OMG! What a joke

[DTro]

They can’t be serious with this?  It look like they went to Walmart and purchased some soccer cones and safety ribbon.    The only thing that is blocked off is a 30ft section of landing, the parking lot above is open, the road to the archery range is open just a short section of cement ramp is blocked off.   

 

A perfect example of government hard at work.  What a joke.

 

They really can’t expect this to stay up can they?     It’s not like there is any maintenance to do with the river being at near record lows.  There simply is NO GOOD REASON for this blockade.      I give it 24 hours.  People can go elsewhere to fish, but there are too many river rat hunters down there that use that landing.  They have probably been scouting for a while and I’m sure they won’t stand for it, they will just simply move it and go hunting.   Once its moved, good luck keeping everyone else out

[jerkbait]

I would put the cones and ribbons in the AIS bins and go fishing. Morons!

[paceman]

Would you rather have then spend millions of your tax payers dollars and construct a chain link fence with a locked gate, at every closed location across the country, in the 4 hours they had to work tuesday morning?

[TruthWalleyes]

I would put the cones and ribbons in the AIS bins and go fishing. Morons!

Haha...They took the bin down at the St Croix access i use...Good use of money leaving it there for 30 days and then removing it ..It was FULL of trash when it was there lol

[DTro]

Id rather you give me ONE GOOD REASON why it needs to be blocked.  JUST ONE.  Then when you can’t,  take the cones and shove em you know where.

 

They already have a permanent gate up on top of the hill, but guess what, it leads to a city park that they can’t block access to.   “oh well, we will just block off this short piece of concrete”.    WHAT A JOKE!! 

[OnAFly]

Move it, go fishing. My guess is that no one will care. Everyone knows the whole situation is ridiculous.

Maybe they half a$$ed it for that reason.

[harvey lee]

Would you rather have then spend millions of your tax payers dollars and construct a chain link fence with a locked gate, at every closed location across the country, in the 4 hours they had to work tuesday morning?

If this shutdown continues and people continue to use the area, yes, I could see a new chain link fence put up and sadly, cost would not be a concern.

I would also say if one got caught using the closed area, they would be tagged if caught.

Not saying this is the right thing to do but I could see a fence and a ticket also. We have to remember, it is the Fed Gov.

With that said, I highly doubt anyone is watching it for usage.

No different than all the WPA's and Federal Parks that there will be no hunting in for ducks, deer or whatever. She's all closed for business sadly. Just have to locate another area to hunt.

[Gordie]

Well at least you won't spread AIS, but that pink ribbon stuck on the trailer would be a dead give away!

[PurpleFloyd]

Anarchy.

[Craigums]

Dtro what landing was this? I thought all the landings were state owned?

[RK]

I think the guys that did it are pretty smart actually. They have to close it, so they 'closed it.' Whether it remains 'closed' isn't their concern - they're on uupaid leave anyhow so what do they care? They gave it exactly as much effort as the pointless exercise it is deserves.

Almost have to think they have a sense of humor about it. "Yeah, the guy coming down here in the Ford 250? That'll stop him in his tracks..."

Total Chief Wiggum from "The Simpsons" moment: "Good work boys!"

[DTro]

Good Point RK

Well rumor has it that the feds are trying to block access to the refuge to keep people off federal land during the shutdown, and according to the city they cannot do that by blocking a city ramp.  Word from them is to launch but don’t get out of the boat. 

 

So it look like the hunters are the ones that are really going to suffer here.

[CANOPY SAM]

Total Chief Wiggum from "The Simpsons" moment: "Good work boys!"

That made me laugh out loud! I love Chief Wiggum! "Okay boys, that outta do it!"

Honestly though, big D. What are they supposed to do?

With the state this country is in right now I think there's a LOT more to be angry about then how the Park Officials temporarily block off a gate entrance.

The earlier comment about "anarchy" actually isn't far off the mark. This is supposed to be a government by the people, and for the people, but our elected officials decide if they can't come to an agreement on something they'll just stop working????

I vote we all say enough! Fire the entire bunch and replace every one of the slugs with people that will get the job done! What's happening right now is the most pathetic display of "government" in the history of our country. Who's "governing" anything now???? It's shameful.

That's the JOKE! Who cares about a little ribbon and some cones?

[DTro]

I’ll tell you who cares.  The guy that goes down there an moves it out of the way and then gets tagged and has to either pay a fine or go to court etc etc.   Aint nobody got time for that.

 

Just leave the thing alone. It will be covered in snow in 2 months anyways.  Those few boats that want to use it between now and then, just leave em alone and let em go on about their business until Mother Nature shuts it down.

 

Common sense people.  JFC

[TruthWalleyes]

  Aint nobody got time for that.

 

Sry..

I got Bronchitis

[leech~~]

Huuum, it looks like my plan seems to be working. I hope it works on opening day next year as well. Nice to have the water all to myself!

[DTro]

Huuum, it looks like my plan seems to be working.

Voting For The Kenyan?

[PEATMOSS]

I’ll tell you who cares.  The guy that goes down there an moves it out of the way and then gets tagged and has to either pay a fine or go to court etc etc.   Aint nobody got time for that.

 

Just leave the thing alone. It will be covered in snow in 2 months anyways.  Those few boats that want to use it between now and then, just leave em alone and let em go on about their business until Mother Nature shuts it down.

 

Common sense people.  JFC

Maybe, just maybe, someone IS actually using a bit of common sense here. I'm sure the orders to close the access came from well above the individual that put up this set of cones.

If that individual really wanted to close this access, they probably could have parked a government vehicle across it.

[outdoors247]

Quote:

Id rather you give me ONE GOOD REASON why it needs to be blocked. JUST ONE. Then when you can’t, take the cones and shove em you know where.

Liability.... All it takes is one person to fall into a washout on a trail or any one of a million things that could happen. They will not be out there looking for damage or doing repairs after a storm. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen. They are not going to sit down and go site by site, they will just do a blanket closing of all federal land. I don't agree with this but unfortunately this is one of the very negative affects of living in a lawsuit happy society.

I wouldn't take down the sign or go around it. I'm pretty sure the USFWS game wardens ARE essential employees. My neighbor decided to drive around a road closed sign last spring and I was very surprised to hear how expensive those tickets are...WOW is all I will say. I would imagine driving around a barricade would be about the same.

Once again I don't agree with it either, it's just a bad situation all around. You can't shoot the messenger (USFWS). They are just being told what to do. The clowns in Washington are the ones that brought this on. I'm pretty sure that the people working for the USFWS would rather be working than putting signs up and blocking accesses.

Side note: I had to go to Northern Tool at lunch and took Blackdog road on the way back. The bird watching area had the same signs. The Cedar Ave launch had a barricade barrel in front of the access. There was no red tape or signs but the barrel was right in the middle of the launch access road. This is State Park land but basically surrounded by Federal land. Without the tape and signs this could be totally unrelated but it made me go, hmmm.

[harvey lee]

I am sure noone likes the fact these parks and such are closed but to taken down a sign or posting and drive through will only get one in serious trouble.

I can understand why they have to close these areas with no sraff there.

I will follow the rules but if others chose to not follow the rules, they may be in this forum crying and whining they got tagged and tagged hard.

Why cannot some people follow the rules, makes life much more easy. All these people do is make in the end more laws as some cannot simply follow the rules and laws.

I guess each has thier own set of rules and if they do not like the others, just break them.

If someone goes thier DTRo and gets caught, oh well, they made that choice knowing it was against the law.

What I find ironic is some that say no problem going there, if they get hurt and noone is there to help them, then they will sue someone. Those same people will be the first to say, they should have closed the road better or had it staffed.

Can't have it both ways. Just follow the rules, that simple. We are all in the same boat as far as the usage of these closed parks.

[bturck]

Amazing that the clowns in Washington, both sides, who put us in this position are still collecting their paychecks.

We could elect new people to congress and senate, of course it would only be one crook replacing another.......

I agree with Canopy Sam the state of our country and govt is in a shambles, and we p and moan about other countries......we need to look in the mirror. Enough, blood pressure rising......

[aanderud]

What I find ironic is some that say no problem going there, if they get hurt and noone is there to help them, then they will sue someone. Those same people will be the first to say, they should have closed the road better or had it staffed.

Come on, Tom. You think the US Fish and Wildlife Service is going to send someone to help if there's an injury on the Minnesota River? They don't staff the boat ramp with personnel, Tom. They never have and they never will. LOL.

I agree with what RK said. There was an employee who was told to block the access, and he "blocked" it. Cheaper than putting up a fence, so maybe a good thing.

To those who say you shouldn't drive around it, or you might get a ticket, I'd conjecture that if the "barricade" was to disappear, any attempt to prosecute might end prematurely as it'd be hard to say, for instance if there are 10 trucks at the boat launch, WHICH one moved the barricade (or prove whether it was even there when the first truck arrived).

Some other thread asked who would be affected by the shutdown, and I said that they'd try to make sure as many people are affected as possible because that's the way to get more public uproar. Looks like that's what is happening. I heard talking heads on TV this morning say that the dems won't take any continuing resolutions that the GOP is presenting, in an effort to piecemeal funding to the "important" workers that people actually want to fund, because then they won't have their leverage. Makes sense.

[NoWiser]

I don't buy the liability thing for a minute. More like "if we don't have our jobs, you don't get your land". What makes USFWS land so special that it's too dangerous to use, yet we can still use our state and national forest land and county land with practically nobody watching out for us there. The few employees they have surely don't have an impact on how safe the land is to use.

Or perhaps it's because they don't have anyone to guard that big patch of marijuana that I found growing next to one of their sheds in a restricted area??

Harvey, following every single rule to a "T" that the government puts before us isn't what got this country where it is today. The land is OUR land. Not THEIR land, and there is no reason we shouldn't be able to use it regardless of what is going on in Washington. We pay for it, for cripes sake.

[outdoors247]

Quote:

What I find ironic is some that say no problem going there, if they get hurt and noone is there to help them, then they will sue someone. Those same people will be the first to say, they should have closed the road better or had it staffed.

Not sure if you aimed this remark at me but I never said to go there. All I was saying is that there is more federal land than just that boat ramp. If they close down one chunk of federal land they will close it all down. It's truly a liability having people on land that not being maintained for public use. Is anything going to happen at the boat launch, probably not but it falls under the federal land umbrella.

Quote:

To those who say you shouldn't drive around it, or you might get a ticket, I'd conjecture that if the "barricade" was to disappear, any attempt to prosecute might end prematurely as it'd be hard to say, for instance if there are 10 trucks at the boat launch, WHICH one moved the barricade (or prove whether it was even there when the first truck arrived).

I totally agree with you on this one. I would never get away with it. My luck would be the USFWS GW would drive around the corner and see me with the ribbon and cones in my hands. But you are correct, very hard to prove if no one see's them removed.

Quote:

I don't buy the liability thing for a minute. More like "if we don't have our jobs, you don't get your land". What makes USFWS land so special that it's too dangerous to use, yet we can still use our state and national forest land and county land with practically nobody watching out for us there. The few employees they have surely don't have an impact on how safe the land is to use.

Come on.. you never seen a road/trail closed due to washouts, fire, ect.... There are millions of acres of federal land and the possibilities are endless. They are not going to examine site by site to determine the risk level of letting people in. They are just going to shut the whole show down. I agree with aandrud, they are trying to make this sting the general public as much as they can.

This sure sounds familiar doesn't it? It has flashbacks of the state shut down awhile back. Remember the fishing license/state parks fiasco? They are using their heavy hand to bully people so they can get their way. It's the clowns in Washington that got us into this mess and not the USFWS.

[rundrave]

saw this link on another forum:

http://www.doi.gov/shutdown/fy2014/upload/FWS-FAQ.pdf

Since some of you seem to be worried about liability and our well being while on these lands:

Quote:

Will Service employees be available to respond to emergency situations on refuge or hatchery lands?

Yes.

FWS will designate a cadre of staff as excepted to be available for

protection of life and property. In addition, refuge and hatchery managers have the discretion to call upon employees in case of public health, safety and emergency issues that may affect Service resources or facilities.

This wont be very fun if this stuff continues into hunting season.