Re: [RhondaLea] ABP: Draft NPS Management Policies Document Unveiled - WE'VE BEEN BLESSED!
In reply to:
Edited to add: What Gardner seems to be counting on is this:
(3) Delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.
The question is, will NPS issue a base permit to anyone, ever?
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What the ABP is counting on is the already-stated and published word of Interior Department assistant secretary P. Lynn Scarlett and NPS director Fran Mainella, who have made clear assurances in a July 1, 2004 correspondence to Congressman Tom Tancredo that backcountry parachuting
will in fact be given a fair hearing and a place at the table in the backcountry management planning process. Moreover, NPS Intermountain Region director Steve Martin (whose territory includes most jumpable NPS units other than Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia) stated in an email sent last year to all of his superintendents that, “
It has come to our attention that some of you have recently received letters from the Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists requesting that they be involved in any existing or future planning efforts with a stated goal of ultimately permitting their activity in your respective parks. In addition to their letter, you should have received a copy of a July 1, 2004 letter to Representative Thomas Tancredo (R. Co.) from assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget P. Lynn Scarlett which addresses this issue on behalf of the National Park Service. I agree that it is appropriate for parks to encourage all citizens who have an interest to participate in our planning processes. Responding to this group, and inviting their participation in any current or upcoming planning exercises is appropriate and encouraged.” (See the ABP chronology section for details and links to the letters archive at:
http://www.backcountryparachutists.org/chronology.php).
Thus are we not ‘back to the way it was prior to 2001’ as was blankly stated above... we are far, far beyond the pre-2001 hostility that stalled progress for so many years. In the course of fighting for access, the ABP has nurtured relationships within the NPS: from unit-level managers right to the very top, and even within NPS’s mother agency DOI. And we’re beyond the need to rewrite 36 CFR 2.17, which does in fact allow parachuting pursuant to the terms of a permit which can be issued routinely on a pro forma basis without an application process of any kind. NOTE: Many jumpers may not be aware of the fact that overnight hiking in the Yosemite backcountry (and most other NPS units where wilderness is a concern) is also PROHIBITED EXCEPT PURSUANT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF A WILDERNESS PERMIT - it's just that you get your permit by walking up to a window and asking for it (or reserving it online). The permitting process is used as a management tool so NPS knows:
a) how many people are in the backcountry at any given moment;
b) who they are;
c) where they generally are and where they are going;
d) when they plan to return, and;
e) to provide an avenue for the NPS to dispense basic backcountry information and last-minute advisories to backcountry users.
Consequently, there is now nothing within the current regulations that we cannot live with nor work through; it is now up to the ABP to work with individual NPS units to establish a means by which backcountry parachuting can be integrated into a given unit's overall backcountry management plan. The details of this integration will vary from unit to unit but the path is now open - policy-wise and regulation-wise - for us to work with (instead of fight with) NPS to gain and maintain the fair access we have sought since Carl Boenish first filmed backcountry parachuting from El Capitan.
And while the ABP moves ahead with its ongoing initiatives already underway within several jumpable NPS units, jumpers motivated to do some writing can do two things right now:
a) send in comments supporting the deletion of the policy prohibiting backcountry parachuting AND THANKING NPS for ending its institutionalized access discrimination against backcountry parachutists (please note that when it comes to national parks and other areas, it's ‘backcountry’ jumping we're talking about, NOT "BASE" jumping – backcountry has a very specific bureaucratic and management connotation – so it is important to remember that we are backcountry parachutists when we are talking to backcountry managers); and
b) send a note to Congressman Tom Tancredo thanking him for his efforts on our behalf - and perhaps make some showing of support for his re-election campaign (even $5 is a nice gesture).
If you want to get more involved, please go to the ABP website (www.backcountryparachutists.org) and either join the organization as a bronze, silver or gold member, or become a RAM (research action member) and help us as we move on to the next step - dealing with individual units to gain fair access in exchange for responsible use of jumpable cliffs in U.S.national parks, monuments and national recreation areas.
More from the ABP soon.
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