More cell towers in Yellowstone?  E-mail
Written by Dave Burdick   
Wednesday, 03 May 2006

There's a thing here somewhere. Yellowphone. Cellowstone. I don't know. But the point is, Yellowstone National Park officials are looking at what their spokesman calls "an environmental assessment for wireless communications."

The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) nabbed some documentsCellphonestone via that pesky Freedom of Information Act that showed that park officials had contacted a few telecommunications companies asking for ideas. No harm in asking for suggestions, I guess, but who wants cell towers in national parks?
 
Frankly, I'm okay if nobody can call me while I'm in the park. They should have just come with me in the first place.
 
And it's not as if there's no reception there now -- just spotty. The photo, by the way, is a tower that Yellowstone put up not too far from Old Faithful about five years ago.
 
Here's the AP story at CNN.com.
 
And here's the excitingly-titled "TELECOMS’ SECRET PLAN TO WIRE ENTIRE YELLOWSTONE PARK" press release at PEER's site. I'm getting shivers!

Comments (2)add
...
written by Guest , May 03, 2006
the point of having wireless within a national park would seem to be for emergency cases. not everyone own's/affords a satellite phone or an emergency beacon. imho
...
written by Guest , May 03, 2006
It's not as if there's NO reception now. Also, there are land lines all over the place, and if you're a responsible hiker/camper, you've got at least one other person with you, maybe more. The digital age doesn't excuse us from using common sense when it comes to bears.
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Dave Burdick
About the author:
Dave Burdick is a New York-based writer and comedian. He's currently pursuing an MS in journalism at Columbia University, performing in the city whenever and writing about being a big dummy at daveburdick.com.
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