Important park issues
Here are some of the important issues that affect Pilot Butte in a negative way. We list them so you will have a sense of what must happen to preserve the park and accommodate the needs of the people using it,
Off trail hikingTake one look up the Butte and you'll see the problem. This park is one of the most fragile places you'll find and yet it's inside a city and is visited nearly a million times each tear. It's been proven that just on person hiking off trail can lead to significant damage. Others follow and/or downpours take the damage the people made and magnify it. You may not believe it, but off leash dogs do even more damage than people. The issue is not just erosion, it's also plants. When native species die, either nothing grows back or weeds move in. A lot of destruction has already happened and the Butte can't tolerate much more.
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Popularity and populationThe Butte has always been popular and it gets more popular every year. It's estimated that over 600,000 of the annual visits involve trail use. The trails can't keep up with that let alone the population increase expected in the next 10 years alone. Estimates are as high as 30,000 more people moving into the surrounding neighborhoods during that time. The time to act is now and we're off to a great start with the Butte Thing and the Other Thing, both of which are sanctioned by the park, Other help will likely be needed too,
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The roadAll we need to say is "the road" and everyone who uses the park often knows what we mean. The trail alongside the road is so narrow that even if you try not to, you'll most likely find yourself stepping onto the road. The "share the road signs" have helped some but almost everyone believes it's an accident waiting to happen and someone may be killed. As the population increases things will get worse, Already the parking on top often fills completely making other problems worse. The situation is so bad that the park system is spending $250,000 to study it over a two year period.
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More concerns and possible solutions
More concerns
It's a public place and there are many concerns beyond the major ones listed above. They include vandalism, people not picking up after their dogs, people using trails inappropriately (e.g., bikes on trails where they aren't permitted, the need for more trails, the need for more fitness amenities, rundown existing park amenities, and even things like the increasing popularity of drones. Lists of things like these are always long. People are different and what's a priority to one may not be a priority to another. One thing is true, if enough people are concerned it becomes important. If there is enough concern, those people can then start to solve the problem. |
Solutions
We can't look to government to solve most of these problems. Pilot Butte State Park charges no fees and your tax dollars don't support it. But fattening lean budgets doesn't solve much either. It's just a fact that people problems are best solved by people. Take off trail hiking as an example. It;s simply the case that peer pressure has the greatest impact. The park will never ask you to speak up when you see someone doing it, but you can because in this country you can say what you want, We suggest you be nice and back away if the person even starts to get upset, Count on the fact that others are speaking up too. With enough peer pressure the problem will subside and eventually plants will start growing back on their own, If we tweak that process a little, the plants will grow back faster and will protect the Butte even better. It doesn't even cost much because the best plants will come from the Butte itself. People are the main solution to almost every problem and fortunately there are a lot of them who love Pilot Butte. |