Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Laramie, Wyoming

Dear Reader,

Sorry to interrupt the Halloween festivities. But I have urgent–and bad–news to pass on. There’s something you CAN do about it, which I’ll get to in a second. But first the bad news…

Early yesterday morning the management of Rocky Mountain National Park began the formal process for making reservations permanent. The Park posted a 188-page ‘Environmental Assessment’ which outlines four possible management strategies, three of which include a permanent Reservation system, beginning as early as next Spring.

An ‘Environmental Assessment’ is the beginning of the formal process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It means that the Park could make a reservation system permanent next year. So yeah…this is exactly what we feared.

There’s only one sliver of hope.

You get your say. An Environmental Assessment requires the Park solicit public comment on its proposal for permanent reservations (if you recall, the Park has effectively prohibited public comment on its Timed Entry systems the last four years by using a ‘Categorical Exclusion’ to block formal public feedback). Now is your chance to go on record. There are two ways to do it.

First, you can leave a comment on the proposal at this website. The comment period is open until Thursday, December 14th.

I'm choosing Alternative A. This a return to pre-Covid policies, with no reservations required and Park access on a first-come, first serve basis. I’ll show you why Alternatives B, C, and D are even worse than we feared in a second.

The second thing you can do is register to attend a virtual meeting on this proposal. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 8th, from 6pm to 7:30 pm Mountain Time. It will be the only ‘on the record’ meeting where Park officials must take questions from the public specifically about reservations. 

If you want to register to attend next week’s meeting live, you can do so here. 

• Why are Park officials refusing to meet the public in-person to formally discuss this major policy change?
• Why have they given the public six days notice to read a 188-page proposal that will permanently affect how you access public lands?
• Why are their instructions on how to leave ‘useful’ feedback so patronizing and condescending?

If I had to guess, it’s because the management of the Park doesn’t care what the public has to say about reservations or public lands. They’ve wanted to do exactly this since day one. Only now, at this point, the formal NEPA process requires them to ask you if you agree with their ‘alternatives.’

What you say is up to you. This is still America (although it’s pretty discouraging that permanent changes that affect our quality of life are made by people who weren’t elected by anybody and aren’t accountable to anybody). In any case, here are four reasons why Alternatives B, C, and D are WORSE that anything we’ve seen yet in the Timed Entry ‘pilots.' Under the proposal, all of these scenarios are possible (and I would argue, given the Park's behavior, likely at some point)

1. Year Round Reservation Requirements. Three of the 'alternatives' include permanent reservations and give Park management  the right to require a reservation earlier in the Spring and or later in the Fall, or at any time of year. The Park proposes requiring reservations during the holidays and on busy 'winter weekends.' This is an expansion of the current system.  It means Park management could impose reservations at any time of year, for any reason. 
2. All Day Reservation Requirements. All three reservation alternatives give Park management the right to require reservations earlier in the day, or extend them later in the day, at any time for any reason. For example, the Park could require Bear Lake reservations as early as 4AM, or extend the requirement to 5PM or 6PM. 
3. 'Temporary Closures'  The reservation alternatives allow the Park to declare 'temporary closures' of any trail, parking lot or destination for up to 24 hours with no advance notice, for any reason, at any time. 
4. Reservation Fees to Double. In a small footnote in the document, it’s mentioned that reservation fees will go up either 50% or 100% (from $2 to either $3 or $4 to 'pay' for the new reservation system.') Currently, the $2 reservation fee goes to the private company that runs recreation.gov, Booz Allen Hamilton.

Since I last wrote to you I’ve also learned that the ‘no-show’ rate on reservations sold in 2023 is around 30%. It’s been that way each of the last four years. A comprehensive failure.

It confirms our fears that a digital reservation system encourages the hoarding of reservations that go unused–needlessly keeping the public out of the 415 square miles that make up Rocky Mountain National Park.

I wish it was better news. I’d hoped that after the retirement of former Superintendent Darla Sidles this summer, new Superintendent Gary Ingram would press ‘pause’ on making reservations permanent. He could engage with the public in a meaningful way to help find alternatives to the Park’s challenges that aren’t unfair, unnecessary, and undemocratic. 

Sadly that has not happened. If anything, the Park is moving faster to make reservations permanent. A hastily called meeting…virtual only…with a format tightly controlled by the Park so the public input is limited....it’s almost as if the Park’s leaders are embarrassed or scared to engage in a civil debate with the public and be held accountable for their poor planning, opaque process, and their final decisions on how you can access public lands YOU own.

Well they should be embarrassed. And ashamed. The public deserves better. Our National Parks deserve better. They belong to all of us, not just a privileged few who see visitation as the enemy of preservation.

We can do better. Do your best! There’s still hope. Public lands belong in public hands. 

Dan

PS I haven’t given up hope of halting permanent reservations in our National Parks. Three of the proposals outlined in the Environmental Assessment published by Rocky Mountain National Park make reservations possible 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. It’s simply unacceptable that unelected administrators could exercise such massive power over our public lands without any accountability. 

I’ve written to the Congressional delegation here in Wyoming and asked them to urgently convene hearings to investigate both the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management for their recent efforts to demonize visitation to public lands and make it harder and more expensive.

If you want to do the same, go here to find out how to contact your Senators. To send a letter to the person who represents you in the House of Representatives, go here.

Tell them that the National Park Service is undemocratically seeking to make reservations to Rocky Mountain National Park permanent and that this could set a dangerous national precedent that makes public lands harder and more expensive for ordinary people to visit. 

PPS Feel free to share this letter on social media. The more people that write, the better. I’m not on Facebook or Instagram. But pass the word if you feel moved to. You can also tag @RockyNPS on Twitter to let them know what you think.

Let’s let them hear us loud and clear that public lands belong in public hands and that we don’t want National Parks to become private refuges for the rich. 

PPPS Just to be clear...the National Park is proposing that a reservation could be required to enter public lands all day, any day, all year. If you thought you weren't affected because you were a local, you were wrong. This process puts access to public lands in the hands of a private, elite few.

It's no wonder Park officials refuse to stand in front of the public and explain their plan in person. For shame.

PPPPS! The photo at the top is one I took from the small trail above the Alpine Visitor's center after riding up Old Fall River Road right before the last 'Super Moon' in September. Truly a beautiful place and one we must preserve...including fair access for all Americans, rich and poor!