Discussion: Environment and Orienteering

Tried to summarise some environmental impact info in a blog post. Let me know if there is more in the comments on the blog.

Some may find it useful.

http://benrattray.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/oriente...

Thank you for the information on the various studies. It is useful and interesting. You have done a great job there. However if I could make one comment on your blog it would be that the statement "The ignorance displayed by the NPA is typical of many ..." gives no added value and otherwise detracts from a very balanced bit of writing. It is challenging and combative. It creates further animosity where one should be trying to create understanding.
I know what you are saying and why you are saying it but should you not recognize the NPA's right to a point of view and then offer a correction to their position? Perhaps it would better expressed "While I appreciate the NPA's concern their position is simply not supported by any research done to date on the impact of orienteering events on the natural environment."
I further suggest you should be inviting the NPA and all others concerned to visit the Twenty10 event site before during and at several times after the event so they can see for themselves if there are any short or lasting effects.

thanks gord. agree. emotional frustration getting the better of me. The NPA have been invited as you suggest. I am not directly involved, if I had have been I would not have been so combatitive, as they have been at times.

Terry Farrah, now of Cascade Orienteering, wrote a good article about this a while back.
http://baoc.org/wiki/FAQ/But_I_was_taught_to_alway......

Attackpoint seems unable to parse the previous link correctly because it ends in '...' - here's the correct link: link

About enviroment and Jukola relay:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t...

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t...

Ouch.Those automatic Google translations are hilarious, especially from finnish to english.

This is a very useful thread - anyone know of any reports in orienteering effects on North American terrain, especially Midwest/Eastern US?
We will be meeting with US National Park personnel this week to discuss their proposal to close some areas to orienteering access. I think their concern is that our events would disturb sensitive species and cause trails and erosion. The studies listed in the links above are mostly for European terrain (and written by advocates, not disinterested parties), and i think our parks people may find that less convincing than something in our type of landscape.

RJM: Good luck in meeting with the parks people. If they have already made up their mind you have a tough hill to climb. In the Montreal area Orienteering lost access to two terrific parks simply because the officials said 'NO' - no discussion; just NO.
In Ottawa we have been lucky to be able to discuss the situation with the park officials and they do close access to some parts of the park - without valid reason, in my view - but so far the club seems able to work with it.
I would like to go to the park officials and say "we have been orienteering in Gatineau Park every year since 1968. If there is damage, where is it? We had a meet in such and such sector last year? Where is the erosion? where are the new paths? where are the footprints? the trampled grass? why are the trilliums still blooming?" But I guess it is better just to bow and grin and let the rulers make their rules.
Anyway the BAOC article contains reference to some very reputable independent studies and also makes some good points on how and why orienteering is low impact.
As well in the Akron area you had a big meet a few years ago at Cuyahoga something. Take photos of the control sites from that meet as they are today. I bet there is no sign of orienteers having been at any of the sites. Because of the wet terrain we left some big footprints in some stream slopes. Bet they're long gone. Bet the tree that had just dropped down the slope as a result of natural erosion is still there.
A final point to consider is that orienteering clubs invest a fair bit of money in creating a map of the area as it is at a point in time. If new trails are created, dams burst or other changes effected then the club has to make alterations to the map. It is in our best interest to leave the terrain unchanged and we do whatever we have to to leave it unchanged.

I remember being at an event in recent history (and I think it was an A-meet) where someone was planning to study effects around control sites before/during/after the event. But I cannot remember where. It was definitely in the Northeast as that's the only place I currently travel to orienteer (CT/NY/PA/NJ/DE/MD/DC/VA/OH) Maybe someone else remembers this?

The only event I remember this being publicized was at APOC2000 (Mt. Laurie? in Alberta), but I don't remember ever seeing a report. Does anyone know if one was published after that event, which certainly had more participants than our normal championships?

JanetT: Orienteering Alberta did fund a study into the environmental effect of the APOC 2000 event on Mt Laurie (Yamnuska). The report was released in 2007, I think, and an abridged version can be found at http://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/46902

The conclusion from the above version:

Overall, the impacts were mainly visual and the general composition of the vegetation in the survey plots did not change. No impacts were observed on rare plants or aquatic environments. The results provided valuable information for planning and designing future events.

This study concludes that the impacts of APOC 2002 on the BVWP are negligible in the long term, in spite of having been mildly significant in the short term. The impacts were mitigated naturally, localized, and fully reversible. However, it should be emphasized that the vegetation recovery time was a key factor. There should be enough time left for the vegetation to recover before the same sites (for controls, start and finish) are used in another event of similar magnitude

Edit: you can get the full report upon request to Orienteering Alberta http://www.orienteeringalberta.ca/