This image taken from the trailer for the film National Park Adventures might be inferred by some to mean off-trail mountain biking is permitted in national parks, which it is not.
America's national parks will be gorgeously portrayed in an IMAX® production coming to theaters next year, but the trailer could be construed as misleading in that it shows mountain bikers cavorting in a red-rock landscape that is not located within a park. Indeed, the activity as portrayed is actually banned in national parks.
Certainly, the National Park Service's centennial next year is drawing amazing amounts of attention, and visitation to the parks this year. But some park managers are wondering why the producers of National Parks Adventure had to drop the adrenalin-pumping mountain bike sequence into their promotions, their trailer...and most likely their movie.
"When that group was here filming, we told them very clearly, because we were aware that they were filming bicycling on (U.S. Bureau of Land Management Land) land, that that activity was not allowed in Canyonlands and we were adamant that it not be shown in a way that might suggest it was legal in the park," Kate Cannon, superintendent of Canyonlands and Arches national parks, said Thursday. “I just find it disingenuous to show that activity in a film that purports, I believe, to be about national parks. I think what that’s doing is trying to sell the film with that dramatic footage, which I found peculiar."
Here's a segment taken from a promotion of the film earlier this year:
On Thursday a trailer for the film was promoted on social media channels by USAToday. It ended with an aerial view of mountain bikers.
Superintendent Cannon was frustrated by inclusion of mountain biking in the trailer, because riding off-trail in the parks is not permitted and this footage might encourage some riders to seek it out.
“It’s a real frustration," she said. "I think what we have to do is redouble our effort on our own social media and all of our information to our visitors to make it clear up-front that mountain biking is allowed in parks, but only on the same roads that vehicles are allowed to go on, and we’ll be doing that.”
Though a stunning image, this type of off-trail mountain biking is not allowed in national parks yet appears in a film promoting national parks.
After USAToday promoted the trailer on its social media channels, the National Park Service's social media team in Washington, D.C., retweeted USAToday's tweet to its nearly 200,000 followers.
Park Service officials in Washington said the film is to make it clear that the mountain biking segments were not filmed in a national park.
"The National Park Service worked with the producers to provide the necessary permits for the film project and offered recommendations and input on the film's content. The final decision about what footage was included in the film was made by the producers," the agency's chief spokesperson, April Slayton, said in an email Thursday. "The National Park Service strongly recommended to the producers that they clearly indicate that the mountain biking featured in the film was not filmed in a national park."
During inquiries to the producer's public relations firm last month, the Traveler was told that, "the film narration specifically says that our characters are outside a park. The film makes it very clear that this activity is not happening inside a national park."
The trailer, however, does not.
Comments
Lee, be carefull. You sound like a conservative there.
Yeah, ec, I know. I'm starting to sound just like one of those Tea Party members who shout things like, "Repeal Obamacare but keep your hands off my Medicare!" It's refreshing to have you join the ranks of those who see the disconnect between extreme conservatism and reality.
By the way, have you read Dr. Runte's book Allies of the Earth? I'm only on about the fourth chapter, but it is certainly providing a lot of thought provoking ideas. Y'need to read it. We all do.
"Repeal Obamacare but keep your hands off my Medicare!"
Well, besides the fact I have never heard a Tea Partier yell that, it does make absolute sense. People have paid into Medicare for decades, they deserve the benefits when they are eligble. Obamacare is real time. You pay much higher premiums (unless you are entitled) for poorer health coverage on an annual basis. I would have no problem getting rid of Medicare looking forward. Let people opt in/out now for future benefits. Same for social security.
Nice post wild places. I agree, our National Parks simply cannot be eveything for everybody. They have their hands full already, the pressure to open them up to every current and future recreational use, no matter how enjoyable, is quite alarming. I know there are good citizens who may not agree, but I suggest they work or volunteer in in a major park, I think they would find it an educational and rewarding experience. I think Dr. Rrunte, in his piece on Michael Forme, did an excellent job. Mr. Frome, in his writings, laid it out pretty well.
I tend to agree the parks are too small to accommodate all of the demands that would be placed on them if access were made wide-open. That said, it's interesting to drive along Washington Highway 20 and see the empty trailheads for North Cascades National Park. I think there should be something like Mountain Bike Wednesday in such areas. The parks would gain a broader support base, more people would see what they have to offer, and anyone who doesn't want to encounter a descending cyclist can avoid going on Wednesday.
Many things point to the NPS starting to think along such lines. It was an amazing victory for both common sense and the parks' future when the Access Fund got the NPS to agree to allow permanent rock-climbing anchors to be left in some NPS Wilderness areas. I didn't think I'd see anything like that in my lifetime. Lately, the problem has been more the Forest Service, which is getting more hostile by the year to any nonmotorized human presence except hikers, canoers, and the leisure class escorted on outfitter pack trains that rip everything up so they can sip chardonnay under the stars in Wilderness areas.