Joshua Tree National Park officials said Friday evening that this downed Joshua tree had been cut down prior to the recent partial government shutdown/NPS
Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith released an apology Friday evening regarding his earlier comments that two of the park's iconic Joshua trees were downed by vandals during the partial government shutdown earlier this year. One had been cut down prior to the shutdown, he said.
"In the early days of the partial government shutdown, Joshua Tree National Park issued a photograph of a downed Joshua Tree that park rangers believed was caused by vandalism during the shutdown. When park botanists were able to get to the site at a later date, they confirmed that this tree was in fact cut down prior to the shutdown. The park apologizes for any confusion this initial report may have caused," he said.
However, the superintendent added that "Joshua Tree science staff are currently working to assemble an accurate and detailed report documenting natural and cultural resource damage that occurred during the shutdown. Botanists have confirmed that during the shutdown an out of bounds vehicle at Ryan Campground struck and killed at least one Joshua Tree."
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Comments
So one tree was knocked over, which may or may not have had anything to do with the government shut down. A lock was cut, which for all we know could have been done by park staff once they realized people were driving around locked gates. We don’t know who sent the infamous photo in. We don’t know who didn’t staff the parks with enough “essential” employees to keep them open to everyone’s satisfaction (satisfaction not likely given half the populations politics). We do know claims of the destruction and the demise of our parks was greatly exaggerated, as was the impact on employees who were claiming they couldn’t take their kids to the Dr. before they even missed a single paycheck. Now, one tree cut down or run over is still one too many but I find the gross misrepresentation by the media and hysterics by the public on nearly everything far more concerning.
So since there are a number of wolf lovers here and in light of a culture that can't seem to go a day without sensationalizing everything, I thought this appropriate.
The Shepherd Boy & the Wolf
A Shepherd Boy tended his master's Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd's pipe.
One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
His Master had told him to call for help should a Wolf attack the flock, and the Villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a Wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"
As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the Boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.
A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!" Again the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows were creeping out over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the underbrush and fall upon the Sheep. In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting "Wolf! Wolf!" But though the Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. "He cannot fool us again," they said.
The Wolf killed a great many of the Boy's sheep and then slipped away into the forest.
Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.
Wild, the photo was taken by Joshua Tree staff, and the superintendent provided it to the Traveler after I talked to him on the phone. The park superintendent also told me the locks were cut by visitors. Are you saying he was lying about these incidents for some reason? Do you have proof he was? Please share it.
What claims were exaggerated?
* The 1,000 pounds of human excrement and 1,665 wads of TP collected at Death Valley? Are you saying the park superintendent is a liar?
* The decisions by friends groups to spend thousands of dollars to staff visitor centers and help clean up?
* The volunteers (individuals and groups) who went into the parks to clean up the trash?
* The reports from Death Valley and Joshua Tree staff of vehicles going off-road onto cryptobiotic soils that can take 250 years to recover?
* The decision to close Sequoia because garbage was overflowing and wildlife was scattering it?
* The hiker with the broken leg who had to be carried a couple miles to a vehicle at Big Bend?
* The monitoring studies at Shenandoah and Isle Royale and other parks that were interrupted?
Can you share your conversations with park personnel or friends groups to refute these? Or are you just crying wolf yourself?
Thank you, Kurt.
Definately gonna have to fly to palm springs, get a hotel with a pool, rent a car, drive to joshua and mourn the loss of habitat.
My problem Kurt is I don’t know, which is my whole point.
I’ve read articles citing Joshua “trees” cut down (which could be two or a thousand). I read two trees and then I read one of the trees either fell down or was chopped down before the shutdown.
If I had an agenda I could report that tree damage estimates in Joshua Tree National Park were off by 100 % or turned out to be grossly exaggerated. Can one be factual yet not exactly paint a very truthful picture?
I give you and Superintendent Smith credit for correcting the original story but how widely do you think that correction will be circulated vs. the original article?
You reference the story about a man breaking his leg (which had nothing to do with a shutdown). He thinks he “may” have been rescued sooner if not for the shutdown. Then again he “may” have been waiting there even longer if the park was fully staffed.
Different Park but I read all SAR operations in Joshua were fully staffed.
I read articles about new roads being created which paints a much different picture to me than people driving around a locked gate (again credit for at least clarifying the statement later in your article when others chose not to).
I read about destruction of government property because a chain or lock is cut. I’m sure not the first time that has happened.
Will it take 250 years for cryptobiotic soil to recover? 300 years? Or is it decades as one NPS employee stated? Or perhaps a quick sweep with a broom or rake will repair the damage.
Do I believe employees were instructed to count the number of toilet paper that was picked up? Call me very skeptical. Does it really matter to me if it is 1,000 or 2,000? Not much. What matters to me is that it gets cleaned up and doesn’t happen again.
Do I believe a coyote learned to fake an injury and disrupt traffic because of trash not being picked up? No I do not.
The implication is these are all because of the shutdown and also ignores that much of this happens even without a shutdown.
Do I believe there was more poor behavior during the shutdown? Yes I do. Do I think it was as bad as people were lead to believe? No I don’t.
Do I think the superintendent you spoke to lied? No I do not.
But I also don’t know if he is sitting back quietly smiling inside because he made the problems appear greater than they were or if he is shaking his head in disgust because things were taken out of context and blown out of proportion. Or perhaps, they are just as he stated.
Long before Trump came out with his fake news mantra, this last sentence sums up my feelings on the media these days, not just pertaining to the government shutdown but in general (from an article which you were a big part of).
“Chris Van Leuven, a freelance journalist based in Yosemite who wrote about the shutdown for Outside and Adventure Sports Network, became wary of descriptions of conditions at Joshua Tree National Park after several longtime sources expressed concerns. “Everyone kind of has an agenda, you know,” .
https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/national-parks-traveler-shutdo...
Finally, so as not to ALWAYS appear critical I would like to give you credit for also reporting the good in the parks during the shutdown. It is just a shame the bad always gets the most publicity.
Actually, Wild, you have a point to a degree.
For instance, when a hiker died at Yosemite early in the shutdown, lots of media jumped on it because it occurred during the shutdown. We did not, in part because the guy was quite a ways from help and probably would have died anyway. Then, too, I recall NPS folks in Washington saying the average number of deaths during one week in the park system is six, from all causes (car crashes, drownings, heart attacks, etc). So it could have been reported that there was a decrease, I suppose.
More so, there's a lot of vandalism and damage occurring in the parks when there's no shutdown.
Cryptobiotic soils do take a long time to recover from compression, especially in particularly dry climates such as Joshua Tree. You can't simply rake it smooth and walk away. That information is readily available on the Internet.
Reporting on a landscape as big as the 84-million-acre National Park System is impossible on a daily basis, regardless of a shutdown. It's just too big, and park staffs are too small. That's one reason why I predicted a number of FOIAs would be filed to learn just exactly what damage occurred during the shutdown. Only once that information is made available will a keener analysis of what happened during those 35 days will be possible.