JAFFREY — The line between freedom of artistic expression and the responsibilities of state park rangers to manage Mount Monadnock is at the center of a challenge the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union is taking on.

Each year, nature lovers, artists, outdoor enthusiasts and city folk flock to the summit to capture sweeping views of New England. The mountain’s allure has been memorialized in classics, such as “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau and composer Alan Hovhasness’s symphony, “Monadnock.”

On Sept. 14, Jonathan Doyle of Keene, an artist, and five others ascended Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey with a small video camera, some costumes and a plan to interview hikers for Doyle’s Bigfoot film, a project he had conceived on the mountain a week or so earlier. But those plans were interrupted when Park Manager Patrick Hummel informed Doyle that he needed a special use permit to proceed.

On Monday, Doyle said the group left when Hummel asked them to, but for a
7-year-old Jaffrey resident in the group who had dressed up as a pirate for the film, it was a bit of a blow.

“It was difficult to explain to him why we couldn’t go on the mountain and make a little movie. It was disturbing in itself to think about how limited his freedom might be,” Doyle said.

That’s why he decided to file a formal complaint with the NHCLU, he said. His goal is to get an apology from the park and the chance to return to the mountain to carry out the group’s plans. He said he has no intention of obtaining a permit because, if he did, he’d worry what would happen to the next budding artist whose artistic process involves the mountain.

“What about people who are not professional artists, but will be and are coming into their own expression and inspiration by going to the mountain?” he said.

On Monday, staff attorney Barbara Keshen of the New Hampshire chapter of the ACLU said that Mount Monadnock is a public forum and the state park’s permitting process is vague and overbroad. She said the group’s First Amendment rights were violated when they were asked to disband because they did not have a permit. She wrote to Department of Resources and Economic Development Commissioner George Bald on Dec. 14 to tell him so, but she has not received a response.

On Monday, Hummel said Doyle’s group isn’t the only group required to apply for a permit and pay the $100 fee.

“In his case, this was basically an advertised public performance piece. He had not called N.H. State Parks to set it up and because we had complaints from hikers his performance was shut down,” Hummel explained. “Most folks who complained just felt intruded unsuspectingly on their recreation opportunity.”

He said he read about the group’s plans for Sept. 14 in a newspaper. Hummel said he was not aware of Keshen’s letter and said he didn’t know if he agreed with its claims.

Doyle’s first visit to the mountain donning his Bigfoot costume and camera prior to Sept. 14 did not attract park ranger interference because it didn’t appear to be a staged event, Hummel said. The first visit didn’t result in any complaints either, he added.

“We’re here to manage the land, to make sure fair recreational opportunities are maintained and to maintain the mountain,” Hummel said, referring to the park staff.

On Monday, Amy Bassett of the DRE said Keshen’s letter had been forwarded to the N.H. Attorney General’s Office for review and there’s been no response to the complaint, as yet.

For more information about Doyle’s Bigfoot film, visit www.nycreator.com.