Paved paradise and put up a parking lot - Bummer

[LMT66]

With cooler temps and fall arriving, I decided to take a walk out to my usual winter hiking area. It's a stretch of land between a ship canal and a river. It's quite peaceful and you rarely see anyone on the narrow trail. I have spent many nights out there by a warm fire and have had interesting conversations with a couple others that go. In addition to this there are some old foundations from the early 1900's still in good shape.
Its a great area to practice "Bushcraft" skills.

Some pictures of various spots along the trail. from the last year. Great place to hike.

The trail at this point was no wider than a single hiker.

Well today I drove out to scout the area in anticipation of fall and winter outings and to see how a new pack carried. I was here last spring and everything was normal but this is what I found when I arrived.

The dead end road where I park with a new heavy duty fence line.

What was the trail head on a narrow path.

 

[LMT66]

This was a trail that was just wide enough for a ATV to travel down. Now it's nearly a 2-lane road.

12 foot pipes sunk 6 feet into the ground. Some of the other photos show a very heavy mesh screen which I was told is to stop Asian Carp from entering the river during floods.
Some info from the Army Corp of Engineers:

On January 10, 2009, the Corps released its Final Report with recommendations for interim risk reduction measures resulting from the efficacy study. The recommended plan is for the placement of 34,600 feet of concrete barricades and 33,400 feet of chain link fencing (with 1/4” openings) along 68,000 feet (~13 miles) of flood prone areas of the Canal upstream of the barriers. The total cost of these interim measures is $13,174,000, which was provided through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.7 The Corps expects to award a contract for these measures in March 2010, and expects to complete construction of the interim measures by October 2010.

A few "nice" things I saw.

Before

After (Mesh to be installed yet)

I'm sure others have had this happen to their little well kept secret areas. What have you had happen?

 

[PayetteRucker]

Sorry bro, that sucks. It only gets worse from here on out... Boise already has a bunch of green reserved for future city park allocation, and thankfully the trail starts just down the street from me, but even Idaho's population is growing...

 

[Chris Pierce]

Never anything that bad, but I had a sweet shooting spot off of I90 just east of Snoqualmie falls. A bunch of people started using it for dumping and shooting up electronics and it got shut down. "No Shooting" signs posted up everywhere. One of my friends who frequented it almost got arrested for ignoring the signs.:grumpy:

 

[fixer]

The total cost of these interim measures is $13,174,000...

your tax dollars, at work!

 

[SouthernCross]

G'day LMT

.....12 foot pipes sunk 6 feet into the ground. Some of the other photos show a very heavy mesh screen which I was told is to stop Asian Carp from entering the river during floods.

If this is the case, IMO you should be gratefull that they are spending the time & effort to stop the carp from getting into the river.

Unless of course the only thing you want in that river is carp :thumbdn:




Kind regards
Mick

 

[hollowdweller]

I'm 50 and seen a lot of favorite stomping grounds developed


Now I own 85 acres about 80 of whicha are woods nobody can mess up but me:thumbup:

Also always glad when something I love is declared wilderness so I don't have to worry a bout stuff like that.

Speaking of songs about developement one of my favorites by Keller Williams.

There's a big ass hole out in the backyard
and it seems to be gettin bigger every damn day
well its land is owned by a stranger
who sends the taste of fear right to my brain

Now rain, come fillin on our Florida water
where the rocks would skip and the fish would school
as the sun reflects as it sets
or the trucks they could come and fill it all up full of concrete
where the cars would park and the buses would unload

Well if it's water ill swim it
if you pave it ill skate it, in the middle of the night
if you gonna sell chicken i pray to hell you cook it right

Gas station ill fill it
or a bar ide swill it
or maybe an ally to bowl
big ass crater in the backyard i hope that you stay a hole.

Nothin like bumper to bumper traffic
well the clock is atickin and you got no place to go
you grind your teeth and you crush and squeeze your to go cup
and nothin but crap is on the radio

Road rage will be eliminated
as the walking distance is so very underrated
and my belly hopefully will be deflated
I wish i knew just what the hell it's going to be

Chorus

Hell, lets fire up a truck and go out and do us some doughnuts
take advantage of that space while it's still there
you just turn the wheel and stomp your heel to the floor
hold your left hand out the window with that lit flair

Aint it strange that the change is inevitable
open range is rearranged to become sellable
and my brain is deranged with the inevitable
I wish i had a couple of mill. so i could set things right

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

Something similar happened where I live.
There was an older man who lived next to me, his house sat on a massive field that lead to the woods. He used to always let us use his field to access the woods and play in it in the snow as kids.
In return we helped him if he asked us to and we didn't litter.
When he passed away, his son (who is a gigantic douchebag, apparently nothing like his father who was kind and soft spoken -- but a sharp as tacks businessman) sold the house and field to some people who stuck up "No Trespassing" signs everywhere. When we asked them if they minded if we still cut across the field to access the woods you'd have thought we pooped in their soup.
Apparently they have no problem with roaring their loud ass four wheelers up and down it, at all hours of the day and night, during the summer.

I also used to camp at an old, abandoned campground in a place not too far from where I live when I was younger and just wanted away from people. For years me and the animals were the only beings that used the place. Then, a few summers ago, some people started using it for a place to park their crap for "trail rides".
Last year (maybe year before last) the family and I decided on an impromtu camping trip, so I remembered my old stomping grounds. Imagine my surprise when the place was filled with cars and some landwhale lady was sitting in front of a cardboard sign that said: "$15.00 per night/per car". Somebody bought it apparently trying to cash in on the horse people.

I don't have a problem with people buying stuff, or private property, or making money. But, the selfish cannibal side of me just gets irritated when familiar stomping grounds get invaded.
Especially when it's a quiet thinking spot. That old, dilapidated campground was spooky and I enjoyed hearing the crickets, Cranes, Whipperwills, and Bob Whites. It made me feel like Jason Voorhees! Especially when I was carrying my machete.

 

[Cougar Allen]

[youtube]OlNZN94_u-s[/youtube]

[youtube]XyPTIOJuWws[/youtube]

 

[OwenM]

Some years ago, my friends and I used to go out to "the country" and shoot. Lots of rolling hills and ridges, very pretty area.
No hassles, open access land mostly owned by a railroad(I think). It wasn't a secret area, but not heavily used. You needed 4WD to get to most of it(talking hundreds of acres, btw). It was rare to see anyone outside our own group, though people would bring Jeeps and ATVs to mud in some of the lower sections, and there was actually a permanent range set up with a table to shoot from, etc. People would occasionally dump trash there, but only near the one road that ran through perpendicular to the ridgelines. Other than that it was pristine aside from the commonly used trails.

The land was sold to developers maybe ten years ago, and neighborhoods full of new houses at extremely reasonable prices sprung up like magic about four years later.
I live in one of them

Here's a pic from my deck taken this summer:

 

[Cpl Punishment]

I hate it when that happens.

I've kind of switched gears from earlier in my life.

When I can, I buy as much undeveloped land as I can -- trying to keep it contiguous as I can. At least that way, I can keep a small "wilderness" for me to play in and no one can touch unless I choose to let them. IMO right now, my focus is on acquiring as much undeveloped land as I can, and I'm not worried about having a nice house.

Plus, we're a bit luckier now that real estate has dropped to realistic prices, it's easier to acquire land. I've even picked up a few pieces that people bought undeveloped with the intention of plowing it under and building a house there, and then couldn't afford it when the economy went swirling. The bank was more than happy to sell land that they'd been paying taxes on for a couple of years. Best part is, it's zoned Agricultural, so the taxes are lower, and I can make the property nice little havens for wildlife, maybe even start a small farm in a few years.

 

[JohnWayne360]

Sadly, this is a world epidemic. Down south, and I mean way down south, the Chilean goverment is destroying pristine areas of Andes Range and Patagonia to build several damns to supply power to the growing power consumption of its cities. It's really beautiful country, but we'll soon say "it was beautiful country."
Fortunately though, there's good people in the vein of our own Mr. Cpl Punishment that are buying acres upon acres of land to make it into nature reserves. It's all in the awesome documentary 180 South: Conquerors of the Useless

 

[hung-solo]

my favorite spots are for sale now.. dang shame too. lots of history in my area that date back before America was born and if you talk native american it goes thousands of years back.. all for sale to the highest bidder to build apartments.. when this happens a part of me will die with the land.

 

[mete]

The Corps has a long history of providing job security for themselves .This is a good example .
They channelized the rivers and that caused major problems .The Corps comment ? The only way to cure the problem is to restore the rivers to their original condition !!!

 

[braillediver]

They're restoring the natural environment? They'd probably go after you for having the fire in an un-approved area.

The before pictures are beautiful.

 

[Josh K]

They're restoring the natural environment? They'd probably go after you for having the fire in an un-approved area.

The before pictures are beautiful.

I agree, it's a pity no one can't seem to leave things as-is. They keep trying to make it better. Better != more steel and concrete.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The land was sold to developers maybe ten years ago, and neighborhoods full of new houses at extremely reasonable prices sprung up like magic about four years later.
I live in one of them

Here's a pic from my deck taken this summer:

Development isn't always a negative. :thumbup:

Yes, there are more people all the time. This country's population has doubled in my lifetime. Where will we live? North Jersey seems like one continuous suburb.

What we can do is see nice homes for the people who come along, just as we got nice homes for ourselves. Wild places? Not entirely gone, and many people don't value them for anything but scenery. We need to work on their understanding, but meanwhile, they have as much right to a place on Earth as we do.

Where I live, we used to have a gravel pit, bulldozers pushed the gravel up and out to the dump trucks to cart off to sell. That's all over now. They piped water into the gravel pits and we now have two small municipal lakes. One is for fishing and boating and the other is the town swimming club.

Time hurries on, and the leaves that are green turn to brown -- but new leaves come out next Spring.

 

[JK Knives]

The photos look like the section near Rte.83.

 

[LMT66]

G'day LMT
If this is the case, IMO you should be gratefull that they are spending the time & effort to stop the carp from getting into the river.
Unless of course the only thing you want in that river is carp :thumbdn:
Kind regards
Mick

Mick,

Our rivers are loaded with carp already. They are attempting to prevent Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes. They are reportedly within 6 miles of it and I suspect are probably already in the Great Lakes. If they aren't already, they will be soon. All the rivers involved are connected at some point. Kind of a waste of money to build 13 miles of fence when there are hundreds of miles of multiple rivers, all loaded with Asian Carp and all feed into this one and are also in flood plains.

Unfortunately the Asian Carp issue has been ignored too long by red tape.
One electric barrier built and never used and another built and not operating correctly and never repaired due to funding issues. (Last on the list)
Unfortunately this seems to be norm for us. Government at it's finest.
This issue has been at hand for a decade and in that time the flood plain has already flooded and connected the dots. Too little too late.

[youtube]DLFe8xfgx24&feature=related[/youtube]

The photos look like the section near Rte.83.

Same fence but over off Lemont Rd. I guess it starts at 135th in Lockport and runs to Willow Springs.Combination of concrete barriers and fence.

 

[hollowdweller]

So far I can still shoot about 50 yards from my door.