Should the national parks have greater cellphone coverage?/PEER
Should the National Park Service work to see 4G coverage extended to as much of the National Park System as possible? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility doesn't believe that should happen, and is behind a petition drive to have that idea spiked before we find visitors experiencing the parks in the palms of their hands, and not by using all their senses.
"Our national parks are on the cusp of being wired for streaming videos, music downloads and on-line games for visitor-subscribers to extend 4G (4th Generation) coverage into parks such as Yellowstone. These developments will allow visitors ' particularly young people ' to experience our parks not through their eyes but with noses buried in their electronic devices," PEER says in pushing its petition drive.
"The proliferation of this cyber-infrastructure in our parks means more, ugly cell towers marring vistas, 'spill-over' coverage in wilderness and backcountry and the loss of solitude ' being disconnected from the electronic tendrils of the modern world. Do not further 'Disney-fy' our national parks. Disconnect the devices and reconnect with nature."
The petition is to be sent to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. PEER hopes to get 15,000 signatures. As of mid-day Friday, it had 63.
Comments
You should be old enough to know better than insulting those with whom you disagree.
EC got it. Nobody wants to see the landscape scarred with a bunch of wires strung up to cell towers in the backcountry. Otherwise, who cares? If you want to get away from it all, just hike in the backcountry where it's empty, leave your cell phone, and hope you don't fall.
Well, Zeb, to define my reasoning a bit more I will admit my guiding years became such an unexpected joy being a part of so many transformations and positive results from the adventures. Don't think I ever felt so rewarded, for the most part, getting out of the way of people really making positive changes to attitudes and growth, especially with youth who are being set up for a lifetime based on these experiences. Technology in the doses that are being injected today, stand in the way. I can go for days without even seeing a human foot print but am disappointed when I do run into folks into their technology and not present enough to share the wildness. Okay, I'm done.
Actually, that is one of the problem with cell phones coverage in that it can give people that extra sense of "security" that if they get into trouble, they can use their phones so they go into places that are above their capabilities or were'nt properly prepared. There have been many cases where people that are way out of their league are getting into trouble, but because their cell phone had a single bar they were able to call out and get a rescue. Granted, there are still some places in the lower 48 where those rules still don't apply, and let's hope it stays that way. Frank Church and the Great Bear come to mind.
Well, trailadvocate, at least this morning you sound a bit more coherent. Last night your posts sounded a bit like too much of trailguide lubrication consumed. It really sounded like you were sitting around the high school locker room clanging them together to tell everyone else how much more outdoorsier you were. Anything that gets Eric, Zeb, and I in agreement is fairly beyond the pale.
As I see it, the biggest and worstest problem with cell phones is the fact that so many people seem to think they must shout loud enough for the person on the other end of the call to hear them even without the phone.
I have to admit that the last time I was waiting for Old Faithful and had a guy next to me who was shouting loud enough for his friend in New York to hear him (with frequent use of a short word that starts with the sixth letter of the alphabet) I found myself seriously considering having an "accident" with my bear spray.
Yellowstone is a big place. Don't like the guy next to you - move.
BTW - Did you come up with any of those "vague Constitution" citations yet? I suppose we will have to wait for those along with the list of people that want to elminated all public lands and the half dozen other unsubstantiated claims you have made.
Trailguide, I can appreciate your morning perspective, and I can see how a few idiots will have zero manners if they have a cell signal. But ultimately, it sure sounds like your problem that others decide to engross themselves in their cell phone rather than the landscape. In other words, you want people to enjoy the parks the way you enjoy them. That does not seem very American to me.
Personnally, I don't really care how others decide to enjoy their surroundings, and I don't like others deciding for me (so long as said enjoyment does not impact others, etc.).
Zeb, others decide on a daily basis how you should enjoy whatever. Part of the new tolerance.:). What I know for a fact is that people are getting disconnected from very meaningful and strengthening experiences that I've witnessed by technology addiction. Real verses virtual. Alarming, really, and seeing the evidence of change to detachment in previously remote and special places can not be good. Exactly similar to some industrial park built on a pristine landscape.
BTW:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/05/children-cyberbullying-se...