Highest and Best Use

or, What did you do on your public lands today?

I imagine we all have different definitions of public land--how it should or should not be used, and what the rules ought to be when using it.   I have been going over my own personal definition and rule list all day.  If you have caveats I would be interested in knowing how they vary or diverge completely from my own.  You can leave your comments/lists at the end of this post--maybe it will turn out that our definitions are more similar than I think.  In the meantime here are my rules, in no particular order:

1.  No yelling/screaming/shouting.

2.  No cell phones.  No explanation needed.

3.  If you are a child, or just a really angry adult, no shaking of, hitting, or breaking saplings or trees.

4.  Don't kill anything you don't plan to eat.  This rule does not apply to mosquitoes, but only because I would be incapable of following it if it did.  We need mosquitoes--the males, anyway.  They are pollinators and don't bite.  So try to only swat the ladies.

5.  Mind your gait; if you are a non-path follower, try not to step on the native plants--they have a hard enough time getting a foothold without being walked  on.

6.  No iPods.  Again, no explanation necessary.

So that's it.  Not unreasonable, I think.  I believe the real rule makers (the suit and uniform wearers)  have lists longer and more stringent than mine;  for one, they don't want you taking anything out--not dead herons, not good rocks, and certainly not mushrooms.  They probably don't mind if you yell in the woods though.  All things considered I feel that my rules are more reasonable.

However, after an experience I had Monday afternoon along my favorite stretch of river, I find it necessary to add another rule.

7.  No sex.  Especially not the varieties which are illegal in some states.

Needless to say, my walk was ruined and my best beaver watching spot has been desecrated.   Enough said.