Hammock promotional video?

[Cabmanhang]

I think I might kill some trees this weekend... orrrr just hang from a hammock for a few hours.

[Clisbyclark]

Went to FDR State Park in January. I thought, hey, that's not very far away from me so checked out the rules. Boy! Page after page. Including that you have to designate which camp site you are going to use, and, if for some reason, you do not use that site, you have to, of all things, "call" them from the trail and arrange to use another site. On top of that, it's $10 or more per person per night for a back country site. So I understand. Still, it irks me to see this sort of thing.

I know what you mean! I don't like having to reserve the sites in advance either. I'm heading out on the PMT with some friends soon and it took a lot of time and calls to understand the rules properly to make sure we were doing the right thing. It almost got to the point of scrapping the destination because all the regulations. That being said, like the Smokies, where I still am hesitant to hike because similar rules, I think the PMT is very heavily travelled in nice weather and being only 23 miles long, there's only so many places to camp so they feel they need to manage it more closely than other backcountry sites. Also, this trail is different from most as it looks like it parallels a paved road for much of its length so there's a lot places for easy access.

One more thing. if you join the PMTA for $25 (tax deductible) you get a map and get fees waived for your campsites. I feel this money goes for trail maintenance so it was a contribution to a good cause and if you hike the trail for more than two nights, it pays for itself.

[GoneShootn]

I know what you mean! I don't like having to reserve the sites in advance either. I'm heading out on the PMT with some friends soon and it took a lot of time and calls to understand the rules properly to make sure we were doing the right thing. It almost got to the point of scrapping the destination because all the regulations. That being said, like the Smokies, where I still am hesitant to hike because similar rules, I think the PMT is very heavily travelled in nice weather and being only 23 miles long, there's only so many places to camp so they feel they need to manage it more closely than other backcountry sites. Also, this trail is different from most as it looks like it parallels a paved road for much of its length so there's a lot places for easy access.

One more thing. if you join the PMTA for $25 (tax deductible) you get a map and get fees waived for your campsites. I feel this money goes for trail maintenance so it was a contribution to a good cause and if you hike the trail for more than two nights, it pays for itself.

Good to know. Thanks.

[sidneyhornblower]

I would like to get a state representative to introduce a bill establishing a uniform policy for all Georgia state parks regarding the use of hammocks.

I'd prefer to leave the legislature out of it. A political arena is generally not going to give you the best results. It might be useful to educate DNR personnel instead, though you're going to run into issues of jurisdiction depending on what regulations and what areas you're trying to get covered. WMAs can and sometimes do have significantly different hunting regs from surrounding National Forest lands. Some WMAs are concurrent with National Forests, where the federal regs may take precedence. State Parks can be different as well.

And that's just for hunting. Camping regulations vary widely as well. Most of those are promulgated by DNR based on site specific considerations. State parks, which see a lot more use, probably each need to be individually managed. Unfortunately, that sometimes means the employee on the ground defaults to saying no to things they don't understand, like hammocks. Or they say no based on a lot of sloppy hammock hanging by people using ropes and clothesline and other crap to strangle trees so they have a place to party loudly in the woods (this is not us).

It's probably not possible to come up with a uniform set of regulations, and from my point of view it's not desirable because regulations, any regulations, tend towards lowest common denominator and might be more restrictive than what we have now. The patchwork quilt of rules can be a pain, but I'd still rather have DNR making those rules that must exist, not the legislature.

[GoneShootn]

Yeah, I understand. The legislature is an unknown quantity. But is there a reasonable alternative? Should you have to fight that battle at every place you want to go? And if you educate one employee, what about the dozens of others? You might not get the same person next time. You talk to Ranger Joe, who says that it is okay, and then, when you get there, you encounter someone else altogether. Do you want to get into the "Ranger Joe told me it was okay..." thing?

Seems the only possible strategy, then, is to avoid the sites known (or thought) to be hammock hostile in favor of those known (or thought) to be hammock friendly. And if the "hammock friendly" experience was with just one employee, what if you get a different employee? As much as I agree with the education idea, I don't think it's practical. So, like others, I just avoid the state parks, and that irks me. My taxes help pay for the park system, and I don't like that I cannot use them in a responsible way.

[sidneyhornblower]

The legislature is an unknown quantity. But is there a reasonable alternative?

Small bites of the apple, I guess, are the only alternative. Another reason to leave the lawmakers out of it is that, based totally on my subjective experience talking to the few DNR people I run into, the DNR generally doesn't LIKE the legislature messing around with the nitty gritty rules. One example of that is the deer baiting regulations, which were different for southern zone versus northern zone. People in the northern zone complained to their state reps, who changed the law to say that the bait rule must be the same in both zones.

DNR pointed out, probably rightfully, that their regulation was based on data from wildlife biologists and that lawmakers had no knowledge of what they had just done in changing, by law, a game regulation.

If the legislature were to try and adopt some sort of camping regulations, whether related to hammocks or tents or water filters or anything else, I'm sure DNR would bitterly resent the intrusion. That leaves us with the painstaking legwork of showing up at public comment sessions and making public comments to DNR directly. The foresters and wildlife biologists within DNR are pretty receptive to public input if you have good data to share, and they'll gladly share their data with you (you pay for it via tax dollars of course, so it should be shared).

This thread is making me consider doing something along those lines next time I run into a DNR guy out in the field. I may see if he/she is interested in an impromptu hammock demo. Last time I ran into anyone from DNR, I was just day hiking and had no hammock with me, so we just talked shop a bit. Hopefully I'll be more prepared if it happens again.

Good thread.