Park Service officials in Maine are concerned about Appalachian Trail hikers treating their summit section of the 2200-mile long footpath like a nightclub, instead of a nature preserve.
Every year, say rangers, more and more trail trekkers are flagrantly ignoring park prohibitions on drugs, alcohol and loud partying; endangering the wilderness with “bad behavior” that also includes trespassing in protected zones.
“We have a challenge,” announced the executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Ron Tipton, at a national meeting Friday. “The Appalachian Trail is open to the public and in many ways I find it a positive that more people want to hike the trail,” he said. “But I also must be quick to say that we have to manage -- we have to control and in some ways I think we are going to need to restrict -- that use.”
Annually, about 3-million people traverse all or part of the scenic trail, an epic journey which commences in Georgia and culminates at the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine’s pristine Baxter State Park.
That’s where many of the unauthorized activities are staged, Tipton said, although obnoxious and illegal acts are occurring all along the route, especially this decade.
Some of those bold offenses are arising from the anonymity of AT hikers, members of the Conservancy believe. Something which, as proven by the recent arrest of long-time fugitive from justice James Hammes, encourages lawlessness and even known lawbreakers.
White-collar embezzler Hammes hid out for several years on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia where he was known only by his anonymous hiking handle “Bismarck.” Until this spring however, when a park visitor recognized his face as that on an FBI wanted poster.
But typically it isn’t actual criminals who are taking advantage of traveling and camping unknown, so the AT Conservancy has begun requesting that all hikers sign in now, in an effort to restore some personal accountability.
Registering to walk the historic trail is a major shift in park policy, Ron Tipton acknowledged this week, but “we have to do more and we are doing that now,” he said. “Helping them understand what is to be expected, especially in special places like Baxter State Park, I think we can change attitudes and change behavior.”
