"You don't need anyone's permission to experience nature. You just have to get out there." John Muir
People don't know what's happening in our National Parks, forests and wilderness areas. We have quietly had our right to travel on public land taken away. We're being excluded, denied our rights and charged with crimes carrying penalties of jail time and fines in the thousands of dollars. In a single incident, for hiking without a permit and speaking up about the injustice of the permit requirement itself, I was given, not one, but three tickets. Each ticket carries a penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail. Travel on public land is now subject to government permission and is no longer a right. My name is Mark Barrett. I am peacefully exercising my right to hike and I need your help.
Our God given and Constitutional rights are being violated in big and small ways every day. In my travels backpacking in the United States I'm seeing it everywhere. I'm speaking up, taking a stand, and educating people why it's so important that we defend our rights now. Over and over in history. Like a river in flood changing course. Good people, in an open way, stop going along. Something shifts and it's unstoppable. In years past, I always got the permits. I went along to get along. I just can't do it anymore. It's wrong.
I encourage everyone I meet to stand up for their rights and to do it in a loving way. Compliance, because of fear, or refusal in anger, are not the way. The life of Mahatma Gandhi, his practice of satyagraha, insistence on truth, inspires me.
Satyagraha Core Principles
Truth (Satya): Actions must stem from an absolute commitment to truth and justice.
Nonviolence (Ahimsa): Complete rejection of violence in thought, word, and deed.
Self-Suffering: Willingness to accept suffering without retaliating to awaken the opponent's conscience.
No Secrecy: Open and transparent actions that leave no room for hidden motives.
I'm practicing these principles by refusing to comply with the federal government requirement to carry a permit to hike in National Parks, forests and wilderness areas. It's not just permits though. Many no longer accept cash payment for entrance or campground fees. You are required to pay online by card. You have to have a card to get in and an email address to camp. Even though 31 U.S.C. § 5103 says cash is legal tender for all debts public and private. Card fees charged by private companies have become mandatory, along with the loss of privacy that goes with using a card and the internet. Refusal results in not being let in. Violations are subject to a $5,000 fine and/or six months in jail.
Still more require hikers to give their names and addresses, state where they are going and on what dates they will be there, and to sign a permit changing them into a party to a contract, limiting their rights. Further requiring them to show this permit at any time to any federal employee who asks to see it. Again, if you refuse, the penalty is a $5,000 fine and/or six months in jail. The coercion to obey is extreme.
Every day, thousands of times, at the entrance stations to National Parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, visitors are not allowed to pay cash. Every day, at Wilderness Permit Offices in the National Parks, Ranger Stations in the National Forests, and at the on-trail kiosks to federally designated Wilderness Areas, thousands and thousands of people are having their right to privacy and travel violated by the federal requirements to have and carry a permit. Freedom to be secure in our person, possessions and papers is specifically in the Bill of Rights, and even if they weren't, these are natural law rights given by God.
I talk to other hikers and people I meet in towns along the way. Many agree, and are frustrated, but afraid not to comply. By refusing to obtain a permit, I am exercising satyagraha and I'm encouraging others to do the same in the ways that feel right for them.
My actions have had consequences. I am backpacking on the Continental Divide Trail now spreading this message but I was cited by a Ranger earlier this year while hiking in the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego, California for hiking without a permit on the Pacific Crest Trail (36CFR261.10N).
The Ranger also gave me two additional tickets, charging me with threatening, intimidating or impeding a federal employee in the performance of their duties (36CFR261.3A). These two additional tickets were in retaliation for standing up for my right to privacy and for exercising my right to free speech. I was neither threatening nor intimidating but I did speak my mind. Though, in my heart, I was angry at the injustice. It's my work to resist from a place of peace. My work is not finished.
If I am found guilty at my hearing in December, I am facing up to $15,000 in fines and/or 18 months in jail. I am prepared to suffer the consequences for my commitment to these principles.
The words of Jesus are my example, not for the passive acceptance of abuse but for the compassion possible with unconditional love as it's source. Of all the Gospels, this might be the most radical.
"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". Matthew 5:44
The word used by the ancient Greeks is agape, the love a mother has for her unborn child. The truth that Jesus was teaching is that the one who loves without condition has found something no one in this world can take away.
A law that limits the expression of fundamental human rights, is a form of oppression, and therefore an act of harm, whether it's a visitor on public land, or Rosa Parks on a public bus. Travel is such a right. As a member of this society, it's my duty to be of service to it. By insisting on the freedom to travel across public lands, I am taking action to eliminate an injustice.
If you believe access to public lands is a right and not a privilege, pray for me, share my fundraiser with your friends, and please give if you can.
Thank you.
Mark Barrett
