Tresspass Laws on National Forest Land?

[jammer_smith]

So I emailed the park service about this a week ago and havn't gotten a response. Maybe somone here has some insight.

What are the laws regarding tresspassing in national parks? We have several "wilderness areas" in the state, where there is no private property, and you are allowd to freely wander. But we also have these much larger tracts of national park land that are privatly owned. If National Park land is privatly owned, then I question the purpose of even having it labled as a National park?

Is National Park land hikable by the public or not? This doesn't seem to be clear. And if the laws of where you can can't go are exactly the same as everywhere else....then what does being in a National Park even mean?

[Nicotti]

National Park or National Forest? Cause they are two different things.

National Forest is generally privately owned and therefore subject to the laws of trespassing. I believe there are certain regulations for landowners of National Forest property regarding the amount of timber they can cut down and other resource usage one their property per year. But I'm not sure on that.

National Parks are public land and should be open to everyone everywhere, unless otherwise marked.

[Nicotti]

That being said, those giant blocks of National Forest in arkansas have a lot of trails thru them, some are public use and some aren't and they not all marked so great, so sometimes it's hard to tell.

[jammer_smith]

Hum....well I just went tromping around in the woods, generaly avoiding line of site to farm houses. C'est la Vie.

[crazydrummerdude]

[Nicotti]

...and what did it have to say?

[SubLunar]

It said that national parks and national forests are two very different things.

[GlassCurtain]

[crazydrummerdude]

[SubLunar]

No, I only get channel 2.

[PANIC! on the Titanic]

Talked to the and karst manager for Missouri's Nat'l forests not long ago and asked her a similar question, specifically about private property located within Forest boundaries. She said private land is private land, and all laws apply there. She said the forest service is trying to buy up some properties when they can, but it's pretty sparse right now. Basically, if a landowner puts up a fence or posts signs, the law of their land applies.

Other than that, all lands on Nat'l Forest property are basically fair game for anyone run amok in. You can hike, primitive camp, hunt feral hogs with knives and atlatls, whatever. Just don't burn the place down. Be cool about fire safety. You get the idea. Also, all caves on Nat'l Forest land (or any state/federal gov't owned land for that matter) are closed, meaning if you're a good perfect citizen you won't go in, you'll just stand there and wonder how far back it goes. but we all slip up from time to time don't we?

Nat'l parks are assholes. The worst camping I've ever done is in those areas; you aren't supposed to pick up sticks, pick flowers, step on the grass, do anything cool, etc. Buy your own firewood then burn it in the shitty circle things they provide, and enjoy your stay amongst a crowded throng of tents and RVs, and pay a good amount of money to do so. Other than camping, Natl parks are cool. Arches was pretty neat and canyonlands was bitchin.

[redox]

http://m.upi.com/m/story/UPI-27921250012694/

[liesreality]

wow, that sadly doesnt suprise me, but still an interesting story.

I had unfortunately had a squatter in the country where i live that lived off the land on the neighbors property close to our property, and didnt have electricity, water, etc. Instead they would use the cow pond to take a bath or rain water. They also used a bucket for the bathroom and then dumped it over the fnece into our yard. You literally could not go outside the summer, because of the smell. We reported them to a few agencies, and after getting the run around, we pulled a few strings, and thankfully the squatter is now gone. One of the squatters was a convicted felon who ran around shooting a gun at all hours of the day/night.

[the_p0ssum]

[liesreality]

The property owner fought to keep one of the squatters on the propety, because of a fling they had going on.
Thanfully, with the help of family in the law profession, they were forced to leave. I have since learned they are now bothering someone else.