You're starting to sound suspiciously like Colin Fletcher (a self-styled "curmudgeon.") smile

Your approach does have echoes of his approach to replacing the backcountry permit system: replace it with the system of making access more difficult, not easier - "the key that fits the lock" was I think how he described it. The cure for overuse was to stop doing more than minimal trail maintenance - don't clear the blowdowns, don't rebuild the bridges across small streams, etc. The harder to get to, the less people try; the fewer people, the less impact - and less need for regulation by permit.

As I recall, you hike a lot in western Virginia and North Carolina. We should probably thank our lucky stars that we live in the vibrant forests, where we can apply principles rather than rules.