Every rock is a million years old. It’s not like they’re antiques. After looking at the video I’m not sure that even qualifies as a Hoodoo. It looked like a rock sitting on dirt that was washed out and not a different layer of rocks eroded due to wind.
It was a hazard but it wasn’t a hazard that day. They should have made the problem known so the park Rangers could shore it up or knock it down. Good Lord, go to any park and Rangers have chopped, dug, and bulldozed the place into an area that is safe to transit. $500 seems about right for endangering themselves.
Jesus Christ, Really? So, you go to visit something new and exotic. That’s the whole point, visiting something new, something unfamiliar. When you get there, DON’T PUSH OVER THINGS WEIGHING HUNDREDS OF POUNDS!
That’s utter nonsense. Generally, when a natural rock formation is destroyed, they do not make any attempt to restore it. The whole reason is was special is because it occurred in nature. Why not just create a plaster of paris version of the Grand Canyon?
No one asked these losers to go into the state park and make it better. If the fat fuck was so worried about the dangers of nature he should have stayed home and watched TV like he probably does every other weekend of his sad life.
Wow. I am genuinely surprised and somewhat in disbelief that someone actually agreed in full with that moronic statement. I mean, I’ve been around the Internet a few times. I’ve seen things. But this is still impressive.
It would be funny if they make it their vocation now.
“On today’s episode of Rock Abuse, were in Mecca, and going to kick over the holy meteorite!” Its just a bloody rock, people.
I can probably figure out how to set up a poll, but is there some way to set up a tip sheet here? I’d bet that the kind of folks who see nothing wrong with destroying a natural rock formation are the same guys who can rage for hours against Lucas for defacing Star Wars.
If you are so afraid that a stationary rock is harboring murderous rage against kids, you would probably be better served by focusing your policing indoors. Maybe volunteer your services in public elementary schools, say, peanut butter patrol or dodge ball intervention. Think of how many children could be saved if only these heroes would focus their righteous fits of strength on the real enemy.
Just a minor point but I’m not sure “historically significant” is quite accurate. While historical significance can apply to inanimate objects like trees, rocks, places, etc, it also carries the implication that an event in history or a cultural significance pertains to the place and, unless you know something that’s not avaliable to the Utah Park Service, this site isn’t necessarily being honored or preserved because of that. As an example, here’s how one city, LA, describes the requirements for such.
The whole Colorado Plateau, of which Goblin Valley State Park is a part, is of physiographic significance. The curious and unusual mushrooms featured in the Entrada Sandstone are of geologic significance. But other than the early cattlemen and prospectors that first wandered through and were awed by the formations, it’s not of historic significance per se.
But then that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Places don’t need to have had the imprint of man upon them to be deemed worthy of appreciation and protection. Some are significant in and of themselves just for being what they are. Goblin Valley is one of those places and really the only historical significance I’m aware of is that a couple of assholes came along and decided to ruin what they could of a wonder it took tectonics, sedimentation, water and wind millions of years to create.
Better yet - why don’t we just make some out of paper mache or lightweight foam and lacquer the hell out of it? All the visual appeal, none of the dirt and danger of actual nature! Just think of how great the Disney Presents the Goblin Valley Experience could be!
:rolleyes:
National Parks are managed to allow people to observe the natural processes that are taking place, but those natural processes generally take precedence over our use. Assuming the Utah state parks are managed the same way (which matches my experience in southern Utah, at least), the rangers wouldn’t have shored it up or knocked it down. The most they would have done was close off the area to visitation to minimize the risk to visitors.
The purpose of the parks is not to make nature safe FOR human activity, but to make nature safe FROM human activity. By toppling it over they did exactly what the parks aren’t mean for.
When we hiked up the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan, Mexico, there were machine-gun wielding guards patrolling the area. Our chaperone pointed them out to us. She said that the guards were there to protect the monuments against visitors who felt an overwhelming urge to do something really stupid, like scratching their names in one of the rocks.
I was only 15 and I remember thinking, “Now, what kind of idiot would deface a national monument?”
And if we can just pay $500 to push over anything on park property we don’t like, I got some Reagan statues that need tipping when I get my Christmas bonus.
It was a rock sitting on a pile of dirt. I have a yard full of them. It’s not like they chiseled their likeness into a mountain and despoiled the rugged beauty of it. Now THAT would be defacing a national monument.
And the reason they carried machine guns at the Pyramids in Mexico was so you didn’t get your rich tourist backside kidnapped for ransom. You get the same treatment at bars in Cancun.
This wasn’t a hoodoo rock formation. It was a rock sitting on dirt from water erosion. It was as far from a national treasure as it could get. You can go to any national park and see the destruction of nature in the name of public improvement.
