I’ve backpacked into several parts of the Cascades without a special permit, because none were required, and never been hassled by a ranger. Most of it is National Forest; more restrictions than BLM land but you are generally allowed to camp as long as you follow the local rules.
I mean, yes. You followed the rules. If you wandered somewhere that does require a permit, you'd have been at risk of being stopped.
I live around national parks. A single obnoxious tourist can disrupt the life cycle of dozens of protected species by running feral through their mating and nursery grounds. (It's also not obvious that you're re-routing e.g. a herd of pronghorn from the safe valley whose floor you're on into the territory of a new pack of wolves.)
The person you're replying to mentioned the park ranger was the first person they had seen in days.
OP might have been backpacking responsibly, but the permit system exists for good reasons and we bear the heavy burden of protecting the wilds from ourselves.
We are. But we're also the most powerful. That power comes with responsibility, one of which isn't trampling through sensitive areas.
Then you should be happy: it's not the Earth and animals creating the permitting system.
No, it's not. It literally has no meaning.
> not the other way around
Yeah, until an alien species shows up that has more powerful weapons and decides your meat is delicious, and considers you a herdable animal. They might install you in a coup so you can play videogames all day and drink beer as your only source of nutrients, to give your meat that kobebeef marble.
> Whatever happened to liberty
The Americans decided that it wasn't worthwhile anymore.
> and the pursuit of happiness
It became profitable to keep you from being happy.
Also, you have a scary view of humans' place within the world.
NPS is stretched on resources. They don't set up permits because it's fun, but because something needs to be conserved.
They also forget this one little story their "savior" (the son of god, the one true king; if you believe all that ancient religious gobbledygook) supposedly told (written in the very same book); "The parable of the trusted steward." "Dominion" does not equal neglect and destruction.
Its helpful to understand the intended purpose of something before calling for its removal.
So I'm arguing to leave people more alone, which is more anti-authority.
It's really hard for me to put into words the cultural rift, but it's almost like aliens colliding, the only solution I have found is to live in a different world and try to tread carefully away from theirs. By identifying a few topics like "is it wrong to exist in remote undeveloped public forest without a permit" I can immediately identify the sort of people I have irreconcilable differences with.
It was never a serious position, and all the raging about i.e. above poster paranoid about pronghorn movement while apparently being oblivious people were likely legally hunting the damn things in the wilderness areas they're thinking of, since the law apparently allows killing them but not a .00001% chance you spook one inadvertently into moving into a wolfs mouth. I cannot even begin to get on the level of someone like that,they may as well be aliens to me the rift is so severe.