Call of the wild in Yellowstone

[Ithaca 37]

"The call of the wild?
Ah, the sounds of Yellowstone: the rush of a snow-fed mountain stream; the rustle of a breeze through a stand of lodgepole; the distant call of a loon, a coyote or a wolf.
And the ring of the cell phone.

The National Park Service isn´t obligated to provide a wireless experience — so it should stop scarring the landscape of the nation´s most beautiful places with unsightly cell phone towers.

A government employees´ group is giving the feds some much-deserved static over a 100-foot cell phone tower overlooking Old Faithful. Yellowstone National Park has five cell towers and is one of at least 15 national park units with the towers.

Enough already. Some places are supposed to be beyond cell phone range — that´s part of the appeal.

Granted, this isn´t a black-and-white issue. Park Service officials say cell phones help rangers do their jobs and can allow visitors to get help in an emergency. And it´s not the park rangers´ job to crack down on the use of a technology just because it´s annoying — although we reserve the right to roll our eyes if we overhear some yahoo phoning friends back home as Old Faithful´s about to erupt.

There´s a place to draw the line: the park boundaries. No more towers in the parks."

What do you guys think?

 

[Hangar18]

This is a catch-22 IMO. On one hand, communications technology that could save a life should be utilized if it is available. Public safety must be considered where people converge, especially at this magnitude. Cell technology is already in place and cost effective to use in the park because it is nationally standard, whereas developing a less visually intrusive system would not be.

On the other, these things are annoying as hell in almost any setting. Cell towers don't belong in the wilderness or national parks. I can see how this would ruin the experience of Yellowstone for some.

Because national parks are set aside for the people's enjoyment, I have to take public safety over annoyance.

 

[Ithaca 37]

I agree. They just have to camoflage and conceal the towers as much as possible.

 

[Hangar18]

Since they complain about the thickness of the exhaust smoke from snowmobiles in the winter, maybe they could let one idle at the bottom of the towers all summer. Then you wouldn't be able to see them or hear the phones ring lol

 

[Ten Bears]

LMAO
Safety over scenery

 

[ELKCHSR]

HAHAHA!!!That works for me...These people on a general rule think that they have to be covered 100% of the time, so there are just some things they have to live with...Tit for Tat....