my first unpleasant forest ranger

I’ve been boondocking on public lands since 2016 and just had my first unpleasant experience with a ranger. Normally they are the kind of folks you want public servants to be: polite, professional, helpful.

Maybe the difference was this one was in a USFS truck prominently marked Law Enforcement rather than with the USFS logo larger on the door. I suspect he came up from the LEO world rather than the forestry world. Had that RESPECT MUH AUTHORITAY bully cop vibe.

He immediately started talking about fines, which indicated he thought I was overstaying the limit. I told him I got here last Tuesday. He said “You’ve been here a lot longer than that.” Umm, no.

I told him I had come in from Santa Fe and probably had receipts to that effect (true, I’d have to look), had his first pass through my camp on timestamped video (true, with a screenshot posted on the blog; he drove over my solar cables), and that I mark my 14d limits on my calendar (true). The only point he was interested in was my calendar, which he asked to see. I showed him (inset screencap).

His response: “If you’re here on the 3rd you’re getting a fine”. Why would I get a fine on the 14th day? I told him I was leaving on the 3rd since that was the 14th day. “If you’re here after that you’re getting a fine”. A normal ranger would say something like: “thank you for understanding and obeying the posted limits.” Dude is weirdly obsessed with fines.

Look, it’s OK to be mistaken or to misremember. It’s not ok to bully citizens based on mistakes or misremembering. Document your contacts and observations. I mean, if I’m more conscientious documenting your presence at my site than you are then that’s a problem. Do your job better. And supervisor: supervise better. Regularly review logs of citizen interactions.