Yosemite Vandalism

[balzaccom]

Please spread the word so that we can catch these jacka$$e$

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rough ... fd334c6720

[SSSdave]

Graffiti has become a plague in Southern California desert areas including national parks like Joshua Tree that began increasing a decade ago with the rise of social media as small minded urban miscreants that care little about the environment noticed those that did so received far more attention within their communities than confining their damage to urban buildings and infrastructure. At this point there are whole underground Internet communities that revels in status getting away with such behavior..."Gee I love how society is hating us so much more and can't do anything to stop us haha." It is spreading elsewhere in part because punishment is so trivial, maximum 6 months in jail and $5,000 fine.

However juveniles who are most responsible are usually just put on probation in diversion programs by pathetic do-gooder PC counselors explaining why it is wrong so don't do it. Worse because of our nonsense law that juveniles that commit crimes cannot be publicly identified, they have little consequence to fear. Of course purps just laugh at that and same ones are caught multiple times just like is happening with those hammering car windows in our urban areas to steal whatever they find inside. After they become adults it becomes a way they make an underground criminal living. Folks it is only going to get WORSE.

So whose to blame? Our politicians and their judicial appointies that listen to lame psychologists, advocates for the poor, and advocates for ethnic youth that believe ALL people can be rehabilitated instead of filling prisons. Well indeed prison is not really the solution either Homer but something few will talk about publicly because Western societies won't even consider such they consider barbaric. The real problem IMO is dominant psychologist dogma that over the last century has convinced the world to totally do away with corporal punishment. Well guess what, we've traveled down that road and tried your methods that sure sometimes work but overall are not only failing miserably but such behaviors are spreading, becoming acceptable, becoming worse.

[austex]

Make it a federal crime as was committed in a National Park. (much worse black mark and $ fine?) Much like not obeying a flight attendant...

[balzaccom]

It is a federal crime precisely because it happens on federal land.

Dave, I would just point out that the highest crime rates in California are not in the major cities, but in good old Kern County, where a rightwing zealot is the DA, and the police take few prisoners. I will now avoid any further political statements on this topic.

[SSSdave]

Indeed, especially murder. But for what its worth, property crimes like burglaries except for auto thefts have been dropping even before she took over. Such statistics have tended to been manipulated for political reasons.

KernCo-propcr.jpg

So this DA. She was elected in 2018 because people were increasingly fed up just like with just recalled Boudin in San Francisco.

https://www.kerncounty.com/government/d ... t-attorney

[maverick]

YNP:

We are asking for your assistance to identify those responsible for recent vandalism on the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls.
On May 20, 2022, at approximately 8:15 pm, park rangers received a multiple reports of vandalism on the Yosemite Falls Trail. Rangers set up a trail block and identified potential suspects.

The following day, rangers went up to assess the damage and found about 30 sites along the Yosemite Falls Trail spray painted with white and blue graffiti. The smallest being approximately one foot by one foot, but most being about three feet by three feet, and a few being larger than eight feet by eight feet.

If you were on the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls between 6 pm and 11 pm on May 20, 2022, and saw individuals carrying cans of spray paint, engaging in tagging, or have video or photographic evidence, please let us know by visiting go.nps.gov/SubmitATip. You can also email nps_isb@nps.gov or call or text 888-653-0009.

[balzaccom]

I guess the good news is that it is possible to get paint off rocks. All it takes is the right materials and endless hours of scrubbing...

[JayOtheMountains]

I'm sure the park has stuff on hand already, but locally we utilize a biodegradable chemical called Taginator to remove graffiti from rocks at our climbing areas. It's easily applied via a pressurized sprayer (think pumpable weed sprayer) and after a soak time the offending material comes off with relative ease.

Sucks that resources will have to be diverted due to this.

[c9h13no3]

Yeah, I'm generally sympathetic to graffiti artists. But this tagging is bullsh!t, if they get caught I hope they have to pick up trash & clean graffiti in Yosemite every weekend for a year.

[BillyBobBurro]

These tags are pretty well developed and stylized and not the result of someone with a 6-pack and a can of spray paint. With a reasonable amount of effort the taggers can be tracked down. I am sure that "Fresno" and "55d" have pretty much shellacked every dumpster/panel truck/marginally maintained building within a 6 block radius of their parents home. And these tags are likely already on social media since that is how this culture gets their cred.

My friends and I run a multiuse art space in Oakland and had someone spray paint a huge tag right on top of some art that obviously required many hours to create. The moron came to another event 2 years later and tagged a garbage can right in front of one of my friends. We immediately recognized the tag. This individual ended up 86'd from half the venues in Oakland after that stunt. Once we found out he was on felony probation for tagging in Portland he pretty much had to leave town. I really don't understand the compulsion to tag but it is a very strong compulsion for some.