Natural Lands and the "Right to Roam" The "shut-down of National Parks reminded me of the story of the American tourist in Germany who had presumably asked "Is Black Forest open today"? Germans found this hilarious because this hapless tourist imagining the Black Forest as some kind of theme park with a fence and a gate encapsulated neatly their preconceptions of America. Black Forest is a living landscape with farms, towns, schools, bars and factories.
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Black Forest Hiking. Most of the land is private. Farms and forests allow
hiking on public farm or logging roads which are closed to car traffic |
Whether true or not, the story illuminates different perceptions and realities of open space that may be interesting beyond the current closure of national parks and urban monuments in the wake of the federal shut-down.
In this article we will investigate how the way land is seen, owned and managed has implications not only for natural spaces but also for urban spaces and, most importantly, how we can use them.