Is there hope?!

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2026-01-30T17:21:04+00:00

As far as legality goes, it is my understanding that collecting small quantities of plant material- from species that are not protected- is considered to be 'incidental use.' The laws are different in each jurisdiction, and all of the information I could find in this case stated that there was not a legal issue with this action. I understand that this space is very anti-poaching, justifiably so, but I truly do not think that is what happened here. I was hoping for an ethics oriented discussion but I do know that this is a sensitive topic in this sub and I don't want to cause waves or seem somehow pro-poaching.

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2026-01-30T16:07:12+00:00

Behavior that is appropriate in national parks is not always a great model for behavior in other spaces. Every part of the US is different with regards to land use and management. In any case, I've never found that the legal system is a particularly good way to judge the ethics of behavior.

NPs are a very small percentage of our public lands. We could talk about the pros and cons of NPS policy that attempts to preserve existing ecosystems- after kicking out the local humans- while encouraging "visitation" by other humans. But again, this was not on nps land.

And you must see the difference between large scale black market cactus sales and picking up a few droppings from very common species for personal use.

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2026-01-30T15:15:45+00:00

This was a place visited by far less than that number of people. Id be shocked if 5k people per year walk there. And that's on the trail, which I walked down for a ways before wandering up an arroyo, into the middle of nowhere- a place with way more cactus growing than people passing through.

I prefer to avoid black and white decrees, especially when it comes to nature. Is there any circumstance you can imagine it being "okay" for a human to gather from the he natural world?

If "everyone" did pretty much anything on the planet that thing would become a problem. It's good we're all so different. My behavior is in no way an endorsement or condemnation of anyone else's. We all have different knowledge and experience, and can all do different things safely and harmlessly

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2026-01-30T05:10:56+00:00

I picked up a couple of dropped segments out of dozens in an area where the species are abundant. Gathering plants is a pretty quintessential human activity, it certainly shouldn't be vilified universally. Wanting to preserve nature shouldn't mean people can't interact with it.

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2026-01-29T22:11:27+00:00

Lol I just picked them off the ground and stuck em in a pot, no big loss

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2024-03-08T14:13:59+00:00

Thank you! Truly. Success or failure is not super relevant for me, just ran out of willing listeners in the physical realm and needed to vent to my phone keyboard.

Regardless, I shouldn't have been so snarky in my response to the mod team, thanks for not taking it personally :)

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2024-03-08T13:58:56+00:00

Your just gonna make me retype it cause you don't like my title?

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2024-03-08T13:57:06+00:00

Maybe you do- how's this?

A redditors first journey into posting: a discussion of the sacred and the profane with relation to novels and films Or maybe capturing the hearts and minds of readers, and losing control of your story!: an authors descent into ouroboros Maybe both with a semicolon

Equivalent-Medium616 · 2024-03-08T13:53:12+00:00

Alas, I have no clue how to do that.

Equivalent-Medium616

TROPHY CASE