The Case Against Casey Nocket

Late last summer, 21-year-old self-proclaimed graffiti artist Casey Nocket left her hometown of Highland, New York to follow in the footsteps of many an easterner before her on a grand tour “out west.”

I can not help but wonder, did she pack her art supplies? Did she map out not only the Parks she wanted to visit, but the ones she wanted to tag? Was it the main purpose of her trip? It sure seems premeditated. We know she had companions, someone took the pictures of her leaving her own special version of trail markers along the way (we will question posting them for all the world to see in a minute). Who was this person or persons witnessing these acts, if not urging her on? No one seems to mention them, but I wonder how any friend could watch someone defacing what amounts to a sacred temple almost every stop she made. And make no mistake, they are temples, at least to those of us that worship nature.

I remember listening to a Paiute Tribal Elder and Pipe Springs National Monument Ranger, Ben Pikyavit, giving a lecture on his ancestors at a local BLM “brown bag” lecture here in southern Utah. One of the audience members complained that he was asked not to take pictures of a Native American prayer ceremony on Cedar Mountain. I saw the look on Ben’s face, and tried to put it in perspective for the audience member. I asked him if he thought picture-taking should be allowed during LDS temple ceremonies. The gentleman sputtered a bit and said, “Of course not! It’s a private religious ceremony in a sacred place.” Exactly, sir.

Over the next several weeks, Ms. Nocket crossed off parks and monuments from her ‘to do” list. These stops are documented, even if all of her “art” has not been found. This particular travel pattern is known to southwest natives as “The Golden Circle”, visiting as many parks as possible in a single road trip.

There is even an interactive map showing the dates of her stops, and photos of the “works” that we know of.

From the beginning, it seems she documented not only her "works", but the act itself. She shared these pictures on social media, on her “Creepytings” Tumbler and Instagram accounts. Yes, indeed, they are creepy things. Spontaneous? Doubtful. She fancied herself an accomplished artist and talked about it on social media, saying “It’s art, not vandalism,” she insisted, according to the post. “I am an artist.” Indeed, much of the feedback she was getting at first was positive, from her inner circle, including her mother. One shameful endorsement by Cosmopolitan’s online magazine author, Lane Moore, still has me shaking my head (Gloria Steinem, she’s not).

One friend did ask her if the drawings were chalk, to which she blithely posted, “ Acrylic. I know, I’m a bad person.” Those words will come back to haunt her during her trial, if there is one. 

The Free Dictionary defines society as “The totality of people regarded as forming a community of interdependent individuals: working for the benefit of society.” Ms Casey needed to be aware of the big picture of social media. Not everyone was thrilled.

In September, a hiker found graffiti in Rocky Mountain State Park in Colorado and reported it. It was cleaned up before similar tags starting popping up along the trail of Casey’s trip. Soon reports were coming in from other parks, the outdoor community got involved and posts followed from bloggers in the hiking community. The reaction has been swift and brutal. 

Modern Hiker's post had over 900 comments, most of them angry and demanding the severest penalties possible. Some were ridiculous, and this venomous one from a self-labeled “chief misanthrope “ (and total misogynist) even calls for the ultimate price, suicide.

The National Park Service jumped in and investigated. The original reddit thread posted by Yosemite investigator Steve Yu reads like the minutes of a very angry town meeting, where the pitchforks are being sharpened while the hero is praised for saving civilization. After one week, the NPS issued this statement, naming Ms Nocket the prime suspect. Her social media accounts have been taken down, and supposedly she is cooperating and remorseful.

Are we hypocrites for condemning her when the mess we are in is all of our faults? Maybe, at least this author thinks so. How far do we take this? Should we arrest the grandma being charged for tagging the sugarloaf hill with “Dixie”?

It is hard for me to forgive Casey Nocket, especially when I think about the contrast between her and the woman who recently spent her precious last days visiting those same parks, on a very different kind of journey.

I think also of the recent passing of Martin Litton, who did so much for the wilderness. “Nature has its rights,” he once said. “It has a right to be here untrammeled, unfettered. Man doesn’t have to screw everything up.” And Wallace Stegner, my very favorite author, who put my feelings about nature into such eloquent words. If you don’t read another link in this post about wilderness, read this one—his “Wilderness Letter,” written to the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission in 1960.

Here and there in this debacle, one can find the voice of reason. Modern Hiker has started a campaign to turn the twitter hashtag #caseynocket into a campaign to clean up trails, sending out prizes to people posting pictures of their efforts to clean up with the hashtag #dontbeacaseynocket. 

Our own Greta Hyland wrote an outstanding piece about what is an even bigger travesty, because the party accused of vandalizing sacred space is none other than Greenpeace. They are supposed to know better, are they not more culpable?

Which brings me to back to my original question. Why would Casey Nocket decide to do this and document it on social media? What is it about our society at this time that compels so many young people to post endless selfies (think Kim Kardashian, if you must) to satisfy social needs that are not being met. What is lacking in our world today that she did not understand that her idea was so wrong-headed in the first place?

The person behind the camera is a part of us as a society. The case against Casey Nocket is still pending. Are we all to blame?