Forest Service to require registration prior to entering wilderness area

Part of the Weminuche Wilderness Area is in Mineral County and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) learned last Tuesday afternoon that visitor registration will be required there in 2014. Staff members from the United States Forest Service (USFS) told the commissioners that the change was due to ongoing research regarding usage of the area, which lies partially in the Rio Grande and San Juan national forests. The largest wilderness in Colorado, the Weminuche wilderness contains a significant portion of the extremely rugged San Juan Mountains. The area is known for exceptional scenic beauty and its landscapes are commonly found on postcards and calendars. In 2014, everyone going into the wilderness will have to register, USFS officials said, but at this point, the service is sharing information and asking for ideas. As time passes, that information will be in the offices and online. According to a press release dated April 1, the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests will be implementing a mandatory permit for recreationists in the Weminuche Wilderness Area in 2014. Registration will consist of a short two-part form available online, at agency offices and major trailheads. The national forest managers cite environmental impacts such as “denuded vegetation, overcrowding and improper disposal of human waste” as factors in their decision. The national forest indicates that the information collected from the permits will be used by forest management to indicate areas of high use and to reduce the environmental impacts before the impacts reach a ‘tipping point.’...more

The next thing you know we'll have Smokey Bear types asking "papers please".  After all, the gov't forests would be a great place for terrorists to hide.  They could just hang out, grow a little marijuana and wait for the order from Habib.  That is, they could till they got burned to a crisp or attacked by hordes of bark beetles.

I don't understand this "improper disposal of human waste" stuff.  The Weminuche wilderness contains half a million acres.  Does that mean these backpackin', let's eat roots and shoots and hug your heifer types can't find a place to bury their crap?  Or does the Forest Service expect you to "dispose" of it off gov't property?

Personally, I think the Forest Service should clean it up.  We take crap off them all the time, so let them handle a little of ours.

And I'd wipe my ass with their registration papers.