DOES ACCESS = RIDING SHUTTLES?

Does your definition of access to your public lands include riding in a shuttle car with scheduled pickups and drop-offs?  If not, get used to it, because it's coming.   In fact in Yosemite and Bryce Canyon National Park (and a few others I'm sure) require leaving your car in a parking lot and riding a shuttle to see your public lands.   You can't drive in.  Denali National Park Alaska is another example where unless you’re camping in the park interior, you must ride the shuttle.

Is this bad?  In my opinion, yes.  I was not meant for a cattle car. The US Army used to put me in one 30 years ago and I didn’t like it then, either. But do we have a choice?  At this point, probably not.  Our parks, especially, are just too over-crowded with foreign and domestic visitors.

Some say we should limit foreign visitors who gladly ride shuttles, by the way.   Some say we should have a reservation system that still allows drive-ins for a limited number of folks.  Some say we should just let the parks be crowded and to hell with shuttles. I say I do not envy the public land managers who are left to solve this dilemma.  

Unfortunately, we are at a point where something has to be done, and the National park Service (NPS) is providing shuttles as their solution to the old problem of too many people on too little land.

My rub with the NPS is that this should have been thought of and planned for years ago when folks were predicting our burgeoning population.  They should have found compromises and included users to find better solutions.  Elected officials should have jumped in and funded better road systems or whatever it took to avoid the eventual loss of freedom.

Do I think that the NPS failed in their job?  Mostly, yes.  Instead of counting daisy’s in the meadows, had more planning been conducted and public input sought, maybe there would have been a better solution. But I'm realistic to know that that's hindsight.  We're here now. The day has arrived.  Shuttles are a reality. Get ready for a cattle car ride. Your time is coming too.

For me this drives home the point that we the users and owners of public lands need to be involved at every turn.  We need to insist our elected officials are representing our opinions and keeping our public lands open. We need to be there for our public land managers so this situation does not get worse in the future.

I don't have a magic wand and I don't pretend to know the solution.  However, I do know that these are my public lands and they should be managed in my best interest.   The question begs; are they? If there's any doubt in your mind, get involved to whatever extent you can.  Do not let your public lands become something they were never intended to be; a shrine visited from behind bars (windows). Oh, and before you rag on me, yes, I realize that hiking in is still an option for the hearty. But it can be a long hike from the shuttle stop.

I am not trying to be an alarmist here. There is some reality to our overcrowding condition in the good ole USA. But I hope you will take this as another reason why we all must do our part in helping our land managers and public officials manage our public lands.

Visit my web site for more on how to get involved and what you can do: www.delalbright.com

DEL

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