Banned from a hiking forum for mentioning trail maintenance

Last month I posted in a big Appalachian Trail group about a section near Harpers Ferry that was getting overgrown. I mentioned a local volunteer crew had done some light trimming there back in March. Well, apparently the mods thought I was promoting illegal trail cutting because they flagged it as 'encouraging unauthorized alterations.' I tried to explain it was official work with the park service, but they didn't respond. Has anyone else run into overzealous moderation in outdoor communities?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor2197d ago

Whoa, wait, they actually banned you for that? That's wild. I mean, you clearly said it was official park service work, not some random guy with a saw going rogue. I've seen some strict mods on outdoor forums before, but flagging legit volunteer trail maintenance as illegal seems like a huge overreaction. Did you have any proof you could show them like a link to the park's volunteer page or something? That just sucks all around because you were trying to help people stay safe on the trail and they treated you like a vandal.

torres.jason7d ago

Yeah I actually saw a post about this on another forum a few weeks back. Some guy got banned from a hiking group just for linking to the official state park website about fallen trees. Crazy how mods can get so defensive about stuff that's clearly not their call. You'd think they'd want accurate info out there, especially when it's about safety on trails. But I guess some people just like having that little bit of power, you know?

ryan7197d ago

I read a similar story on a trail runner's blog last month actually. A guy got booted from a local hiking Facebook group for warning people about a washed out bridge that the park service hadn't updated on their website yet. It's like these mods think they own the trails or something.