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brutalistsnowflake t1_j82060q wrote

Apoppylypse. Come on people!

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vermiliondragon t1_j8215t8 wrote

I'm going with poppycocalypse.

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ArguablyMe t1_j824ae7 wrote

I was thinking that an opportunity was missed. Glad it wasn't missed completely.

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UncommercializedKat t1_j858rkq wrote

I was hoping to find this in the comments when I clicked on the post. Happy to find it at the top.

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TheBigBagBoy t1_j84rqjo wrote

Poppy canyon visitor slams local wildlife and forestries department

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Coachy-coach t1_j84w7a2 wrote

Came here for this. Thanks stranger. Now I’m gonna start prepping for the a-poppy-lips.

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muskratful1234 t1_j822ply wrote

Good. Sick of watching iNfLuEnCeRs trample the flowers.

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ELYSIANFEELS t1_j82bp0e wrote

The California Poppy is our state flower.

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muskratful1234 t1_j82lyc9 wrote

I know. Which is why they are all assholes for not respecting them.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j82rbf0 wrote

That's silly. People should respect nature, not official designations. And California poppy's aren't rare or vulnerable.

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johncanyon t1_j833hhw wrote

>People should respect nature...

But they don't. Welcome to the world.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j850k8p wrote

Yes, of course. But if they won't respect it for the intrinsic value of nature, telling them to respect it because it's "the official flower" is lame. That's the wrong ethics to be promoting.

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johncanyon t1_j85nwhi wrote

This happens all the time with trails in our national parks. They get shut down and allowed to go dormant every few years to promote rehabilitation of the local wildlife. It falls pretty squarely in line with conservation ethics.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j85vd2r wrote

Yes, but this is a rare, phenomenal occurrence, that people will remember for the rest of their lives (and might change the environmental perspective of some folks). Loosing access at this time is shutting the entire experience down for the public, not just a temporary closure.

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johncanyon t1_j8635f9 wrote

That hasn't worked for basically the entirety of human history

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j8692ks wrote

So let's just lock people out of nature? What else do you propose?

Perhaps it's naive, but I hope that it's possible for humans to make ethical progress in our relationship with the natural world, and I think encouraging people to have experiences with amazing natural phenomena is key to that project. If you don't believe it's possible for people to improve, then what's the point of conservation? There are 8 billion of us, and we're going to ruin it all pretty soon anyway...

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johncanyon t1_j88rnau wrote

>So let's just lock people out of nature? What else do you propose?

Please don't take this the wrong way, but... How frequently do you go out hiking, backpacking, climbing or primitive camping? I ask because in a lot of wilderness areas in the US, you need a permit to visit, and the number of permits issued can be limited and strictly enforced. Regulating visitation of publicly held spaces isn't a new or novel form of land management.

Bans like this are sometimes necessary to prevent loss of the ecosystem as a resource, and they're almost never permanent. It would be this way even if everyone respected wilderness spaces; the mere act of visiting will cause some measure of deterioration of the land and wildlife.

I can relate to being bummed about a place being closed for a time, but I think it's important to remember, especially in California, that there are still a tremendous number of beautiful places to visit and enjoy.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j89ghzj wrote

I'm quite familiar with policies to regulate access to fragile ecosystems. I'm a forest biologist and I spend a lot of time in the woods, including a lot of restricted areas. This isn't one of those situations.

California poppies aren't fragile or at risk, and the environmental "concerns" are made up bullshit, to provide moral cover to NIMBY's who don't want to deal with the hassle of tourists. You can see these flowers from the highway, and people are getting to them by pulling over and walking across fields--fields of grass and flowers that aren't protected or fragile.

If people were sincerely concerned about the "impact" of people coming to see the flowers, they'd be advocating for improved infrastructure, like busses that take people to viewing areas, or temporary elevated walkways. There are plenty of creative ways to reduce negative impacts and protect access. Nobody is trying, because access isn't their goal. They are just trying to reduce hassles by eliminating the opportunity for people to experience nature. That's lame.

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johncanyon t1_j89takg wrote

I imagine it would be difficult to rally the institutional will to commodify a field which blooms for so short of a time.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j8a08fj wrote

Commodify? It's just infrastructure and a plan for access. Setting up shuttle bus service and some temporary walkways isn't very complicated and should be manageable in a few days by a competent, motivated government. If their goal was protecting ecology, they'd have a plan like that. But their goal is just avoiding the hassle of tourists, they're just cynically lying about environmental concerns because it sounds better in the media.

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scissorseptorcutprow t1_j86l00c wrote

The ends justifying the means in this case. If it helps conservation efforts I’m for it. This will also protect the surrounding ecosystem.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j86q8h3 wrote

There are no conservation efforts for the California poppy, it's an incredibly common species that grows all over the place, literally as a weed. This isn't a particularly fragile ecosystem. The "concern" about the environment is really insincere NIMBY bullshit, to grab the moral high ground. If they cared about protecting nature, they'd be advocating for better infrastructure and planning, so people can see it responsibly.

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killer-cricket-7 t1_j849lmj wrote

Sometimes they make a designation "official" specifically to PROTECT the nature there.

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muskratful1234 t1_j84oy66 wrote

All of our ecosystems in CA are vulnerable and the wildflowers are an important part of the ecosystem. This closure is designed to keep people like you out.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j8504it wrote

Yeah, California is a really special place...y'all have such an inflated sense of self. Respecting flowers because the government officially designated them special is lame--if you don't respect the intrinsic value of nature, you're missing the point. I work in forests professionally, as a biologist. I'm quite sure I spend more time in nature than you.

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muskratful1234 t1_j851qkm wrote

We respect the flowers because they are an important part of our ecosystem. It has nothing to do with them being the state flower. Again, I'm very glad for closures like this which keep people like you out who have no business being there.

Edit to add: what the fuck kind of biologist doesn't think protecting local ecosystems is important? I'm calling bullshit on that.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j8531lu wrote

You're totally missing the point--I think telling people to respect them because "they are the state flower" is a stupid argument and the wrong ethical position to promote. I want people to respect nature more, and appreciate it for it's own value and beauty, not just because the government likes this flower.

And I think respect and appreciation for nature start with having actual experiences with nature. We should be creating more opportunity and encouraging people to spend time in nature, especially around amazing phenomena, that they'll remember for the rest of their lives. The only reason to prevent people from experiencing nature is to protect fragile, rare ecosystems, and fields of California poppies are neither rare or fragile, they're just beautiful.

The harm here is to people and infrastructure--dealing with the people who want to see the flowers is a pain in the ass, but the community should put up with that. And the infrastructure should be improved to give people more responsible ways to experience the flowers--build boardwalks and viewing platforms, create a bussing system to get people there, etc. etc. etc.

Instead, a bunch of curmudgeons are just cutting off people's access to nature, so they don't have to put up with the hassle. That's lame and I do not believe that it's sincerely motivated by genuine respect for nature. It's just NIMBY's who don't want to put up with tourists. Fuck that. Let people see nature, help them do it, and make the experience better for all.

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muskratful1234 t1_j859p95 wrote

Like I already mentioned more than once, it has nothing to do with them being a state flower. Seems like something a biologist should understand.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j85aggg wrote

That's exactly what you said though.

-ELYSIANFEELS >The California Poppy is our state flower.

-muskratful1234 >I know. Which is why they are all assholes for not respecting them.

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muskratful1234 t1_j85ankj wrote

So? The local government didn't put the closure in place because they are the state flower. I just believe that's one more reason to respect them.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j85b3nu wrote

The local government put the closure in place because they are NIMBY's who don't want to deal with hassles from people who want to experience nature. They should have spent the last four years (since the last super bloom, when they had issues with traffic) coming up with plans to accommodate people. Instead they are just cutting off access to nature. And they are cynically saying it's about protecting nature, but that's insincere bullshit. It's about not having tourists disrupt their town. If the ecological impact was the concern, there are many reasonable ways to address that--and providing responsible access to nature should be the goal, not eliminating the hassles.

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muskratful1234 t1_j85bwpd wrote

I'm assuming you've never tried to drive through the area when the blooms are going on. I have, many times. It makes a Southern CA freeway which is already bad on a normal day, an absolute nightmare. It is literally right next to a major freeway. It's not off in the backcountry somewhere where people who actually hike and care about nature are the only ones who bother going. It's a bunch of assholes who just want to get one for the 'gram. Leaving trash and dirty diapers on the side of the road when they leave. Trampling the flowers which are a food source for our pollinators. So yeah, as a local, I don't want these disrespectful fucks around.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j87r5wq wrote

California poppies actually aren't a food source for pollinators--they make a lot of pollen, but almost no nectar. They take advantage of pollinators, but don't feed them.

Sorry people who want to experience nature are a hassle for you though.

0

parker0215 t1_j82vd2k wrote

I would hope so, it would be weird if it was the Iceland poppy

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Safari_Eyes t1_j8chbg7 wrote

Utah's state bird is the California Seagull, so it does happen now and then.

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NikoKida t1_j83omwh wrote

Humans are the reason we can’t have nice things

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Piperplays t1_j84ehak wrote

There was a TiKTok video getting posted to Reddit that showed a bunch of adult Chinese women (in China) posing for selfies while standing in and trampling upon a rural farmer’s rapeseed oil plants (Brassica napus subsp. napus). For whatever it’s worth the farmer was also an older Chinese woman, maybe in her 40-50’s.

These were not tweens, teenagers, or young twenty-somethings but grown-ass 30 year old+ adult women, a group of around 20-30 of them, acting just like spoiled “influencer” brats afflicted by FOMO.

The farmer looked so exhausted- it exhausted the hell of of me watching it. It was as if “ooh, pretty yellow flowers” was enough to justify killing plants and fucking with someone’s livelihood.

Sunflower growers here in the States have similar problems.

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[deleted] t1_j88rd7g wrote

[removed]

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b-dizl t1_j8236ld wrote

Poppy Apocalypse is the name of my post punk screamo band.

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Fuzzy_Logic_4_Life t1_j841u7r wrote

Does it resemble Emo at all, sure could sing a bunch a love songs with a name like that.

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irkli t1_j85x11g wrote

"The superbloom of 2019 blanketed Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon with a layer of vibrant orange poppies. They proved irresistible to phone-wielding, Instagram-posting visitors, who clogged roadways and trails, trampled the growth and occasionally needed rescuing due to heat and exertion and at least one rattlesnake bite."

Omfg I hate people

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BazilBroketail t1_j824kzg wrote

So, I read "puppy" in the headline. Very different story...

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smokeeater150 t1_j834lkg wrote

An explosion of playful Labrador puppies chewing everything in sight.

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sweetest-heart t1_j876c64 wrote

We have a 9 month old puppy named Poppy and some days she very much feels like an apocalypse

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NotSoPersonalJesus t1_j82408u wrote

Huh, I didn't have poppies on my apocalypse bingo card. Anyone else?

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GorgenShit t1_j839ezk wrote

None of us had two balloons destroyed by feds in a week either, but here we are

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HaloGuy381 t1_j8491vz wrote

Or a battle starting over Anchorage for several more decades, but I guess we’re speedrunning the Fallout timeline.

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Nugur t1_j84m7ud wrote

If you live in ca you would have.

Any raining season this occurs. We don’t get a lot of rain around here so when it does, things are pretty

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JonnyBoy89 t1_j84omaa wrote

I live near here and I just have to say, stay the fuck away. It’s just some fucking flowers. Last time it was a god damn nightmare for residents

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emmywhichway t1_j84wb1x wrote

GOOD. LA has a gazillion other things for ppl to do that won't decimate the local flowers.

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cryptoderpin t1_j88un2x wrote

Cocky Puffy Lips has a better ring to it.

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astanton1862 t1_j848rnl wrote

This isn't some small mountain town. It is a suburb of Los Angeles with 70,000 residents in the tenth most populous county in the country. Basically Agrestic from "Weeds". They are happy to go into the city and snarl traffic and earn money but aren't willing to return the favor.

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[deleted] t1_j824dp8 wrote

[deleted]

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_Erindera_ t1_j82al94 wrote

So, as some additional information, this is a very small mountain town with not very wide streets and a winding road.

Last bloom, the influencers just wrecked the (protected) poppies, snarled traffic, and didn't spend any money.

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[deleted] t1_j840dtr wrote

[deleted]

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lochlainn t1_j859mz6 wrote

Just wait. The day is coming when you'll have to book reservations for national parks years in advance just to visit, and you'll have to be accompanied by a chaperone the whole time.

People are people, which is why we can't have nice things.

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