The “Truth” Will Out
Posted by skyblu on January 4, 2007
THE GRAND DELUSION
It seems that I got my panties in a bunch for the absolute wrong reason. The last post about the stupidity of the National Park Circus was partially in error. They are not telling the world that “the flood” created the Grand Canyon. They are merely allowing the selling a book that does. The sad part of it all, is that PEER is playing games with this creationist stupidity.
Two sage and conscientious bloggers have tracked down the “facts,” – such as they are – and bless my bloomers, PEER is ranting in public. Read all about it in Ranger X, and National Parks Traveler. Thanks to these folks I can sleep at night knowing that at least some of the National Park Circus is living in the world of reality.
The same probably can’t be said about PEER.The sad part of it all, is that PEER, is running out of relevancy, and has to resort to this kind of stupidity. They are beginning to tilt at windmills. Sounds like the testosterone bloggers to me. They have lost a bit more credibility in my eyes. After all, they are a major force in getting Yellowstone to denounce public access in winter, in favor of required guide fees and higher entrance fees.
There was an interesting, though slightly jaded, post in Yellowstone Park News about the cost of visiting Yellowstone in the winter. It is becoming clear that no matter what the NPS says, they want to limit travel in the winter – and still whine about reduced visitation.
A fine post in Jim’s Eclectic World points out just how elite the visitors are in Yellowstone. As I’ve noted before, and in the Yellowstone pages here, the Park was initially conceived of as a playground for the wealthy and the privileged. It is rapidly returning to its conceptual beginnings. It’s sad that our national treasures should be reserved for only the very wealthy. But thus it has always been. And the fiction of American Democracy demands a class system that, as Mr. Macdonald says, “Protection of Yellowstone is among other things, protection of a class system; however, that hardly squares with our values of what Yellowstone is supposed to be.”
The cogent thing about this piece is the honest admission that the wealthy will always have access to the splendor of the built environment. They will, also miss much of the park. So it is, too, with the current winter access. Sadly, there is no alternative to canned tours. Plowing the roads in winter would at least open the park to the middle classes, and allow the poor to work as well. There needs to be less advocacy for wealthy values and more for common folks.
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On a lighter note, there is some beautiful scenery here on the beach. The students are getting ready to return to the grind, and the beaches are mostly deserted. So I wander along the strand.
New Year’s revels were typical, and the old friends were good to see. There was some good wine to be had, and Trader Joe’s has done themselves proud again. But, for the life of me, specifics seem to have been clouded by the fun
Well, I’ve got to get upstairs and help mom, then pack for the return trip. Seems that the nostrils of Satan have been getting along just fine without me – can’t let that happen.
Randy said
I find it so strange and unfortunate that a national park is catering to a class.
Have a safe trip back home.
snowbug said
I must say the “PEER” is not rated that highly in my book.
The whole “anonymous” thing certainly sounds good in theory, but since we’ll never know who said what, it certainly lends itself to a climate of “say whatever… since nobody can back it up”.
Just my cent and a half.
Park Ranger X said
President Ford, a park ranger at Yellowstone in 1939, noticed such class problems. From the press release:
So it has apparently been going on awhile. I don’t think plowing the roads is a good answer, though, for environmental reasons. Public transportation in the national parks is a partial egalitarian solution. Snowmobiles and cars are expensive and highly polluting. Snow coaches offer “greater affordability, convenience and environmental benefits”.
It’s a good start.
skyblu said
– The very sad fact is that winter access in Yellowstone has been driven by the unfounded assumption that “over-the-snow” travel is the only viable solution. The snowmobile discussion is a rabid diversion, (with valid points to be made,) BUT the question that the NPS firmly refuses to address is “What is the safest and most environmentally sensitive way to visit Yellowstone in winter?”
– Solutions are found only with effort. Banning classes of vehicles while encouraging others fails to address the basic question. Denial of access is the typical NPS approach. There are now turbo diesel busses, (as big as condominiums,) spewing fumes under the current “BAT” guidelines. Such a farce!
– There will sooon be a lawsuit asking for yet another EA & EIS because the NPS failed to address the ‘over-the-snow’ assumption.
– The trapped in the box thinking is partially historical, (always have gone over the snow,) and partially protective, (vehicles on plowed roads are environmentally unfriendly.)
– There are solutions that do not demand subsidising expensive & crass commercial tours by grooming the trails and pretending that animals will be trapped by berms. That’s an idiological constraint that’s outmoded by contemporary tecnology and planning.
– Finally, if the retired park employees are so mad about the way things are going now – why didn’t they do something while they were employeed? On the one hand they bemoan the problem of too much windshield time and on the other they advocate it! They compare pollution to light trucks and cars but advocate inefficient over-the-snow conveyances. Befuddled is their voice.
………………………..skyblu