ATV Florida Forum

Interesting - place marked in red, just another way to get the OHV people out of the forest..

The Ocala National Forest is a 383,643-acre wilderness of wonders whose remote charms lure birders, hikers, off-road riders and, unfortunately, squatters and criminals. In the past 15 months, the forest made news when two college students were shot to death while camping, a snorkeler was killed by an alligator and police combed a lake and prairie for missing toddler Trenton Duckett. Yet the nation's oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River remains a popular recreational destination for many Central Florida outdoor enthusiasts. Ranger Rick Lint, who has spearheaded an effort to reshape the forest's image, spoke recently with staff writer Stephen Hudak about the Ocala forest's beauty and challenges.

Is the forest a dangerous place?

In some aspects, it's similar to a city like Orlando. There's places you can go with your family, and there are places that you avoid. When I got here, employees told me, "There are places we won't take our families." It would have been sad to accept that, so we haven't.

Is it true that things had gotten so rough in the forest that a Boy Scout leader swore he'd never bring his troop back?

That happened in Buck Lake shortly after I got here. People who had squatted there felt as if they controlled that area and, in passive-aggressive ways, made a camping troop of Scouts feel very uncomfortable. . . . The Scouts suffered through the night, enduring loud, noisy goings-on. Then the next morning, they're trying to load up [to leave], and a woman with a butcher's knife starts screaming, falls to her knees and proceeds to stab the ground. That was the last straw -- for the Scouts and for us.

What's been done?

Last summer, we had a big effort, spent a week with various experts and specialists discussing the problems, thinking of solutions, devising a plan. We called it "Reshaping the Ocala."

What came out of that?

In the past, we looked at our problems as being separate, unrelated things. The motorized damage. The dumping. The meth labs. To me, all those are related under the idea that they lower the standard that we expect from the land and from each other. . . . If the small quality-of-life issues aren't addressed, it creates a setting and a stage for worse crimes. It starts with littering and vandalism and people staying too long -- doing whatever they want to the land. We tried to fix that.

What else has been done to make the forest safer?

We've added volunteers in the campgrounds -- our eyes and ears. We only had two law-enforcement officers. We now have four. We converted one of the law-enforcement officers to a canine patrol. . . . We strengthened our cooperative agreements with Marion and Lake counties to increase their presence here.

The forest is one of the nation's busiest public playgrounds. How do you balance the rights of off-road riders and hunters with those of more passive users such as birders and hikers?

It's a constant tug and pull. . . . We've got hiking trails; we've got biking trails; we've started putting in ATV trails; hunting goes on here. Yeah, there's a lot of opportunity for conflict out there. But as the population increases, and more people want to use the same space, we're going to be more and more into access rationing. :o

What sights do you recommend?

Go see the natural springs. Go see the long-leaf pines. Go see the scrub. See the sinkholes. But also, don't miss the bombing range. Part of our mission here is to support national defense, and in the middle of one of the most-used national forests is a live naval bombing range. . . . It's something amazing to witness.

Have the bombers ever missed the target?

There have been a close call or two. A couple of Thanksgivings ago, I think, one [bomb] dropped way off. Nobody was hurt. But it landed less than a mile from some hunters. Scared them a good bit. They must have been thinking [the deer] are shooting back.

This was first posted by Paul-S over on www.Floridaatv.com   Why didn't you just post a link viper ?  Its real easy. Heres the original post.

http://www.floridaatv.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=46&topic=1101.msg15072#msg15072

"go see the bombing range"  how can you possibly do that without trespassing?

or riding illegally along the side of a clay road, I know you can ride along one of the roads and get up on a hill on the side of the bombing range, but you are higly illegal there, so how do I watch the bombing range runs?

Id@

I got some wierd looks from a gal ranger when I told her I wanted to check out the bombing range about a year ago. She insisted I stay away. I just wanted to see it from a safe distance, she didnt seem very fun at all.

So what..... It didn't come from there anyway. Do you think he is the only one that has posted this.. guess again. But thanks for keeping me informed.. People read more when links are not posted... Just to let you know..

Are the squatters and criminals the same as the rainbow people

http://www.logoschristian.org/rainbow.html

that web page can't be from the rainbow people that inhabit the forest every year now,,,,,,,,I wouldn't think that a "gathering of Christian and every other denomination" would be the same drugged-out thieves that show up in Ocala now.

Id@

I talked to Rick over a month ago and we talked about all of this. When he first got there the squatters set up these camps and would not leave. They tried the 14 day stay and leave and they just kept moving around from place to place. With the help of him and the sheriffs, they were able to clean it up. He also changed the rule, about living in the forest. They were harrassing everyone that got close to their labs, even kids. I agree with Rick on this one--Get them out of their. It was not ATV people he was talking about at all. As for the rainbow people, wow what a wierd bunch. Some were kicked out of the forest and started breaking into hunting camps and live in them.

Viper - Quad was only trying to give credit where credit is due. To copy and paste someone's post from another site and try to take credit for it is like internet plagirism. Not only that it shows that the original poster (Paul S in this case) is more on the ball with worth reading posts than yourself. posting a link just attributes it to him as it should be. You trying to claim it was just lame.
Why not post the link ? After all you obviously go there for good, intelligent , informative posts, why not provide others with the site address so that they can get the same thign without you wanting credit for it ?
I personally think if you don't have anything original and interesting to post you should just read anyway. But here's another great thread from floridaatv.com that you seem to have missed. Why not try claiming responsibility for this one ?
http://www.floridaatv.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=46&topic=1260.0

able - The article did not come from your great site, so you say it is. I haven't been there don't plan on going there, and could care less about it. There is no good intelligent information over there from what I understand. For your information it came from the orlando sentinel. That by the way is a newspaper. If you were smart enough you would know that there are about 4 different sites that have it posted. The credit goes to the orlando sentenial, besides that there is something called the information freedom act. Now if you want to get into a pissing contest on this fine, let's take it to another thread. This is information is for your information, just like the other threads that Viper has passed on.

to say that there is nothing good over there while in the same paragraph saying youv'e never been there nor do you intend to is just plain wrong.

Id@

Why is that wrong --

Thank you Id@.  I like both sites but if theres something here I would want people that might not come here to see I would post a link from here. That way credit is given.

something my momma always said,,,,how do you KNOW you don't like it if you haven't tried it?

funny, now I like grean peas ;-)

I am entitled to my opinions as you are yours. Why is it that able and quad32x keep on insisting that the artilce is from the other site. It is alright for them to keep insisting that this artilce came from another site, but it is not alright to voice my opinion about another site whether I have been there or not. Isn't that a double edge sword? Your right and the other person is alway wrong.

Quad32x and Able:

Why didn't Paul-S paste the link to the Orlando story isn't that lke internet plagirism - Orlando sentenial should have gotten credit not paul -s .

The link to the story -
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-spotlight15x07apr15,0,844198.story

I didn't say anything about posting the article, my only point which you keep avoiding is that,,,,ahhhh nevermind, I'm sure everyone else reading knows what my point is, but I'm tired of beating my head against the brick wall named viper.

Id@

The Sentinel did get credit for the story, check the very first line (Interesting article about Rick Lint, from the Orlando Sentinel), that is how you give credit, junior.

You already know this, you copied the text below this. But I don't want to argue with you, I was told you are Lisa's son or some other relative and we know we are not going to win an argument against you guys.  As Id@ , Im out.

Junior can't you get it through your head that the article was copied from the Orlando Sentenial --- don't you understand English. Credit was given hence --- Orlando Sentenial in the title.. DaHHHHH..

Can't argue with someone who doesn't understand... basic principal of school reading 101.

You would have gotten away with it but Paul high lighted part in red. You just copied it. Nuff said by me. Point made. ;)

Sorry Quad32 that won't work, thanks for deleting the thread. Shall we try this again. Watch Red font then Blue Font, or is that beyond you. It is real easy to do.

Enjoy !  I`ll be watching. ;)

That is great that I have people watching me.... That is more fun than watching over you..

I am gonna go ahead and say it.....You are Annoying...You are always negative.

And JoeDirt , you sir are the man. ;)

viper =  :'( :'( :N