So what if a hundred people came to the park to pick berries, or pick flowers, or pick mushrooms, or anything else that looked free? There wouldn't be a whole lot of renewables with everyone taking a sample. The cops should have just warned him off, but the land is for mutual enjoyment not mutual shopping.
At some point, the berries would be exhausted for the moment, and the pickers would simply have to look elsewhere. Nobody suggested raspberries grow only in one spot in Montgomery County Maryland. If that were the case they could be protected as an endangered species, which would make sense.
But they're not. They're part of Nature. And as such prohibiting people from picking makes as much sense as prohibiting potheads from puffing.
Tackle this quesiton: what the **** is Montgomery County protecting them for? Birds? Is Montgomery County Maryland responsible for feeding the birds of the air??
This is a power trip, nothing more. One guy claiming he's in charge of Nature, like some kind of religion. He ain't, so **** him.
There's a spot down the road, part of the National Park Service in fact, where huckleberries grow wild and thrive. I've got some of them in my reefer right now. My supply is dwindling so I'll be going up to replenish soon. If I don't, they'll be eaten by birds and bears.
Think the National Park Service is going to be up there writing citations for birds and bears? Or for citizens?
Nature's bounty is literally, ripe for the pickin'.
That's what it's there for.