Basejumper.com - archive

Dear Mr. Felber,

Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to
the prohibition of BASE jumping in National Parks. I appreciate
the opportunity to respond.

According to the National Park Service (NPS), BASE
jumping "is not an appropriate public use activity within national
park areas" and is therefore prohibited under federal law. This
NPS regulation has been challenged in court on many occasions,
and in 2000 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the
NPS can prohibit dangerous activities.

I appreciate your passion for this activity, and I will keep
your views in mind should legislation dealing with this issue come
before the House of Representatives.

Once again, thank you for you correspondence. I hope you
will contact me on other issues of importance to you. In the
meantime, I encourage you to visit my website at
www.house.gov/calvert.


Sincerely,

Ken Calvert
Member of Congress

I am a new resident of CA, moving here in April 2004 from Phoenix, AZ to open an office for my company. I am an avid skydiver and newbie BASE jumper and am quite surprised to see BASE jumping outlawed in our National Parks. I have heard many reasons for not allowing BASE jumping, but none of them seem to make much sense. Reasons like noise, damage to the environment, rescue efforts, danger to self and others clearly do not hold up when exposed to scrutiny. Hikers are the number one liability as far as rescue efforts go and it's not outlawed or restricted. Off-road vehicles surely do much more damage and create far more noise and it's not outlawed. As for the inherent dangers of BASE jumping, climbing and rope jumping are not outlawed and they are at least as dangerous.

With the continued technological development in BASE jumping and the recognition of risk by BASE jumping participant's, BASE jumping has become a fairly safe sport. At Bridge Day, where over 600 jumps are made in a single day with an NPS permit we have experienced a very, very low incident of injury.

The restriction of BASE jumping in National Parks motivates some individuals to cross the lines of the law in a quest to participate in their desired sport. They end up trespassing on private property such as antennas or buildings to do this, however if these same people could drive to the beautiful cliffs in northern CA for instance there would be far less reason for this dereliction.

Already other states have made BASE jumping legal on their public lands; look at AZ and UT for example. Have these states cost of existence increased due to this? I think not! As a matter of fact, they have probably been able to reduce their expenditure by reducing the additional policing and enforcement of these laws. Legalizing BASE jumping in the National Parks could even increase federal, state, and local revenues by enabling them to establish organized events and annual permits.

BASE jumpers are not a bunch of hoodlums running around trying to kill themselves and endanger the public. We are actually a group of educated, successful, financially responsible individuals who enjoy participating in an extreme sport; much like snowboarding, motor sports, rock climbing, or hang gliding. Take stock car racing for example. This activity evolved from outlaw liquor runners to a very lucrative and highly profitable sport that benefits spectators, participants, and the communities in which the events are held. Please assist us in bringing BASE jumping over the line.

Best regards,
Tony Felber