Have We Really Gone Too Far With Wildflower Shaming?
Plus, where to see gray whales, how L.A. is making its alleys green, P-22's funeral, a shout-out for swamps, hike in a historic movie ranch, and more!
howdy
A recent piece in the truly excellent Los Angeles Times Plants section by Jeanette Marantos asked the question ‘Has wildflower shaming gone too far?’ If you read last week’s Modern Hiker Newsletter, you know the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline just kicked off, and the article itself is an interview with the Foundation’s director, Evan Meyer.
The question in the headline was ostensibly raised by Meyer, who was troubled by an early February press conference where the mayor of Lake Elsinore announced the closure of Walker Canyon while flanked by Riverside County Sheriffs and California Highway Patrol officers. Back in 2019, this area was completely overrun by Instagram hordes, who not only backed up traffic on the freeway for miles but also trampled and destroyed the flowers they were coming to add to their Instagram feeds.
In the piece, Meyer said he wanted to use these photogenic events as teaching moments:
"This is a way to celebrate what an incredible state we live in, and appreciate the natural world and native plants. If we can build that appreciation, we can encourage people to think about how to protect those plants and bring more of this [superbloom] experience into large spaces in our urban environment."
He also criticized the drive to lock these places down, saying:
“… these are shared places, owned by the state or federal government, who say their goal is to inspire the public and give them access to the thing that's really great about being a Californian — having natural experiences near where you live. But instead of finding a way to manage it, they're just throwing up their hands and saying, 'You can't come.'"
I truly and deeply empathize with Meyer’s stance here — and as the director of the TPF I think it’s the right one to have. When I started Modern Hiker back in 2006, the very first comment I ever received on a trail guide was someone who was screaming at me not to share these places so “others” wouldn’t destroy the trails this person thought were theirs and theirs alone.
As a newcomer to hiking, I bristled at that attitude. I wasn’t about gatekeeping then and I’m not about gatekeeping now … but now that I’m 17 years into this project (!!!), I know this issue is a bit more nuanced than “all access anywhere all the time = good” or “not sharing info = bad.”
I try to ensure that all of the trail guides on Modern Hiker give you more than just the directions but also the context as to why these places are special, but I know that flashier, simpler sites with bigger budgets can buy their way to the top of Google results and they don’t always take that conservation minded attitude into account.
I know this issue is a bit more nuanced than “all access anywhere all the time = good” or “not sharing info = bad.”
With social media, it’s even worse. Back in 2009, the onslaught of wannabe influencers with no regard for the landscape was so overwhelming that some of us established a counter-hashtag to spread responsible wildflower-viewing and posting techniques, and I was inspired to try to get a set of Digital Leave No Trace Principles into the outdoor ethos (the LNT Foundation has since incorporated most of those ideas). But this was an uphill battle that left most of us exhausted and disheartened, and a lot of this could have been avoided had there just been some official volunteers (backed up by park staff) to gently remind visitors to stay on the established trails.
Meyer wants us to pressure our local parks and land managers to get more resources for these areas, including reservation systems, and I 100% agree with that. But I also know our parks remain perennially underfunded. The Trust For Public Land found American city parks still faced an $8.5 billion shortcoming in deferred maintenance, and in L.A., the Department of Recreation and Parks still spends over 30% of its budgeton non-park-related costs, which severely hampers its mission.
I don’t want to encourage anyone to take this issue into their own hands on the trail, because I don’t know if you’ve noticed but everyone seems to have gotten really on edge in the past 5 years. And if you want to comment on social media posts of bad behavior, please do so calmly.
I do hope parks take these superbloom-searchers seriously … and I recommend you use the Wild Flower Hotline and our other wildflower resources to scout out places that aren’t being trampled by aspiring TikTok stars. Some of the best flowers I saw during the 2019 superbloom were far from any ‘hotspot’ mentioned in a headline.
… And if you find some great blooms this year don’t forget – it’s also totally fine to not broadcast those locations on social media.
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
Whale Watching
Gray whales are on the move on the Pacific Coast, and we’ve got just the place to watch – the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Melissa Ozbek contributed a killer trail guide with all sorts of relevant info on visiting the region’s historic features, like its circa-1870 lighthouse. The operating hours can be a little confusing, so she’s spelled it all out for you along with providing a lovely seaside trek down to the building.
Gray whales pass this area heading south in January but they return north in mid-March … which is just around the corner. Learn more about the migration here.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Modern Hiker Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.