"High demand at crowded Oregon campgrounds causes fights, ‘camp pirates’

By AP staff (AP)

SALEM, Ore. Sept. 25, 2022 11:41 a.m.

Some Oregon parks officials say high demand for crowded campsites is
leading to arguments, fistfights and even so-called “campsite pirates.”

Brian Carroll with Linn County Parks and Recreation said park rangers
have had to play mediator this summer as would-be campers argue over first-come, first-served campsites at Sunnyside County Park, the Statesman-Journal reported Friday.

“People were literally fighting over campsites,” said Carroll. “What we experienced this year was certainly a general level of increased
frustration and anxiety of people not being able to get their campsite.
There seems to be less general common courtesy going on.”

Tensions also escalated over reserved campsites, with some
recreationists wrongly claiming already-reserved sites by tearing off
the reservation tags and replacing them with their own, prompting the
nickname “campsite pirates.” The original parties end up angry and
confused when they arrive to find their campsite occupied. The practice
isn't common, but it's happening more than it used to, Carroll said.

“In the past, it was extremely rare,” he said. “Have there been
disputes? Yeah, you know that happened previously. But like I said, not
on the scale that we saw this year.”

The campground at Sunnyside County Park is packed with vehicles on a
sunny day.
This 2020 photo shows the campground at Sunnyside County Park. In 2022,

tensions escalated at the park, including when some recreationists
wrongly claiming already-reserved sites by tearing off the reservation
tags and replacing them with their own, prompting the nickname “campsite pirates.”

Courtesy Linn County Parks & Rec District

Sunnyside County Park isn’t the only place experiencing such woes.
Earlier this year, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said it
would seek legislation to give rangers added protection because of the increasing level of assaults and harassment targeting rangers.

“Traditionally about 1% of our visitors really struggle with complying
to rules and regulations,” said Dennis Benson, recreation manager for Deschutes National Forest. “Now, we’ve got more like 10% of the
population that doesn’t comply or adhere with rules, regulations, those
kinds of things, which is lending itself to more problematic behaviors
on public lands.”

Oregon's state park system has opened just three new campgrounds since
1972, though the state's population has increased dramatically.

Last year, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department set records for
its total numbers of visitors — an estimated 53.6 million day visits and
3.02 million campers who stayed overnight. This year’s numbers are about
the same, state Parks and Recreation Department associate director Chris
Havel said.

“This summer we’ve been extremely busy, at 96% to 98% capacity, which basically means you might find a night here or there, but basically
everything is taken,” Havel said. “What we’re noticing again this year
is that it’s a lot of people new to camping and the outdoors in general.
In other words, the trend that we saw start during the pandemic of
people coming out for the first time is continuing, and that means we’re going to stay busy.”"

https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/25/oregon-campsites-crowded-high-demand-fights/

I like the way they put that. "People are struggling to comply
with the rules." LOL, And many of those poor struggling people have a
nice big RV of some sort. Who knows? Maybe if there was more woe and
misery around here there would be fewer people showing up on the docks
and throwing money in the water. I got a nice little rod and reel this
weekend because someone bought it to play with for a day and left it
behind. Oh the suffering! The hooks he had been using were so big you
would have thought he was going after barracuda or something.

I personally have not seen the problems they're talking about. I
have seen campgrounds that were at 100% of capacity this Summer. Even
this time of year I can't always get in the campground I would like to
use or even near there, unless I make reservations well in advance. Oh
the suffering!

TB

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