You know how many battery operated saws that are out there? You can pick one up at any pawn shop for under a $100.Originally Posted by No Match
No logic to this theory!
Agreed. And the last thing we need to start doing is outlawing power tools to prevent trailside theft.
Eventually we'll all be forced to pay for parking privileges from the local mafia boss. Pay up, and he'll insure that your vehicle is left alone. He controls/employs most of the criminals anyway, and he'll have one of his guys on patrol to keep rivals off his turf. Sounds great!
Since the Smokies is the most air polluted Park in the country I would hope the NPS would institute a vehicle fee to enter the Park as they do for backpackers.
I doubt they can do this themselves. TN and NC provided funds/land for the creation of the park in return for no entry fees. Don't know the details. If you want fees then perhaps parking. A thru hiker fee can be called a campsite fee. There are lots of car cameras out there. When its bad enough that Park employees, their relatives or area big shots get hit then priorities may change.
https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/whyfree.htm
It's a land deed restriction imposed by TN. It could be changed via legislation I guess, but that seems very unlikely to me.
Additional funding wouldn't solve the crime problem, whether it comes from a hiker fee, car fee, or other source. My catalytic converter is not a priority to anybody but me, certainly not to the park service, or the local sheriff. Even if they caught somebody, I doubt the punishment is a serious deterrent.
If I were to use this parking lot again, knowing that it has become a bit of a crime hotspot, I'd mostly definitely put up a game camera or two. And I liked the suggestion earlier about parking over a puddle - though I was thinking that a dead skunk would work too!
The Smokies had air pollution issues back in the 1990's but that is no longer the case. Air quality has improved dramatically in the Eastern US over the past 20 years. Trust me, I work in the EPA's air quality office.
Sorry for the thread drift.
It's all good in the woods.
I find it hard to believe that air quality has improved anywhere in the last 20 years with the way this world is going, more cars ect. but hopefully I'm wrong...
NoDoz
nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
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I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind
Air quality has improved in the US. Other environmental issues are a different topic. But we've made significant strides there.
NPS rangers do do things like install game cameras & stake out targeted areas to catch repeat crooks. Maybe they've got other, bigger problems. Maybe there is no good reason they don't address this. It's probably 1 or 2 guys doing all the bad stuff.
NPS is prohibited from charging an entrance fee on Newfound Gap Road b/c the Cherokee tribe wants traffic from TN for the casino. That's why that road is plowed all winter.
A businessperson would look at the expense of fee collection vs. the revenue generated but that's not how the NPS works at all.
And I love the idea of outlawing cheap saws to prevent vehicle part thefts. It's like saying let's outlaw guns to stop robberies.
Be Prepared
See the link in post #26 for the real reason why no entrance fee is charged. GSMNP was created in 1934, and the casino wasn’t opened until 1997.
Your term for Japanese cars is offensive
Actually, it's a bit less sinister than that. Per GSMNP's website.....
"The reasons for free entry to the national park date back at least to the 1930s. The land that is today Great Smoky Mountains National Park was once privately owned. The states of Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as local communities, paid to construct Newfound Gap Road (US-441). When the state of Tennessee transferred ownership of Newfound Gap Road to the federal government, it stipulated that "no toll or license fee shall ever be imposed…" to travel the road.
At that time, Newfound Gap Road was one of the major routes crossing the southern Appalachian Mountains. It's likely the state was concerned with maintaining free, easy interstate transportation for its citizens. North Carolina transferred its roads through abandonment, so no restrictions were imposed.
Action by the Tennessee legislature would be required to lift this deed restriction if Great Smoky Mountains National Park ever wished to charge an entrance fee."
Allow me to rephrase: The NPS has been and will be prevented from instituting a fee on Newfound Gap Road by the considerable commercial interests that border the park on each side. The road is plowed all winter as a result of Congressional pressure from these same interests.
Be Prepared
Can you provide a source for your information?
The thread is about traihead crime not about the political possibility of a fee being instituted on the park road. Please stay on topic.
Also, only thing relating to air quality is that the person's cat converter got stolen.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
Drug users and petty thieves are not cutting the cats apart and collecting the interior matrix for recycling. There are plenty of middlemen that convert a stolen cat to a legitimate piece of recycling. Generally its easier to go after the middlemen as once they stop buying them the demand for stolen cats will drop. Copper thefts were a major issue several years ago and the market got knocked down by going after the dealers, copper dealers require sellers to supply ID. Various state police agencies are suggesting that the cars VINs be engraved into cats, as the middlemen are not going to touch something with a VIN on it. Without a VIN, anyone in the chain can claim that they do not know it was stolen but with a VIN its easier to bust someone. Sure they can cut it up or grind off the VIN but the ceramic matrix is somewhat fragile so my guess is most recyclers want them in the case and a ground off case is pretty good clue that its stolen.
I've never had an issue personally and I've left my vehicle at big creek a bunch of times. I will say my friend left a car at maddron bald off 321 and came back to the entire back windshield busted open with a brick laying inside. Guessing some idiot threw it in there. Nothing was taking off the car or from the inside. I am always a little nervous though. I left my car across fontana dam for three days before and was ready to see it in one piece on the last day of the hike that's for sure..
This is new this year...
Back in July (i.e. prior to this posting), I was talking to a local and was asking if things had changed over the years regarding the safety of leaving a car at the Maddron Bald trailhead off 321 given that back in the day, even the Little Brown Book warned about this trailhead. Their basic reply was that they had not been hearing of issues at Maddron, but they had been hearing about Cats getting cut off vehicles left at Big Creek Ranger Station parking lot.
So OPs experience is FAR from unique this year.
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