Dear defender of public lands,
Good news and bad news this week. And I should warn you, I'm as angry and disappointed as I've ever been throughout this whole process. I'll show you why--and what you can do about it--in a second.
Let’s start with the good news...
Yesterday we got final approval and our permit to have more than 25 people demonstrate on Saturday, July 3rd, from 11am to 12pm at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center for Rocky Mountain National Park. Consider this your invitation to join us.
Originally, the plan was to present the petition on July 4th to celebrate Independence Day. We’ll still present the petition (which should hit our target of 5,000 signatures by then). And we’ll still celebrate. But Saturday seemed like a better day for anyone living and working on the Front Range who wants to join us.
We hope that’s you!
And if you can’t join us, tell one friend who can! We want to see you there. Bring your USA flag, and proudly wear your red, white and blue, and be heard. What exactly is going to happen?
Two main things. First, we’ll meet at the Rocky Mountain National Park Entrance sign (pictured in this update) at 10:45am. We’ll take a quick picture with our signs for any media present. Then we’ll convoy to the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center to hand over our petition to the Rangers manning the information booth.
Then I’m going to formally call on Superintendent Darla Sidles to resign for her handling of this year’s temporary reservation system and the long-term restriction process she’s begun. Which brings me to the bad news.
Late yesterday afternoon, as I was writing this note to you, I received a note from the Freedom of Information Officer at the National Park Service handling our request for more information about how approval was sought and granted to purse long-term restrictions.
That request was made 84 days ago, on April 8th. There are only 20 days left for the public to submit feedback on the Superintendent’s plan to introduce permanent restrictions on access to public land. It's impossible to give constructive feedback or 'informed consent' when you don't have all the information privately used by the Superintendent to introduce restrictions.
My expectations were low. But I was shocked with how little information was supplied. It appears the entire decision to re-introduce restrictions this year, and then every year after under a permanent plan, was made on the basis of seven emails.
That’s it. Seven emails.
I expected (and asked for) formal or informal proposals that were submitted for internal review and moved up the chain of command at the NPS and the Department of the Interior. I assumed no major and permanent changes to Park access would be made without a more formal process or internal discussion.
I was wrong. But just to be sure, I asked if there would be further documents forthcoming, as specified in my original request on April 8th. I was told this was the ‘final response’ to my questions.
Seven emails. Permanent restrictions on access to Rocky Mountain National Park. And a precedent the NPS can use to roll out similar restrictions across the country.
It's outrageous. And totally unacceptable. And frankly, incompetent. What can we do to stop it?
Later this week I’ll be publishing all the files that were made public. I can tell you now that there’s no master plan, based on data, science, or balancing the public’s rights with conservation.
Under the Superintendent’s leadership, the Park hierarchy appears to be making it up as they go along. They have little regard for public opinion, much less for transparency and accountability in government.
The Superintendent should resign immediately over her handling of this process. We’ll have more to say on that later in the week. I’ll send you a link where you can download the files and read them for yourself. They also include the Park’s internal survey of employees and volunteers on last year’s restrictions. I think you’ll be surprised at some of the candid remarks.
We’ve played by the rules and followed all the processes and sought more information, more dialogue, and genuine engagement in a civil, courteous, respectful manner. And we got seven emails and four spreadsheets.
The Superintendent isn’t asking if you want a fundamental change to public land rights. She’s telling you what’s going to happen. The decision was made in January, behind closed doors. And neither she nor any local, state, or national elected officials seem to care what you think.
It’s time for us to take more direct action to make our point and stop this madness. The more people experience these restrictions—visitors and locals alike—the more they agree they are unfair, unnecessary, and undemocratic.
It’s time to force some accountability from the Superintendent and those going along with her attempt to fast-track permanent restrictions, who day by day are making Rocky Mountain National Park harder and more expensive to enjoy for every single American.
We’ll have more to say Friday. Until then, please continue to share our message with anyone who cares about public access to public lands. And we hope to see Saturday for our Freedom Convoy! We want to peacefully celebrate the spirit of Independence Day by reminding the Superintendent, her superiors, and our elected officials that public lands belong to the people!
Until then,
Dan
PS This is in no way an attack on the National Park Service or its many dedicated and capable volunteers and employees. They continue to do an outstanding job with limited resources and poor leadership from the Superintendent.
This IS a criticism of the Superintendent’s tone-deaf leadership on making a fundamental change to the way public access public lands without truly including the public. Throughout this process, the communication from her has been dismissive of public opinion. It smacks of arrogance and entitlement. You deserve better. All of us do.
We think there’s a solution out there that preserves the wonderful natural resources of Rocky Mountain National Park without cutting off public access. You love your National Park. And you are not loving it to death. That’s just a meaningless emotional phrase designed to shut down debate. And shut you up.
It’s time for a Superintendent who will treat the public AND the Park with the respect they deserve. That’s the message we’ll be putting out Saturday. I hope you can join us!
PPS There was a wonderful opinion piece published in The Boulder Daily Camera earlier this month that I urge you to read and share. It’s by Christina Woodall. You can read the full piece here. Here was one quote I thought hit the nail on the head about why this issue matters to so many Americans (and others from around the world!) like you:
This is now an elitist, discriminatory and social justice issue (denying access to public lands based on internet access, regular scheduling of work hours, extra money for the extra fees, etc.) that should be stopped now before it becomes entrenched in the power play of those who forget they only manage our lands; they don’t own them.
These are our public lands. We shouldn’t have to win a lottery for the golden ticket to walk, bike, hike or drive within our national public lands — or to even spontaneously and freely journey to go and sit on a boulder on top of the world, take a deep breath and reconnect to the spirit of our lands and her soul-nourishing carpet of life.
We should not be forced to pay more, pray for the golden ticket and worse — be denied our already-paid-for heritage of ownership in the American Dream.