Dear supporter of Public Lands for the People,
You did it.
Thanks to your support—sharing our petition on social media and through word of mouth with family and friends (or even total strangers)—there are over 2,000 people and counting who believe the public lands belong to the people.
That was our original goal. But it now looks we’ll go much higher than that. Amazingly, the petition has been signed by people from 48 states and the District of Columbia, along with people from seven different countries (Australia, Ireland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and of course the USA).
The word is getting out. And the more people hear about this, the more they believe that this process is unfair, unnecessary, and undemocratic. They want their voices heard, and to be treated as an equal partner in the management of public lands.
On Sunday we met with Congressman Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s Second Congressional District (where RMNP is located). The Congressman also serves as the Chair of the US House Subcommittee on national parks and public lands. He was very gracious to give us some of his time and not only listened to our concerns, but asked a lot of questions to gather more information.
He agreed to review our research and your signatures and try to get answers to the questions we’ve submitted via our Freedom of Information Act request. I'll keep you posted when I hear back from him (which I hope will be soon).
In the meantime, the second public meeting in which you can directly ask the Park your questions is tomorrow, Tuesday the 25th, from 2pm to 3:30pm Mountain Time. You can register to attend that presentation by clicking on the link below. You’ll be emailed instructions on how to attend tomorrow.
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2324908955266371342
If you attended the presentation on Tuesday and would like to leave a comment, you can do so at the link below. The Park has said you have Until July 19th to submit a comment. That’s only 56 days from today.
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=100042
It makes no sense to set a deadline for public feedback during the middle of a second ‘pilot project’ that won’t end until the middle of October. How can the public provide useful feedback when the Park hasn’t even provided the source data for its decision yet?
And how can you provide feedback on a system that most people have even used yet (this year’s restrictions go live on Friday, May 28th)? This suggests to me that the Park has already made its decision. I hope that's not the case.
I went into Thursday’s meeting with an open mind. We all love the Park. We all want to preserve it for future generations while making sure that Americans in 2021 can enjoy the wonders of a truly special place.
What's more, you can tell that everyone working with the Park also cares deeply about conserving one of America’s most beautiful places for the future. Their passion is evident and admirable.
That leads me to a quick point: this is not about the employees and volunteers of the Park. They did a heroic job in the last twelve months, during one of the most challenging periods in Rocky’s history. Between Covid-19 and the historic East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires, the Park’s Rangers, employees, and volunteers, should be commended for their outstanding work. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
What struck me the most about Thursday’s slide show is how much your perspective on an issue affects your opinion. Much of the Park’s presentation was centered on how high visitation numbers present a challenge for them operationally. They see the overwhelming enthusiasm from the American public as an over-crowding problem. And they assume that because so many people are coming to the Park, those people must be having a negative e experience with so many others around them.
That’s not what I see. When I see long lines of people waiting to get into the Park, or to walk around Bear Lake, or to drive over Trail Ridge, I see tens of thousands of unique and positive visitor experiences that are about to happen. I see people who can't wait to be in the Park for the exact reason the system National Park System was created in the first place: the betterment of public health, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
If the Park Service has actual complaints from people who will never come back because of over-crowding, we deserve to see those. We deserve to see all the information they're basing their decisions on. Their summaries of that information are not enough, given that they're asking for a permanent change in the way the public accesses public lands.
Until we see that information, I firmly believe the worst visitor experience is the one that never happens because someone can’t get in to the Park at all. Instead of turning people away because they couldn’t get a reservation, the Park should be welcoming the public with open arms.
Instead of seeing record numbers as a negative and a threat, we should celebrate the fact that a year after a deadly pandemic claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and affected each and every American, we can now get back outside to retreat, recharge, or just recreate. Now, perhaps more than ever in American history, public lands need to be available to the people, without restriction.
Do we need to ensure that these precious and magnificent resources are preserved and maintained for future generations? Absolutely! But the last thing we should do is restrict access and create a negative visitor experience of not getting in. This solves nothing and creates ill will.
The more people from around the state, the country, and the world see what a special place Rocky Mountain National Park is, the more they'll care about its future. That will make them better stewards of the Park and it's natural and cultural resources. And the NPS will have millions of new allies to keep Rocky Mountain National Park, accessible and pristine for the future. We can even help them lobby for more the funding and resources they badly need.
The public wants to be part of this in a real way, not just for window dressing as part of a cumbersome bureaucratic Federal process. It’s unfortunate that the Park’s leadership has decided to make decisions first and ask for feedback later. This is backwards and wrong.
I sincerely hope Representative Neguse, as an elected official who now sees how much his constituents care about this, can exert some political pressure to slow this process down and open it up. We deserve more information and more genuine collaboration, with the public as an equal partner in the future of our public lands.
At the very least, the Park should schedule another NEPA meeting in December to assess the results of this year’s restrictions and present the data to the public for review.
Until then, keep speaking up for yourself. Leave your comments with the Superintendent. If you have the time, attend tomorrow’s event and ask your questions.
And please keep sharing this message. Something positive is building here. And though it might seem like it’s taking a long time, we can and will make a difference if we keep trying. What happens in Rocky may set the stage for what happens to public lands all of the country. Let's keep pushing.
Until next time,
Dan
PS Above is a picture of Rock Cut on Trail Ridge Road. The best kept secret in Rocky Mountain National Park, if you ask me, is that for about ten days in late May every year, you can ride your bike or hike along this road without any traffic. The road is closed to cars from Rainbow Curve to Rock Cut on the East side. If you’re coming from the West side, you can get all the way up to Milner Pass.
Riding our mountain bikes up today (with my brother) we saw dozens of people enjoying a one-of-a-kind visitor experience. Bright sunshine with bluebird skies and snow-capped mountains. Hikers, bikers, and even a few dogs on the leash…old, young, and in between…men, women…locals and people visiting from foreign countries. Everyone was having an outstanding visitor experience. Because they were in the Park, without a reservation, enjoying it as it was meant to be enjoyed.
Those of us who live in Estes Park, or on the Front Range, are truly privileged. The Park is our back yard. And in truth, we can work with (or around) a reservation system, even if it becomes permanent.
But for the millions of future visitors who can’t--who may only be here for a few hours or days--and will be turned away, or who won’t have the time, money, and leisure to ‘plan’ for a special experience, we need to keep fighting so that this is available for every American, regardless of how much money they have or where they’re from.