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  1. #21
    Registered User canoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tipi walter View Post
    knowing the nps and what they did in the smokies despite input and public comments against all-site reservations and against the $4 overnight backpacking fee---yes, the park went ahead and radically transformed the backcountry experience despite what the majority of the public wanted---i'd say this is another attempt to institute and generate permits and overnight fees for the appalachian trail. Remember, the gsmnp experience began with a period of public comments.
    ///exactly////

  2. #22
    Registered User canoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cosmo View Post
    All National Parks are required to have this Foundation Document--yes, likely some politician's idea--but it's not about the fees, and the small piece of the Park Service that is the AT is not the as the part that is GSMNP (the AT is a really big entity, and inevitably it's many parts are going to create some friction).

    There are National Parks you've never heard of, they will need to have Foundation Documents too. The AT is lucky in some regards, there is already a really good body of documentation that defines a lot of what the AT is about--but much of it has been generated internally (by people who are passionate about the AT). I think this might be an opportunity to hear from folks outside the inner circle.

    Public input is important, and a Foundation Document for the Trail that explains for instance, that a key part of the visitor's experience is the freedom to set one's own pace and schedule will help others understand what are the important themes and ideas that underlay what the Trail is all about.

    Submit your comments. Tell your friends to do it too. You can take 5 minutes or 50. Tell the Park Service what the Trail means to you. What threatens it, what could strengthen it. If there are 10,000 comments, it will be understood that this Trail matters to a great many people. When a great many people hold something dear and consider it important, others will pay attention. Don't stand on the sidelines and bitch about it, participate.

    Cosmo
    Get your head out of the sand and quit drinking the coolaid

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by canoe View Post
    Here we go...govment will take over from volunteers and highly regulate the trail with a fee. Its the next step.
    Highly unlikely. the "govment" as you put it in the form of the National Park Service has nowhere near the funds to "regulate the trail." If anything, their reliance on volunteers is increasing, not phasing out.

  4. #24
    Registered User redzombie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I backpack south of the Park and have complained bitterly about the filth in the air and the air pollution in the TN valley which drifts into the mountains. Remember, the GSMNP has the worst air quality of all the parks in the country. I guess the ozone haze is orange so yes, Go Big Orange. They say it's worst than the smog in LA.

    And yes, the Knoxville news regularly issues "Ozone Action Alerts" with a color code advising humans to stay indoors. Crazy. And people wonder why our asthma rates are 6 times the national average or something like that. And here's the craziest thing of all: THE PARK STILL ALLOWS UNLIMITED CAR ACCESS!! It's like the place is run by bonobo apes with diet soda-induced retardation. Too much ingestion of Mt Dew?? Probably. Certainly.

    I've been backpacking in this filth for the last 12 years and it would not surprise me to be diagnosed with some air pollution-caused cancer. "Welcome to the Smokies---The Gateway to Bladder Cancer" ha ha ha but it's not funny anymore.
    I knew about trips and falls, blisters, and all the other hazards to hiking. But air quality while hiking is a new hazard for me. Sigh.......
    "May life be as spiritually rich as it is materially simple" Aboriginal Proverb

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by redzombie View Post
    I knew about trips and falls, blisters, and all the other hazards to hiking. But air quality while hiking is a new hazard for me. Sigh.......
    Funny not 5 min ago I was looking at this, as I'm am in the compromised group.

    http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?acti...enter=0&tabs=0

  6. #26
    Can you dig it?
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    Just so everyone knows, it's very common that different NPS units have about as much in common as....lets say....Texas and Massachusetts.

    Volunteers have been involved with the foundation document since day one, and the folks putting it together made sure that "The empowered volunteer" was a central part of the document's core, along with the 'unrestricted and unregimented" experience available on the AT. Finally, ATC's point of view on fees is well documented on this and other websites.

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