Yellowstone National Park officials, in an effort to limit electronic intrusions in the park, are banning cellphone towers in campgrounds and recommended wilderness and limiting wireless access in some hotels.
Additionally, they say they will work to relocate the existing cell tower at Old Faithful and to reduce the visual impacts of cell equipment on Mount Washburn.
The restrictions, which some might find too stringent and others not stringent enough, come amid the explosion of electronic communications, whether by cellphone or the Internet.
"Wireless communications in Yellowstone will be allowed in very limited areas to provide for visitor safety and to enhance park operations," park officials said Monday in releasing the plan. "The plan restricts towers, antennas, and wireless services to a few limited locations in the park in order to protect park resources and limit the impact on park visitors."
Yellowstone last fall released an environmental assessment on the proposal to erect more cell towers in the park. You can find that document, which later had changes integrated to reflect public comments, at this site.
Plans addressing wireless communications have been completed or are under way at other National Park Service sites, including Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada and Arizona, and Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC.
Yellowstone's plan prohibits cell towers in recommended wilderness, in campgrounds, or along park road corridors. No cell phone service will be allowed in the vast majority of Yellowstone. Cell service is currently limited to the immediate vicinity of Canyon, Grant Village, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Old Faithful. The park would accept proposals to establish cell service for the Fishing Bridge/Lake Village area.
In Yellowstone, "Park concessioners would be allowed to offer Wi-Fi service in some buildings. In response to comments, Wi-Fi will be prohibited in the Old Faithful Inn and the Lake Hotel in order to preserve the historic lodging experience. Concession operators will be permitted to offer Wi-Fi service in other park lodging and general stores."
The plan also calls for Yellowstone to actively promote the courteous and respectful use of cell phones and Wi-Fi devices and to establish and sign "cell phone free zones" in the park.
Comments
Most of us have to put up with inconsiderate people in our daily lives. We take vacations to get away from the daily hustle and bustle. I travel all the way across our nation each year to enjoy the "wide open spaces" of the west. I want to enjoy the "silence of nature", not listen to other peoples' phone conversation !
People are walking around the boardwalks at Old Faithful yapping on their cellphones now and some people want their kids to be able to sit around and play their video games on their pcs. If that is your definition of a vacation, please just check in a hotel in the middle of civilization and "play" by the pool, leave the nature-type " National Parks for those of us who truly enjoy nature ! Natural settiings are few and far between these days, I'm for keeping them as natural as possible and letting the big, private recreation developments entertain those who choose that route.
It's quite apparent that were loosing are stellar night sky to high volumes of illumination from major metropolitan cities (example:Las Vegas) and other populace areas, which is now obliterating are wilderness experience to visualize the night heavenly bodies with awesome clarity. Also, which is sad enough, is the jangling sound of cellphones going off in all hours of the day in are national parks. All for what...simply conversation and garble that certainly can be left at home. Remember when silence was golden!?
Yellowstone already has cell coverage in some areas already, and so some of this isn't anything new, just as it has electric wires, phone lines (hmm ... maybe make Yellowstone completely wireless and get rid of the phone lines? ...), lots of automobiles, gas stations, sewage treatment ... when you visit Yellowstone, you realize it looks little like it's portrayed in the nature series you see on television (even in backcountry, you might see military jets fly over you, and on and on).
And, Yellowstone, never was pure wilderness exactly; it had a permanent and transient human population who were hunting, burning fires, burning trees down (often on purpose); the idea of a pure wilderness is fictional, anyhow.
It seems a little silly to me to restrict Wi-Fi in the "historic" buildings that perhaps require it the most, if you are going to build a new tower anyhow.
But, as to the larger philosophical questions of what should or shouldn't be built in Yellowstone, that seems to be too small a question. We are already asserting ourselves as lords over the land; should we see our relationship with relatively wild places as protectors and overlords, as users and recreationalists, as resources, etc.? These questions are the oldies but goodies of conservation, but they remain relevant. Tinkering with our answers to this small questions about cell phones and Wi-Fi won't get us anywhere unless we are willing to understand why the boundaries are drawn, who draws them, and whether they should be drawn this way. If the goal is a wild Yellowstone - that is, a somewhat artificial Yellowstone of a different sort - that will suggest different answers than one that recognizes that humans have had a relationship with this land for a very long time, much longer than 1872. But, what sort of relationship?
I think some of the frustration people on both sides feel is that the National Park Service, though it asks for public comments (because it is required to by law), generally makes its own decisions; they are abstracted from the public they are supposed to serve. We are left to be cynical no matter where we are on the questions of use in Yellowstone (look at snowmobiles or bison). This has suggested to me for a long time that Yellowstone is trapped in a much larger human system of politics, and I doubt we will have adequate discussions about particular issues in Yellowstone without discussing the way our nation works and operates (for better, and often for worse).
Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World
Jim raises some intriguing points that revolve around our whole concept of what is wilderness, and what is a wilderness experience. Of course, those answers no doubt would vary greatly depending on whom you posed the questions to.
What are the components of 'pure wilderness'? Does a transient population such as the Sheepeaters make it less of a wilderness?
Unfortunately, we are limited by how we can address the answers to these questions by the politics and economics that drive our society.
Jim,
I agree with most of your points. I think cell phone use on some of yellowstones roads woad be dangerous, but not by a passenger. I also think taking a vacation free from my kids using their phones for texting etc.. sounds good. But, I think having cell phones comes with the times. Historic Park, come on; should we ban cars and go back to horses, should we only allow pit toilet houses should we ban green energy, should we ban a microwave. Cell phones provide some safety and security as well as keeping informed via the internet. Long and short, I think cell phone towers should be required to fit into the area by looking like a tree( i have seen requirements like this in some localities) but could be added only to a few new areas at a time including campgrounds and all lodging.
Dave Crowl
It's amazing to me that we accept electricity as a necessary element for parks, and accept electric lines across the horizons of our parks. We accept modern amenities like paved roads, and overpasses as necessary to enjoy the parks. We accept wired telephones in the lodges and public areas. We accept that park rangers communicate wirelessly with hand-held radios (and cell phones). We accept the park radio stations that broadcast interpretive messages. We accept as appropriate the use of very high technology digital cameras and high-def recording devices. So why the fuss over the use of cell phones?
Having traveled in the past year to parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone, I can tell you there is terrific cell coverage in Yosemite Village, and near Old Faithful. I'd suggest someone do a study in those areas and ask, is there an overt abuse of cell phones in those areas? So much so that it detracts from the 'natural' experience of the area (two of the busiest areas in the NPS including hotels, parking lots, restaurants, buses, souvenir shops)?
Cell phones are becoming more of a necessity to many people as time goes by. It doesn't make sense to restrict their use, simply because they are new technology, or because their use by some may be considered inappropriate ... I could tell you plenty of stories of bad drivers in parks, but I doubt we'll get rid of the automobile any time soon.
Cell phone ban means that only people of means can carry a satellite phone to use in case of emergency. I don't quite see the rationale there. Yes, people can be inconsiderate and loud, but in the backcountry, there are so few people, that giving some cell phone coverage would not ruin the experience. I see them as a great tool to call in help in case of emergency.
Jeremy, I think the thing with cellphones is their intrusiveness, which can border on obnoxious.
Zeb, with the rugged landscapes of many backcountry areas (Yosemite, Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, etc), can you imagine how many towers you'd need to provide cell coverage in all the terrain? I'd doubt there's an economic rationale to pay for installing 'em all.
There are other options for calling for help, ie Spot and the other personal locator beacons on the market.