have is that some people are assholes.  I seriously hope they catch these people and fine the bejesus out of them.  I also hope they make them clean the park sometime in July or August.