Discussion: Environmental benefits to land managers?

We've all seen the environmental studies saying that orienteering has less negative impact that other sports that are worse. I'm interested in the opposite--who has delivered actual, appreciated value to parks during the hosting of an orienteering meet, and at what venues?

Examples might be:
- Discovering unauthorized human activity (ATV trails, hunter camps, dump sites)
- Discovering natural activity deep in park (ivy and other invasive species, locations of flora/fauna, overgrown trails, erosion)
- Helping with the removal of trash or other materials

Thanks,
Bob Forgrave

Some of our maps are on former or current underground mining land. Subsidence cracks or widening of such has been reported to the appropriate authorities when found, with subsequent investigation.
Rubbish removal is something some of our club members take to heart - for our visitors and for the environment.
Dissuading would-be arsonists (not confirmed) by our presence in course planning and race set-up is reported.
I haven't supplied specific venues as I don't think it would contribute to your presentation (being in Aus) but it may stimulate some local reflection.

perhaps a bit of a one-off but a year or two back orienteers leaving one of our major forest playgrounds spotted and extinguished a small forest fire (outside of our competition area that day) which might have otherwise become a large forest fire...

We have brought car wrecks to the atention of local municipal authorities, for subsequent removal.

One of our members discovered illegal cultivation of a controlled substance in a state park. The park people put up those spy cameras and caught the people.

Slightly off track (excuse the pun), but the first of seven bodies in the "Backpacker Murders" in Belanglo State Forest near Sydney in 1992 (the infamous Ivan Milat) were found by an Orienteer - I don't think he competes anymore! Maybe not much good for the environment but certainly good for public safety (and backpackers).

Prior to our most recent rogaine there, we discovered networks of new ATV trails, use of "hunter's eyes" and other human activity in a remote area of Allegany State Park. Our "report" generated a park response in the area and a "thank you" from the park administration.

At least two dead bodies reported to the authorities after having been found by mappers in the US (one in MA, one in MO).

This winter in Cincinnati someone was setting courses and met a deer poacher and reported it to the park administration. I don't think they ever caught the guy though.

We have caught multiple domestic rubbish dumpers.

We used to have a club member who'd recruit other members for "work days" assisting local environmental groups in removing "invasive plants" from Cook Co. forest preserves.

It was a "win/win" for the club: orienteering gained a favorable image with the landowners, and the runnability of the map was improved once buckthorn and other nasties were cut down and burned in a huge, satisfying pyre at the end of the work day.

Fictional but nice to see orienteers in the mainstream - in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (super crime book if you haven't read it yet) orienteers were recruited to search in the forest for a missing person

MNOC does an environmental project every year (usually around Earth day). It's really easy to have folks spend 10 - 15 minutes picking up trash or some other simple task prior to doing their course. It really helps with park relations . What is your club doing for Earth Day ?

Most (or at least many) O clubs in Sweden help the local authorities (police and such) in search for missing persons. It happens every now and then - I´ve been out a couple of times in three different clubs.

Extending the idea of "environmental" - orienteering maps may help land managers.

Sometimes this is acknowledged. This cycle-and-walking journey planner used mapping by orienteering clubs to fill in gaps and errors in the data: http://www.journeyplanner.org.nz

Sometimes it is not acknowledged. There's a "hobbit" type map in a local park brochure. When you fit it as a template to the orienteering map (its basically just a track map made by compass and pacing) it fits perfectly:-))

I've alerted the managers of a state park to unauthorised trail construction activity I found while updating the map. Also, I'm told the initial creation of the map revealed that mountain bikers had exceeded their brief and built trails beyond what they had obtained permission for some of which are now supposedly being allowed to decay.