(6/14/2016) UPDATE: “Casey Nocket, 23, of San Diego was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Oberto in Fresno to 200 hours community service and two years probation. Oberto banned Nocket while she’s on probation from visiting lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”

You can read the whole story here.

 

Having been fortunate enough to visit several national parks and monuments, as well as many state parks over the past few weeks, you must have known I would have an opinion about the young woman from upstate New York who recently went on a vandalism spree in national parks of the west. If you haven’t seen the story, this is the most recent update (From Modern Hiker). What troubles me most, is that she’s not the only person who feels entitled to deface nature. I’ve noticed more and more graffiti/vandalism in natural places in the last several years. The thing that makes this story so reprehensible, is the level of arrogance expressed by this woman who proudly posts her vandalism on Instagram and calls it art. I will not be mentioning her name in this article, nor will I be posting any photos of her vandalism, because my feeling is that she’s received quite enough attention already and I will not be adding to her ill-gotten fame. Instead, I will add some of my recent photos of places that haven’t (yet) been marred by graffiti.

There are good reasons why what she has done is against the law, and I sincerely hope that those charged with enforcing the law will see to it that her selfish behavior carries an appropriate penalty. There seems to be an attitude, among some, that everything that exists is there for the taking. That if you pay an entrance fee, or even just make the effort to go somewhere, you can do whatever you want. Never mind the next person who will visit after you, just go on ahead and paint your mark on it. And it’s that attitude that is slowly destroying whatever is left on this planet that could be considered “natural.” The thing is, these parks belong to us all, not any one of us individually. Millions of people visit these places every year. If everyone had the attitude of this woman, there wouldn’t be a single bit of them without a mark on it.

I’ve read opinions of people who say “what’s the big deal?” “so she painted some rocks, so what?” The thing these people don’t understand is the spiritual connection with the natural world. It’s the incredible humility that comes from putting yourself in a position to realize just how insignificant you are in the vast universe. It’s impossible to explain and at the same time, I don’t need to explain it because if you’ve felt it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For me, and many people I know, nature is our temple, our place of worship. I doubt this woman would walk into a cathedral and paint her graffiti on it, yet that’s exactly what she’s done in my eyes. I realize that I’m not going to change the opinion of anyone who thinks this kind of behavior is okay, but I feel compelled to express how offensive this is to me, and how important it is to actively discourage it with the imposition of negative consequences. Hasn’t the human race already marred the natural world enough? Shouldn’t places that have been set aside to remain as natural as possible be protected from those who would scrawl all over them?

I believe that nature’s beauty can absolutely inspire creativity. If the desire to make art comes to you as a result of visiting a natural wonder, that’s not a bad thing. But please make your art in a way that doesn’t tarnish the place that inspired it. Even if you don’t feel the reverence that I do for places like these, at least have some respect. “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.” It really is that simple.

(Note: according to the story and investigation, Crater Lake National Park is one of the places that was vandalized)