Forgive us our Trespasses

Is it trespass, I wonder, to enter land your taxes have supported without authority?  That's what we did on Sunday, when we wantonly bypassed a California sign at Butano State Park, telling us that the park was closed.

As rule-breaking goes, it was a fairly insignificant infraction.  We strolled past the unmanned Ranger hut (normal fee $6).  We would have been happy to hand over the cash, but there was nowhere to leave it.  Feeling somewhat furtive, we continued down the main road, passing a Park Service employee who was toiling away at blowing leaves.  She neither questioned our presence, nor hindered our progress.

We cut off onto a trail which had degraded significantly through six months of disuse, and (presumably) no upkeep.  The banana slugs had taken over.  The redwoods towered over us, unconcerned by the plight of California's inability to balance its books. 

In the hour or so that we spent there, we passed a few other folk who had ignored the inhospitable sign at the entrance.  Curt nods were exchanged - nothing like the normal camaraderie of fellow hikers.  Clearly, we were all worried that the others might be undercover cops or whistleblowers, ready to run us out of the park. 

We passed through Pescadero on our way home.  It's a small town, with a famous inn, Duarte's Tavern, a saloon straight out of a western (with real 19th century heritage), which happens to serve splendid straightforward American fare and fabulous pies.  A slice of ollalieberry pie to the good, we headed home.

It just happened that evening that PBS was showing a special on the life of David Brower: Monumental, in the run up to Earth Day this Thursday.  Brower is probably the most important environmentalist since John Muir, having run campaigns within and without the Sierra Club, most famously ensuring that no further dams would mar the Grand Canyon.  The scale of his achievements is extraordinary.  He was famously unwilling to compromise, which eventually meant that he ran afoul of some of the great organizations (including the Sierra Club) that  he led and served.

His passion to preserve the glorious natural beauty of the American west is the kind of legacy which we should all be lucky enough to leave.  And while I am certain that the great state of California could and should trim some bureaucratic fat, I am just as sure that cutting off access to our natural resources is a lousy way to do it.