|
||||||
|
Man and Goat Hikers Get the Boot
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, September 26, 2008.
About a month ago we told you the story of a young man who was hiking the Appalachian Trail in the company of a goat. The goat, Ali Baba, seemed to engender good will wherever he went. But man and goat drew a very different response from the people who manage the trail.
Earlier this week, the National Park Service said they’d have to hike someplace else. Goats are considered pack animals and pack animals are not allowed on the Appalachian Trail.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg has this update.
To bring you up to speed, in early March, Joseph Mangum started hiking the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee. As it happens, he has a cousin who breeds goats and Mangum decided to use one to help carry his gear. Man and goat spent five months hiking north and were on their way home through Pennsylvania when they were stopped by a local trail representative.
CUT: apparently he has some big position with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and since it says no pack animals, he decided to rain on my parade.
Mangum’s arguments that his goat, Ali Baba, does less damage to the trail than dogs, which are permitted, and is actually just like a small deer, which are everywhere on the trail, got him nowhere. So did his point that the official trail web site specifically bans horses and mules but not goats.
He spoke directly with the top law enforcement officer for the Appalachian Trail, Chief Ranger Todd Remaley of the National Park Service. Remaley says the web site might not list goats but the compendium to the federal law does.
CUT: 36 CFR A, for the purposes of regulations, horses, mules, burros, goats and llamas are designated as pack animals.
Remaley says there are many good reasons to keep goats off the Appalachian Trail. It crosses land owned by many different people and organizations and they might object to goats. Goats might disrupt the ecology by eating endangered native plants or by introducing foreign plants to the trail in their droppings. Remaley also said the park service must protect other hikers. One should not overlook the destructive capabilities of goats.
CUT: A classic example would be to have food or gear damaged whenever a hiker has limited supplies for the duration of their trip.
But Mangum counters, this goat has only enhanced the trail’s reputation. He says Ali Baba is the talk of the 2008 season.
CUT: Some people think it’s a legend, a myth. The Goat man. And others finally meet Ali Baba and they’re just so overjoyed and it’s been nothing but positive for the AT and the conservancy,. And these guys have just decided to end this journey and I think that’s a really bad thing to do.
Mangum has an email list of people he’s met along the way and some of them have told him they plan to press the park service to change its rules. One has posted a couple of videos on You Tube. For now, Mangum is staying off the trail.
Chief Ranger Remaley says he’s sympathetic and has offered to help Mangum and Ali Baba find rural roads they can use to finish their hike. He also says the official web site will be updated to send a clear message. If you want to travel the Appalachian Trail, leave your goat at home.
For NHPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Twittercomments
All comments are moderated before appearing on the site. Comments must adhere to the NHPR.org comment guidelines and terms of use.
This was a stupid stunt. This guy wasn't a serious hiker - he was a serious attention hound. I met him, and the goat, on the AT and his purpose was to show of the goat; not to experience the Trail.
The Trail does not have many rules and the few that are in place are there for good reasons. Goats are considered pack animals under federal law. Forbidding pack animals is one of the few rules on the Trail and I'm glad to see that they are enforced. I'm glad they were removed from the Trail.
Was that ATC Bob that posted the earlier comment? It just seems weird that someone would write that comment! The only people that would even have knowledge of this story would be those that were positive and intrigued enough for me to get their e-mail address. Therefore a random person that was upset at me and the goat would have absolutely no knowledge of any of these happenings, not to mention that there was not a single angry or upset person I've met at all along the way. So whomever that was, atleast speak of who you are.
As a small farmer with a couple of goats, I'd have to agree with the Park Service. The thought of permitting them on the trail makes me shudder. The destructive capability (and speed) of even a single goat has to be witnessed in action to be believed, and a goat left permitted to forage around a campsite for a couple of hours would very efficiently defoliate a sizable area.
I hiked the pacific crest trail in 2005. I started hiking with my goat but despite having a stock permit for the goat we were kicked out of Kings Canyon NP. Goats are much less damaging than the horses and mules that are legally allowed to hike on the PCT. I find it likewise ridiculous that with all the damage a dog can cause on the AT, a goat is not allowed.