Walking America

Just a dream but it would be great.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/opinion/sunday/this-is-our-country-lets-walk-it.html?ref=opinion

Unfortunately in America we would have folks who would exploit the right and with our lawsuit happy system we would have folks trying to be paid for their own stupidity.

I have walked in England and Scotland and it is really nice to just walk anywhere where it does not harm others. You can walk right past the owners and the only reaction is a smile and a wave.

Good read...

There is a joke about a walker in Montana who asked a rancher how much he would charge to let him walk across the rancher's land. The rancher said he wouldn't charge anything, but the bull would.

I think we delude ourselves thinking we should be like a small European country. Much of the vast distances in the USA are not very "walkable", regardless of private property. In the East, perhaps. John Muir walked from Wisconsin (I believe) to Florida. There is plenty of BLM land to "walk across" out west, but I for one, have no desire to do it. No water, vast distances, searing heat.

In areas that are walkable, there is a movement to provide access - for example "Rails to Trails".

Unfortunately, private land owners have had bad experiences with inconsiderate people. I hardly blame them for not allowing access. It is not just liability, it is property damage, leaving gates open, poop on the ground, campfires not fully extinguished. The list goes on. It only takes a few "bad apples" to put up the "no trespassing" sign.

What we have here, is a great system of public lands that provide enough walking possibilities to last me a lifetime. We just have to fight the push to privatize public lands.

Actually the privatization of public land is a problem we should all be aware of. Also in many cases private parties are purchasing private land which has been in public use for years and suddenly one party has exclusive use of something which has been part of the commons for years. Frequently they do not even have to purchase a large piece. If they can limit access by purchasing and closing the only access point they can have the use of much larger parcels.That is part of another discussion.