John Jacobs
Oct 10, 2022, 4:00:39 PM
Besides the tagging that has occurred recently in the neighborhood, graffiti has been an ongoing problem at Idyllwild County Park. A few years ago, many of these incidents were discussed in a email thread (now posted at the Neighborhood Watch website):
https://pinecrestwatch.org/idy-county-park-abuses-aug-2018/
One site was particularly difficult to remove, due to its location- along the Summit Trail, close to half a mile from either the Nature Center or the Campground.
The ‘mural’ is about 2.5′ x 5′.
An attempt was made to remove it in January 2021, accessing it through a homeowners property that was about 1/4 mile from the site- this required a pressure washer, about 30 gallons of water, graffiti removal solution, and hand tools- the site is about 1/4 mile from the closest road, and the homeowner provided permission to access through their property, and use water from their home. The result was only partially successful:
And annoyingly, another site was found nearby with more graffiti:
Another large yellow & green ‘mural’ was found on this same rock, around the corner- apparently from the same person.
About two weeks ago, another attempt was made to remove them all, this time using the powerwasher and more water (50 gallons) and a product that a neighborhood resident suggested- once again, hiking all this equipment to the site via the homeowners property. This attempt was much more successful:
(The second mural located on the side of this boulder also received a removal attempt that was partially successful.)
It’s really quite astounding that anyone would go to a natural environment like Idyllwild in order to deface it with spray paint, but the fact that they would go to the trouble of hiking in a significant distance and carry those spray cans with them only leaves one even more baffled.
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John Jacobs
Pine Crest – Riverside County Playground Rd. Neighborhood Watch
Idyllwild, California 92549
888-522-9001
www.pinecrestwatch.org
Dawn Papaila
Oct 10, 2022, 5:45:34 PM
Thank you, John. I know very few people who would take such initiative to restore these beautiful boulders to their natural state. And, by doing so, you lessen the chances that people will be inspired to copy these awful examples. You are truly a steward of the park.
It is indeed baffling that someone would take the concept of “street art” and apply it to a natural setting in a forest. My heart just breaks when I see such ignorance and lack of respect for the natural environment.
I feel like an old fogey but back when I was young, it would have been completely uncool to litter in the forest, let alone, paint rocks!
The crying Indian PSAs all over TV taught us to respect Mother Earth. (okay he wasn’t really an Indian and that’s a whole different issue that has begun to resolve…I hope)
I will also take this opportunity to thank Dave Hunt for his letter to the editor in the Crier. I’m still dumbfounded that anyone would seriously suggest that we cut down all of the cedar trees in Idyllwild. Can you imagine? What? That’s just insane. I’m imagining that someone with the right technological savvy could use satellite imagery to demonstrate the enormous negative impact that would have on the forest. It is my understanding that we are in a transition zone and that cedar and oak are our future overstory. (BTW – The Overstory is another fabulous book about trees!)
Anyway. This became a long email that was really meant to simply say thank you.
Dawn Papaila