Body Solid Home Gym with TF3 Folding Treadmillfrom the Sports Authority  

The Wengler Handyman Knife is a highly versatile Swiss Army Knife. Very dependable and rugged.

DicksSportingGoods.com Shooter's Ridge™ Steady Pod

Go back to "Survival in the Heartland"-pg 1

Go to Survive, Strive, & Succeed.

Slumberjack Big Timber -30 Deg. Sleeping Bag 

The Changing Nature of Survival-Page Two

• Click on the .pdf image on the right to download "Survival in the Heartland" in its entirety.

Are Americans Too Old to Fight?

The United States’ population is rapidly aging.  By 2030, the number of Americans aged 65 and older will more than double to 71 million older Americans, comprising roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population.  In light of this, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reported in their 2007 “The State of Aging & Health in America,” that 80% of older Americans have at least one chronic disease.  Adults in the United States tend to become less active as they age.  Many older adults are inactive despite efforts to promote the benefits of regular physical activity.

Yesterday, Capt. David French, a senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund and a captain in the United States Army Reserve, wrote an article for the National Review-Online-"Why not Join the Fight?"  Capt. French questions why more older Americans are not actively fighting or supporting the Armed Forces.”  He is currently wrapping up his first deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Is there then, a connection or a relationship between being unfit (either from obesity, illness, or injury), being depressed, and not fighting, in not being outside, or in not having experienced survival close-up?  We think there is.

An article in Time Magazine, written in August of 1982, contains still poignant lessons for the outdoors person.  Frederick Golden reports in “ New Dangers in the Wilderness: Robbers, armed groups, and pot growers menace Park Lands,” national parks and forests in Oregon, Wyoming, and California are often overrun by hoodlums.  Two National Parks stood out as being particularly dangerous- Yellowstone National Park and Angeles National Forest.  According to one official at the Angeles National Forest,” It's the biggest dumping ground for dead bodies and stolen vehicles I've ever seen.”  During the first five months of the year (1982), authorities reported eleven rapes, 27 aggravated assaults, 66 burglaries and 139 thefts and robberies, including 14 stolen cars in this park.”
This crime wave has continued as a Nov 07 article in the Orlando Sentinel details a raid on a marijuana farm in this forest.  The Orlando newspaper goes on to say that organized crime has taken over illegal pot farms complete with armed soldiers.”

In May 2001, the Dept of Justice sponsored a study entitled “Wisconsin Drug Threat Assessment.”  The NDIC, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice, examined drug manufacturing and trafficking in Wisconsin prevalent in this state primarily due to its vast wilderness of forests.  During 1998 to 2001, the NDIC reported a 47% increase in the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine.  The study stated that methamphetamine distribution from Wisconsin extended throughout the United States, with carefully honed forest trails throughout the Midwest into the Southwestern States and to the West Coast.  In addition, to bobby-traps and explosives found at the drug sites, law enforcement officials find other toxic waste and human feces making restoration of forest land expensive and time-consuming.

In July 2006, The Forestry School at Oregon State University released the findings of a three year report entitled, “ If You Go Down to the Woods Today, You’re Sure of a Big Surprise: It‘s No Teddy Bear’s Picnic,” authored by Ddrrs. Tynon, Chavez, and Kakoyannis.  Briefly, the summary and conclusion of this study are, “They soon found that much more was occurring in these western National Forests than they originally thought.”

“A key finding from their study is that urban-associated crime is no stranger to National Forests in the western United States.  Although many of the National Forest study sites are near large urban populations, they found, unexpectedly, that rural forests also suffer from what interviewees termed ‘urban spillover’ effects.  Urban-associated crimes and crimes that fell into the other category (e.g. armed defense of forest products, chemical dumping, dumping of household waste and landscape materials, homeless residency, and undocumented immigrant trespass) occurred in both rurally located Parks and Forests, and also those near large cities”.  Ddrrs. Joanne F. Tynon, Deborah J. Chavez, and Christina Kakoyannis indicated, “Many Park and Forest officials do not report all of the crimes occurring on federal land to protect the park’s image.  Another reason for underreporting crime, according to officials, was an inadequate reporting system.”

This study cites that: “in 1991 National Park Service (NPS) rangers across the U.S. dealt with 17 homicides, 214 aggravated assaults, 632 burglaries, 3,897 larcenies, 185 motor vehicle thefts, 114 arsons, 1,321 weapons offenses, 501 sex offenses, 1,878 drug violations, and thousands more minor assaults and disorderly activities”.  Very recently, bombings and attacks on Park Guides have occurred.  A book written in 1996, “Crime, Criminals, and Guns in Natural Settings,” identified a 19% increase in national park crime and a 100% increase in national forest crime from 1989 to 1992.

Finally, the 3-year study reports on an alarming increase of forests and parks by “non-traditional users.”  The conclusion that crime and violent acts continue to plague public-land employees and visitors still rings true.  The more dramatic reports include the Wall Street Journal’s 2000 report asking, ‘How Safe is that National Park”.  ‘In March of 2000, the BLM reported on a double homicide when a backcountry recreationist found a burned out vehicle with the remains of two people inside.  Initial findings indicated that both victims, who had been reported missing earlier in the month, had possibly been murdered elsewhere and then transported to public land administered by BLM in the Silverbell Mountains of Arizona.  “While the media are likely portraying a sensationalized picture of the safety of the public on forest lands as a whole, it is also true that these crimes and other acts of violence have made the work of public land managers and law enforcement officers more hazardous, and that they jeopardize the safety of all who visit public lands or work there.  It’s certainly no teddy bears’ picnic out there anymore.  ‘The Bureau of Land Management gets many more bodies dumped and many more stolen cars are found there because the BLM is closer to the city.””

In August 2006, the Casper Star Tribune reported on the increased violence among biker gangs.  According to the newspaper’s  “Biker gang violence reappears at South Dakota motorcycle rally,” police said two men affiliated with the Hells Angels shot and wounded five Outlaws Motorcycle Club members in Custer State Park earlier that week.  Gang Violence has also occurred in the Black Hills National Forest, a patch of forest and valleys 100 miles long and 50 miles wide on South Dakota's western edge. 

Most recently, on May 12, 2008, the SC Now Network published an article entitled,”  Police Memo details concerns over Violence between bike clubs, which reported that four national biker gangs are feared to disrupt the Annual Biker Week in Aug 2008 at Myrtle Beach.  The four biker gangs mentioned were the infamous Hells Angels, the Pagans, Bandidos, and the Outlaws Motorcycle Clubs.  Each group had established a Chapter near Myrtle Beach.  The news web-site states because of an increase in violence between rival clubs nationwide, authorities are focused on these four groups at the Annual Biker Week.  However one local police officer stated,” bike clubs, like the Hells Angels carry a reputation with them that is often exaggerated.”
 
Although gang shootings and other gang violence do not happen frequently, if you are out hiking you might want to take another trail, if you hear the rumble of “hogs” coming you way.

But more to the point, why do we let criminals dictate what we do in the outdoors, or anywhere for that matter?

Do We Know How to Fight? (con' t on downloadable copy)

NOTES-

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