>

Cordon it off and charge 50 bucks for 10 minutes. This is free money from idiots
Is this where everyone was taking those Instagram photos a few years back? >

I live near here. It was insane. People were stopping along the sides of the I-15 freeway to get out of their car and walk up to the hills for pictures. Bunch of idiots >

Just drove through here over the weekend and the poppies are definitely on their way. Saw some “influencers” trampling them between an on ramp and the freeway. >

All it would take is a tow truck driver and spotter team to sit around the area and swoop in for the tow. >

City should pass an ordinance to do that, and part of the fine is to pose for a picture with a sign held up saying "I was selfish and tried to destroy nature for a goddamn social media post" and then put it up on a website. >

People on these apps should comment shame any photos that appear. Or report them. >

Definitely don’t comment shame. Comments count as engagement, which furthers their reach. Best to report/block to reduce the spread. >

I'm glad I got to be in the area back in 2019. Was just a happy coincidence, I was there for a soils* competition. It's a beautiful area
**Soil judging competition >

I have never heard of a soils competition before. I googled it, and it sounds fascinating. Genuinely curious: how did you get into it? Seems like a very niche hobby. >

My university had a team! I wasn't that great (probably the weakest link tbh, my degree focus was water), but my former boss was the coach.   Cal poly-SLO hosted regionals that year. It was a beautiful town/region and a beautiful time of year, and I got a free trip to California out of it.
I also got to see wild sea otters in Morro Bay which was fantastic >

I have a hat and shirt from the Cal Poly soil club, lol. They say "I grow grass" on one side and "Cal Poly Soil Science Club" on the other. 18 year old me thought it was the peak of comedy >

Maybe arrest and charge the shitbags who landed a helicopter on them four years ago. >

I remember seeing that video and how they scampered off back the the helicopter and took off when confronted.  Fuck those people. >

I happened to be backpacking during 2019. 
Millions of painted lady butterflies followed me throughout the blooming of the desert as I headed north. 
Skipped the Instagram crowd entirely as I was pretty far out there. Simply magical watching them ride the wind. 
Never going to forget that. 
Plus I got to see a lot of cacti and Joshua trees blooming. >

Sometimes it's easy to forget that there are people out there living for the moment instead of documenting everything on social media, because you just don't see them lol >

We had a joke that the easier an area is to get to, the worse it is. 
Past what people can reach during an overnighter the trash and signs of humans (mostly) disappear. 
I think a lot of it has to do with how past that limit, you start to get more exposure to the community where "leave no trace" is the rule. 
The other factoid I relate it to is how chimpanzees will build a new nest periodically, because past one season it's so full of filth and garbage as to make it inhospitable. 
Most of the population doesn't seem to have gotten past that phase. >

Likewise. I have hiked through Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon. Once you get more than a day's hike into the park, it is sooo quiet. Seems like 99.9% of the people never venture deeper than a day hike. >

I lived in Lake Elsinore for 12 years. Lake Elsinore makes national news almost annually, usually for a meth lab blowing up, grow house raids, murder suicide pacts, gun caches, etc.  LE has some of the lowest ranked schools in the state, and the Lake itself is usually not safe for swimming.    
In Southern California, when someone from the Beach Cities or LA hears you live in LE, you are usually met with a mix of pity and disdain.     
The Superbloom was incredibly special for the people that lived there, as it was a rare moment where the city was recognized for something truly beautiful and unique. And it was. If you visited in 2019 you would see an expanse of emerald green foothills blanketed with the most vivid array of swirling orange among an endless sea of poppies.     
And then a police officer was struck and killed by a drunk driver while working on the side of an off highway road, managing the crowd of visitors to see the flowers.      
This year LE will be shutting out visitors. The mayor would like to make LE as inhospitable as possible, arguing the town doesn’t want the inconvenience of a crowd.     
I wish the mayor would reconsider. What happened to the police officer was tragic. But the Superbloom demonstrates that beauty can sprout from the most barren landscape, and that there is a dignity in everything, if you can take the time to find it. >

Well, I just hope folks from Lake Elsinore stay home this summer and don’t go be tourists anywhere else... I’m sure they wouldn’t want to impose the hassles on other towns that they aren’t willing to accept to accommodate others. >

It clogs up the only exit to the north of the town. It’s bad for emergency services.  The whole town gets jammed from the one bottleneck. Infrastructure isn’t there for that many people at one time >

Well, all the problems happened 4 years ago. The mayor and town could have spent the last 4 years improving infrastructure and making better plans to accommodate people who want to experience nature. That's how a functional society would handle this. But it's easier to just cut off access. >

"Won't someone think of the influencers!" He cried. >

I just want more opportunities for people to experience nature. Cutting it off is unfortunate, we should be looking for ways to support and accommodate it. >

There's tons of nature to experience, people aren't entitled to every bit of it, especially when they demonstrate that they can't do so without destroying it. >

I'm fairly certain that it was a small minority of actual visitors who did damage--and that dynamic exists in every park and popular natural sight on earth. Unless you're against people experiencing nature, that's a cost you have to accept. And California poppies are not a vulnerable, protected species, so people walking on them is really only an aesthetic issue. And from the article, it sure seems like the Mayor is more interested in protecting people from nuisance than protecting nature. That's just an attractive excuse. >

Nuisance like the gridlock that completely stopped EMS from being able to reach patients? I'd sure hate for the guy having a heart attack to be inconvenienced so that people could stomp some unendangered (and therefore unimportant if they're destroyed) flowers. >

Good thing life flight exists--I'm particularly fond of it, since I live in a rural area, 40 minutes from ambulance service. They can reach you anywhere! >

Good. I hated seeing all these beautiful flowers trampled by idiots for their IG accounts. And each one had to trample a virgin area to get the perfect shot. Maddening when you see the “rules don’t apply to me crowd” numbering in the hundreds. >

Okay I'm fairly lost. Are these flowers more protected, are people just straight up stomping all over them, or are they like super delicate. I just wanna know what's happening here cuz I clearly missed all of this >

The varieties/species of plants that bloom during these periods are typically always annuals. The California poppy is usually a perennial but what you see in the superblooms is the annual variety. 
Annuals like these produce a lot of seeds which can remain dormant for a long time, germinating when the conditions are just right. 
All of this to say, these poppies are not going to be harmed (on broad population levels) by this tourism. Does it mean people should still do it? No. But it’s not because they are a delicate species. >

Okay so it's been like a mass photo booth essentially. >

A friend of mine owns some land in upstate NY where there’s a small swimming hole near a road. Thanks to Instagram and now google maps, the place is overrun with people from downstate all summer long, treating it like it’s a public beach with a park staff to clean up their trash. 
He’s a generous guy and doesn’t want to fence it off, but it’s becoming a problem. >

“But, but…. I’m an influencer!” >

A lot of people don't understand that parking and access to open/natural spaces is "too small" on purpose.  The intent is not to cram as many idiot tourists into to some natural area - it is to protect the area and let people enjoy it.  
If there's no parking, go somewhere else. >

If I drive an hour or two to hike a trail or something, I'm damn well going to hike the trail. >

Same shit happens just west of Lancaster at The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, although parking is marginally better as it it state operated. Still the number of people trampling over dozens of plants to get that perfect shot is pathetic. >

'Go out and touch grass'
'No .. not like that!' >

I mean, if your idea of "touch the grass" is to tear it up/kill it, such that the next person can't enjoy it. Yeah, you are touching the grass wrong. >

Can't monetize it somehow - at least to some degree? Reservations, limited attendance, pre-paid tickets, poppy tours and swag? >

The issue is there's no infrastructure.
It's next to a highway. >

A bigass fence with razorwire to keep the influencers out >

You know they'll just rate the razorwire, right? >

"Check out how suuuuper uneven this razor wire, looks like it was put up in a hurry by a blind old (UGH, GROOOOOSS) man in a rush. I could do better. In fact, let me show the Osyou Oxcrew how it don- OW!"
★☆☆☆☆! >

Nailed it. >

There's a place near where I live called Gibbs Gardens, famous for having the largest collection of daffodils outside of Holland. In spite of security and numerous signs everywhere imploring people to STAY OFF THE FLOWERS, no one gives a shit. Way too many people go lie down in the daffodils and smash them up in pursuit of the perfect selfie. >

I live near here, and I remember this going on.  Absolutely insane.  I saw a lady pulled onto the shoulder of the freeway, take her dog out of the car and was having the dog lay in the flowers so she could take pictures of it... Seriously like 15 feet from the freeway.  But there were hundreds of cars all over the place.  It was a disaster. >

Can't stand social media jackasses >

If people are parking illegally, fine then. If people need rescue on the hike, charge them for the rescue cost. I don’t see why you would need to tell people off who didn’t park illegally and hiked in peace >

Search up publiclandshateyou on Instagram to see what these hoards of idiots cause. >

Did this city piss-off a wicked witch or something? >

Alright, y’all made up my mind. I’m going to go see the poppies. Here I come Cali. >

The absolute ridiculous things said here for people being interested in a semi-rare natural phenomenon
My favorite was, dont go see the amazing flowers, just come consume at the local sports complex >

I live near lake Elsinore, I’m glad the mayor took action >

Humans are the reason we can't see/have nice things. Everyone wants to go.  Where is Thanos? >

Look, if you are feeling sad you can't go see them, you can grow some wild flowers where you live! Make every place beautiful and there will be enough to share. >

Also, beware of an old man in a green El Dorado II toking on a bottle of Yukon Jack. >

LOL. This is terrific classic California. A rare and beautiful natural phenomenon, and no one is allowed. California is like the bully that shows you his toys and then doens't share them. I can understand ticketing on the freeway, but to close the actual trail is dumb. Reminds me of the time they arrested people surfing alone in the middle of the ocean. I had a job out there about 5-years back and decided to commute weekly from the midwest rather than relocate and live with you idiots forever. Something about a ton of sunshine and everyone rich because they moved there in the 1990s or earlier that makes peoples brains stop working. >

The people don't want tourists coming in and trampling the flowers to get pics for social media like they did last time. Compacting the soil causes lasting damage to the habitat. If tourists weren't so destructive to the things they feel entitled to access the locals would probably have a different attitude >

Just putting this out there.  Don’t all poppies contain a small amount of opium? >

This guy might be onto something >

They are fucking flowers. Who gives a shit if people stop to smell them. Maybe if more people did this the world would be a better place. Talk about being self centered, a whole bunch of townies bitching about outsiders stopping to take pictures of their flowers. >

The problem is for everyone that is "gentle" to the environment and they go to take in the sight with respect. There's a person that tramples everything in their path, dropping trash everywhere and more. 100k individuals visiting on the weekend is easily enough to completely destroy the area if not managed.  Depending on severity of damage, it could take years for the meadow to recover if it does at all. >

But to go as far as telling people not to enjoy something that happens naturally is a little much. Like saying “My state’s beautiful but you can’t enjoy it first hand.” People are dumb as shit and you can really only control what you do as a person. Not other people. Trash and disrespect is all around us. If you don’t like it and can take action to be proactive, go out and help pick the trash up. Or the city can make tourists more aware, prepare trash bins for time of the year like this. All I’m saying is all these pissed off people who live in the area need to chill and be happy that a phenomena like this exists in their area. >


Or the city can make tourists more aware, prepare trash bins for time of the year like this.

They did, and they even had park rangers threatening arrest last year because both environmental and park laws still apply. At the end of a day, a small local government is going to need to tax their residents to subsidize visitors.
This year they are stating they will make actual arrests and the CHP has been engaged to what will ultimately become a towing festival. >

This seems like the right path. City officials taking firm action to uphold decency during large gatherings or tourist attractions. Lead by example and make examples of others. I’m not trying to be an ass and I really hope that this event doesn’t trash your town. Hopefully your officials can hedge the bushes. >

Yea don’t the evil kids and people stop to see the flowers. >

Dont you dare come use the roads and parks you pay taxes for. We will arrest you. >

Yea don’t the evil kids and people stop to see the flowers.