Re: What is to be done? Reaction to trip to springs 5-23-09

Lately, I've been a grump on this forum complaining about the types of people abusing the DCHS environment over the past several years. A few days ago I wrote a more light hearted message telling of an encounter last Saturday with a Hesperia church group, complete with little kids, teens and adults. We were naked and.... well, you can read the rest in my missive, fourth subject under this heading.

Well, I am upset at the present sociology of the Deep Creek Hot Springs environment, but an honest look back at the 39 years I've been hiking to the springs brings back wonderful memories of mostly naturist people, young and old, enjoying the creek, springs and beaches responsibly, but there are also memories of trashy parties, illegal fires and camping, a commune of over 65 people, including very small children living right around the springs for weeks in 1970. At times there were visiting and camping members of the Manson Family, violent drunks, stoners and other ne'er-do-wells, some with firearms. At times a collective force of concerned hot springers tried to kept the peace with words and a remembered few times, with force.

The difference I see with the present condition is that the lawful authority in the area of the creek and hot springs, the USFS, has neither the the people power or the dollars to devote much time to one little place on a very large area map. I think that we, the concerned people voicing similar opinions on this forum and on other media need to have a meeting with Brad Burns, USFS Ranger/Officer, others in his force and possibly the BLM and San Bernardino County Sheriff Dept. to find at least a partial set of solutions to the recognized problems. I welcome all reasonable responses.