
Once upon a time, stringing wire in Grand Teton National Park might have meant running barbed wire. But these days it's all about fiber optic cable and wireless telecommunications equipment. Park staff have worked out a plan for greatly expanding the reach of Wi-Fi in the park and are seeking public comment on that proposal.
The purpose of the assessment is to consider a right-of-way permit request for updating and expanding telecommunication capabilities in developed areas of Grand Teton National Park, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, and connecting to Yellowstone National Park’s south entrance.
Not too many years ago Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility greatly derided the park's efforts to extend its communications network, calling it "the largest cellular expansion in national park history."
The environmental assessment open for comment through April 10 looks at the impacts of potential locations, design, and future needs of telecommunication facilities.
Fiber optic and wireless telecommunication services addressed in the environmental assessment include Internet, voice over internet protocol, and cellular phones.
The proposal would improve cellular and broadband services to meet mission-critical park operations, safety and emergency services, and visitor information needs and expectations in developed areas.
Park management, concessioners, and partners are increasingly relying on modern communications technology for daily operations; however, existing telecommunications services are limited or nonexistent, inadequate and outdated, park staff in announcing the public comment period.
In justifying the plan, park officials said Grand Teton’s lack of suitable telecommunications infrastructure in developed areas affects visitors and park residents as well. Visitor expectations for connectivity include park-developed educational websites, interactive mobile applications and other online tools that inform and connect them to park and local resources, they said. Employees and families living in the park do not have reliable telecommunication services that are expected and necessary for work and personal email, school responsibilities, banking and other routine needs.
Under the plan, a fiber optic cable network would be installed to connect telecommunications infrastructure and provide reliable high-speed internet access in developed areas. The cable would be installed underground in conduit adjacent to existing roads or other existing disturbed areas and would have the capacity for future expansion.
The proposal also includes installation of wireless telecommunications facilities and associated infrastructure at nine developed areas in the park that currently support critical operations and/or see a high volume of park visitors, as well as a connection to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The proposed locations are Flagg Ranch, Colter Bay, Jackson Lake Lodge, Signal Mountain, North Jenny Lake, South Jenny Lake, Beaver Creek, Moose, and Kelly.
The telecommunications facilities would be constructed in a manner compatible with the character of the surrounding structures, or otherwise made unobtrusive with best available technologies, screening with vegetation or existing topography and/or other means, park staff said.
The intent of this plan is to provide these services in the developed areas of the park, although some spillover of wireless signals may extend into backcountry/wilderness areas, they added. The plan is not intended to provide coverage to all road sections within the park.
The park is hosting two public open houses to discuss the plan. Park staff will be at the Kelly School in Kelly, Wyoming, on Tuesday, March 19, from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m., and at the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, on Wednesday, March 20, from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. The public is invited to stop by anytime during those hours.
You can find the draft EA and leave comments at this page.
Comments
If RF from a cellular tower was actually a threat, which it isn't. What benefit would there be being in the park for a few days without RF when the other 360 days you are within a few miles of a tower 24/7?
Do not turn the National Parks, or any parks, into microwave ovens.
Nice post you shared here and is very informative also. Networking hardware, also known as network equipment or computer networking devices, are physical devices which are required for communication and interaction between devices on a computer network. Specifically, they mediate data in a computer network. Units which are the last receiver or generate data are called hosts or data terminal equipment.
What a horrid idea. Nature is only nature because it is natural. Cell towers are not natural. We are way too hung up on telecommunication.
No no no.