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Talk Of $30 Million Fiber Optic Network At Yellowstone National Park Renews Debate

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How much connectivity is too much at Yellowstone?/Kurt Repanshek

Should the wired world end at a national park's entrance gates? That's a controversial question, one that has spurred a petition drive against a wired National Park System and which is generating concern over the sanctity of the parks.

For a handful of years now the topic of increased cellphone reception in the park system has been before the National Park Service. Yellowstone National Park adopted a Wi-Fi and cellphone plan in 2009, and urging by the National Park Hospitality Association that improved connectivity in the parks be a priority of the Service prompted the Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility in January 2013 to dub the efforts "a disturbing stealth scheme to wire our national park system."

'œExperiencing the natural wonders of our national parks should not require a smartphone," PEER's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said at the time.

Talk that Yellowstone staff has discussed a proposal by the CenturyLink phone company to install a $30 million fiber optic network to improve reception in the park has drawn more complaints from PEER as well as concern from park visitors and advocates such as the National Parks Conservation Association.

'œYellowstone'™s original decision to allow cell towers is like a gateway drug, hooking the park to an unending electronic mainline,' Mr. Ruch said in a release Monday.  'œThis will only help visitors avoid Yellowstone'™s natural wonders by keeping their noses buried in ever-present and ever more engrossing devices.'  

In raising the alarm over enhanced connectivity in Yellowstone, PEER released a handful of documents, one of which tracked an email exchange from late this past June and early July between Bret De Young, the park's communications branch chief, and Jason Ogle, another park employee who was curious about cellphone reception in various areas of Yellowstone's front country. In that exchange, Mr. De Young noted that signal strength would get better "when the visitors have diminished (as there would be lesser demand on the available signal). Outside of that we need a fiber network. We are working with CenturyLink, but it is a $30 million project that they cannot fund alone. We are meeting with all stakeholders, including cell companies licensed for the park, on July 15 to see what kind of support we can generate. It will not happen overnight, but I am optimistic."

At NPCA, officials noted that talk of installing a $30 million fiber optic network was premature in that no formal proposal had been released by the park. However, Bart Melton, the group's senior program manager for the Yellowstone field office, said the issue was one the group would watch closely.

"Our general position is that technological improvements can improve national parks, but it cannot be at the expense of wildlife and natural resources and visitor experience," he said during a phone call, adding that, 'œ(G)iven budget shortfalls, I'™d really hate to see the Park Service commit NPS resources to this sort of upgrade. If a plan like this were to move forward, it'™s extremely important that the business that wants to do business in the park covers all the upfront costs.'

Beyond the question of possible resource impacts looms the philosophical question of whether it's appropriate to wire the parks. Author Richard Louv, who warned of the detachment youth have from nature when they become consumed with electronics, told the Traveler in February 2013 that such detachment can actually be debilitating.

"How many lives are we losing because people are too overwhelmed with technology and can'™t get away from it?" Mr. Louv, author of The Nature Principle and Last Child in the Woods, said at the time. "Just the cumulative of too much electronics in people'™s lives, and I'™m not anti-tech.

"The mantra of the Nature Principle, the new book, is the more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need. We have to find that balance because there is evidence that too much technology in our lives does hurt our mental health, our physical health."

The idea of expanding Wi-Fi and cell coverage in the parks, Mr. Louv said during that conversation, is a "grim idea. ... We need Wi-Fi free zones."

A quick survey of Traveler's more than 217,000 Facebook followers on Monday found mixed feelings to improved connectivity in the parks.

"No. I go to national parks to get away. Nothing is more disheartening than watching my travel companions spend all their time texting pictures and chatting, hardly noting anything around them," wrote Yoshimi Yosemite. "Reception of 1/4-mile radius around visitors centers should be more than ample."

"For emergency services, yes. For social networking, no," wrote Julian Asher.

Shari Sommerfeld, in responding to others who said the parks should be left with little connectivity, wrote that improved service can save lives.

"We were in Yellowstone and a car went off the road and head-on into a tree. Guess what? There was no cell service and it took us 15 minutes to get to a phone at a campground (still no cell service there)," she wrote. "If you don't want to bring your electronic devices because you want to get away from that stuff, then just leave them at home. Don't use your holier-than-thou-attitude on everyone else, especially when lives might be at stake."

Sharon Baughman agreed.

"If you don't want to use it, then leave your electronics at home. Having it available for safety's sake would be a plus and no doubt be a godsend if you or someone you are with are injured or lost," she wrote.

But the general tenor of the comments trended against extended coverage.

"There should be somewhere that people can go and be free of connections to other people, so we are able to connect with nature," wrote Randy Gardner.

At Yellowstone, spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said there currently is not an active proposal to forward the $30 million project, that it's "just conceptual."

If it moves beyond conceptual, she went on, there would be some level of environmental studies and public comment periods as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

As to that July 15 meeting, Ms. Bartlett said it wasn't a fund-raising meeting, but rather one simply to gauge interest. At this point, she added, no one has approached the park about seeking approval to move forward with the $30 million project.

Comments

Please, no!  Spend the money on the stuff it needs to be spent on, please!


Sorry, CenturyLink isn't going to spend their money on your priorities. You will have to do that.  


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