Ease of long term squatting on BLM land in a tent....?

[Everymanalion]

So I was thinking, lets say you were in a dry, arid climate like Las Cruces in southern New Mexico, surrounded all around by remote BLM land, just you, a dog, a tent and sleeping bag. Your only expenses are food, dog food and a cheap monthly cell bill($40 a month). You hitched or walked into town for supplies. You got ALL your money from spanging. In this situation, how long do you think you could personally last before

A. being kicked off BLM land.

B. Getting bored.

C. Running out of money to pay for supplies(Unless you were on food stamps).

How long do you think this scenario would be plausible for? Months? Years?

 

[lone wolf]

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/recreation_activities/camping.html
you've probably read that site but just in case you didn't... i pitched a tent for 6 straight years in florida. it's much easier to stay hidden here though. i think you will have to move often to avoid getting kicked out. that's my guess anyhow, i've never been there.

 

[Matt Derrick]

in montana the law was you had to move at least 1000 feet every 14 days. we moved my school bus back and forth between two spots for almost two months with no real hassle.

 

[Everymanalion]

Very nice! I am looking for a place to "settle" for a year or so on BLM land in a warmer climate so I just wanted to see what experiences people had, in smaller towns like Las Cruces(pop:100k) or even El Paso(400k) do you think flying a sign could get ya 2-300 a month for supplies? I have only ever done it in SUPER big cities like Philly and in super small towns like Brownsville TX and made about $60ish for about 4 hours a day.

 

[Jaguwar]

Assuming running out if money isn't a problem, probably as long as I wanted. Just a matter of making it happen and keeping up with the laws.

 

[pigpen]

People do exactly what you're talking about for decades. I've met folks in new mexico who've raised kids on blm land and were growing bud and shit. The coronado national forest has a sweet hot spring called san francisco about 50 miles from los cruces if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Deleted member 2626]

Good thread. I'm on Kentucky food stamps, so hypothetically typing, I could do it for years, with my dog (cook for them). Sort of a plan coming up, I posted a thread on this. But a little more nomadically. But why would you wanna subsist totally on spanging man? find temp work or dumpster more or get on food stamps. I want to do what your speaking of but with a pack animal so I can haul more goods and visit towns less for supplies.

 

[Deleted member 2626]

I also talked to a guy a bit ago who talked about him and his girl living in the mountains with pack goats and selling crafts in town for their supplies. Kind of my idea now, little flutes and whittling\ and |CL labor

 

[Art101]

I kinda looked at doing something like that in Nevada but more along the lines of homesteading.I helped build a sandbag home in western WA.My idea was to build a half below ground with sandbag walls covered in concrete with a well and running water system through the house for cooling during the summer.Use solar and wind for power.Love the herd of goats idea,I was thinking sheep for wool and meat.

 

[foxx]

Very nice! I am looking for a place to "settle" for a year or so on BLM land in a warmer climate so I just wanted to see what experiences people had, in smaller towns like Las Cruces(pop:100k) or even El Paso(400k) do you think flying a sign could get ya 2-300 a month for supplies? I have only ever done it in SUPER big cities like Philly and in super small towns like Brownsville TX and made about $60ish for about 4 hours a day.

panhandling is banned in las cruces, but there are a few home bum types who are out at the same spots every day, and a busker who has stayed in town for longer than expected because he does so well

 

[Everymanalion]

panhandling is banned in las cruces, but there are a few home bum types who are out at the same spots every day, and a busker who has stayed in town for longer than expected because he does so well

Yea I lived there last year and got ran off within 10 minutes everyday BUT I made about 15 bucks before getting ran off, EVERYONE was tossing down cash,

 

[Durp]

if I were you I would be more worried about my tent getting ruined by the wind rather than blm cops.

 

[foxx]

this time of year, yes. the winds are ridiculous~

 

[Wawa]

I also talked to a guy a bit ago who talked about him and his girl living in the mountains with pack goats and selling crafts in town for their supplies. Kind of my idea now, little flutes and whittling\ and |CL labor

Hah I think I know the girl. Fucking awesome person. Beat a mountain lion off one of her goats once.

So, op, why not move around a bit if you're going to be in a tent anyway? I love it out there, but I still think you'll get bored before going long term broke. That'll also be a good preventative for trouble with the blm guys. I've heard some people talk about Elephant Butte being a good place to squat around.

 

[Art101]

Good camo is important to hide from the man.If you have a decent sized tent you can use the foam insulation panels on the ground and sides and will give some rigidity and warmth you can also take survival blankets and attach to the upper part of the tent to continue the insulation and in some cases will defeat infrared radar..or so I have heard.Camo netting is fairly inexpensive and might be a good investment.This is if you are planning a semipermanent place.

 

[TypicallyVague]

I'm planning on doing something like this in Idaho come next spring. My situation will be a bit different, since I'll have a vehicle and my tipi, but it's still essentially the same idea. On most National Grassland, Forestland, and BLM land you can stay for 14 days - typically not counting the day of arrival and departure - before having to move 25 miles. Pretty easy to manage, I'd say! Or so I hope...

 

[Matt Derrick]

I'm planning on doing something like this in Idaho come next spring. My situation will be a bit different, since I'll have a vehicle and my tipi, but it's still essentially the same idea. On most National Grassland, Forestland, and BLM land you can stay for 14 days - typically not counting the day of arrival and departure - before having to move 25 miles. Pretty easy to manage, I'd say! Or so I hope...

if you have a vehicle, it is definitely easy to do. are you sure it's 25 miles though? when i was camping on BLM land in montana i heard it was only 1000-1500 feet. that's about how far we moved, but we also almost never saw a ranger in that area either.

 

[TypicallyVague]

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/st__george/recreation/camping/dispersed_camping.html

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Recreation/camping.html

http://www.rv-camping.org/boondocking/

These are typical of some of the sources I've been using. Most of them have that 25 mile radius provision, but I know it does vary from place to place. Plus, just like you pointed out, the ease of your camping is highly dependent on the local rangers. If one of the local rangers is fastidious, querulous, or the like, then you would obviously have less ease than if you had the luck of either no rangers or the down-to-earth types.

Where in MT were you at, Matt?

 

[todd]

Dispersed camping is generally allowed on public lands in New Mexico for no more than a period of 14 days within any period of 28 consecutive days. The 14-day limit may be reached either through a number of separate visits or through 14 days of continuous overnight occupation during the 28-day period. After this time period, you must relocate to another site at least 25 miles away. The purpose of this is to prevent damage to sensitive resources caused by continual use of any particular areas.

 

[syrinyx]

This is what @black and I are planning in the olympic peninsula area. We're trying to work out the logistics of all of it right now as we will be taking our piece o' shit truck with us. We're in the process of scheming about state residency so we can keep the car registered and all and maybe get food stamps which would make our lives 100000x easier as an addition to running into towns to busk every now and again. If anybody has practical tips for this sort of lifestyle we'd fuckin love to hear what everyone has to say.