No Trespassing Signs and Modern Day Monkey Wrenching

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Walker’s Rights

Now if you are being antisocial on your walk, the law still applies. Loitering laws make sense. Hanging around with malicious intent is not OK. “Thou shalt not steal” still applies to most people in this country. But walking with a stick? Let them pass.

Maybe what we need is a “walker’s rights” identity card. Fill out an application, take a class, and just like a driver’s license, you have the right to walk on any road (public or private). You’ve proven your sociability. No criminal record. Trained in social and rural etiquette. Let your walker’s license card be your ticket to improved access to all wonders, both private and public.

I can see a disturbed property owner cornering a Patagonia-clad hiker. “Get off my property!” he yells. The hiker pulls out his license, stating he/she will be respectful of both property and wildlife … and is granted legal protection to be there.

If you just have to have a “no trespassing” sign on your property because of some negative past experience, or because you just might be the paranoid type (watching too much TV perhaps?), my advice would be this: At least make the darned thing beautiful! Have it produced by an artisan. Put flowers around it. No more cheap petroleum-based, neon, anti-social signs of any kind.

And it’d be nice to have a reason for the sign: “No trespassing because this area is sensitive to foot traffic.” Or be honest: “Access is hereby restricted because I like to walk around naked on my property.”  Or thus: “Please don’t trample here without my permission. I’d like to get to know you before you smell my flowers or sanctify my skunks.”

No more grumpy signs. We have enough grumpy people inhabiting our world. While walking, should you happen to come across a particularly nasty no trespassing sign, well, ahem, you could always ask yourself “What would Abbey do?”

We invite you to discuss your thoughts on walkers rights and trespassing laws by clicking here. — Mother Earth News editors

Please post photos of “no trespassing” signs at cu.MotherEarthNews.com.

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