Access For All and a voice for Bushcraft

[Moonraker]

'Access for All' is the name for a non-profit group in the USA trying to open up legal access to the beaches of Malibu. This from an article in today's 'Times' newspaper (London):

At the moment, most of Malibu’s pristine beaches are impossible to reach because they are blocked by rows of multi-million dollar seafront homes. In theory, all the wet sand below the “high tide line” of California’s beaches belong to the public. In practice, however, homeowners block access to the beaches for long stretches and nail “private beach” signs outside their properties.

Times Online - Malibu mogul ordered to open beach

The best known example of a right to free public access is the Nordic (in this case Swedish) 'Allemansrätten', literally 'Everyman's Right'. From Wikipedia:

The right of public access to the wilderness, or everyman's right, is a convention of property rights in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland and Norway, which allows the common public the right of access to the land, be it public or privately owned.

To that tradition we can now also add, in Scotland, the forward thinking access legislation now embodied in Part One of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 giving many similar rights as the allemansrätten . In the UK we have the more limited though still welcome Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

In other parts of Europe, notably the south including here in France, there are far fewer such rights (whether statutory law or customary law).

It made me think that, whilst the issue of where we can go to practice bushcraft is often raised in these forums and people rightly suggest contacting landowners to seek permission, perhaps there are ways to be more pro-active in working towards the ultimate goal of a level of access equivalent to the allemansratten in the whole of the British Isles.

As an example the British Canoe Union recently (January 2005) produced an Access Policy which seeks to:

The BCU's overall objective is to secure legislation to improve the legal rights for canoeing. In addition to this, the BCU will continue to implement the course of action, recommended by Governments since 1992, that canoeists should work to achieve this on a local basis through voluntary agreements with riparian landowners and other water users.

The details can be found here:

British Canoe Union access to non-tidal water

So, in what ways can people suggest to progress such interests for those that practice bushcraft? Perhaps through related organisations such as the Ramblers Association? How are these efforts co-ordinated in the USA?

But as a wider thought, is it now time for a more coherent voice for bushcraft in the UK, in order to co-ordinate such actions and to further the collective opportunities for our recreational pastime? What are your thoughts.

ps. this is not aimed at discussing the rights and wrongs of land ownership etc but about having a voice and ways to make change

Simon

 

[MartiniDave]

I thought that the Ramblers Assc. were actively trying to restrict some groups access to the countryside by virtue of their campaign against use of green lane by motor vehicles.
Not sure they come across that well with many land owners, perhaps not the best of bed fellows.

Dave

 

[Great Pebble]

Having a "representative voice" is a very sharp double edged sword.

You can't represent all of the people all of the time and I know from bitter-ish experience that splits can occur once you create formal "associations" or "lobby groups" that can leave you in a far worse position than you were in when quietly getting on with your own thing.