Yellowstone National Park rangers are looking into the story of a Utah man who cross-country skied into the park in November, allegedly armed with a Glock 9mm. The man appears to have camped alongside the Madison River outside of designated campgrounds. He also found some time to enjoy the warm waters of hot springs near Madison Junction, something that also is against park regs.
Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with skiing into the park in winter, and come February 20 it will be legal to take your sidearm into the park if you hold a concealed weapons permit. But the tale Noah Howell tells on his website seems to indicate that he had little regard for national park rules and regulations.
Mr. Howell made the trek sometime in November, entering the park via West Yellowstone. Here's part of the story he tells:
Darkness came after only 5 miles or so. I spooked some large mammals on the road! Yes, I was a little spooked as well, but felt fine continuing. That was until the point where I heard a large pack of wolves having some sort of wild rumpus and they were in the direction of my travel. I set up camp next to the river. It was cold, Yellowstone cold! And the wolves kept howling wildly every half hour or so making for a really restless night. I had borrowed a friends Glock 9mm which provided me with a nice false sense of security.
It certainly sounds like a great adventure, though the rangers might take exception to some of his activities.
Comments
As far as I can tell, all designated Yellowstone backcountry campsites have these tall, fairly obvious sets of tree converted to food hangs. I would think it would show up over 3 feet of show. I was told (and I got lost in the snow before I figured it out when day hiking) that the trails are marked with reflective markers nailed to trees.
However - I looked into winter camping requirements. It doesn't actually state that designate campsites are a requirement as they are during the summer. I guess it does make sense given that the designated campsites might be a little hard to locate with their 3 ft high markers buried. I wonder what it's like if someone accidentally walks/skis/snowshoes over one. There is a restriction of being 100 feet away from any water as well as 1/4 mile away from other campers (I guess they want winter users to be well dispersed).
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/wintertranscript.htm
One of the reasons that so many wilderness travelers have moved away from visiting the National Parks is the over-managed and zealous law enforcement approach to interacting with park visitors. We have a lot of rules and we are not shy about citing our visitors.
The fact is, this type of guy, a true wilderness traveler is our core constituency. These guys get it, and support preservation. They interact with the resource! They climb, hike, bike, run, swim, ride, etc. This can rarely be said of the contemporary National Park Ranger. Let's face it, rangers are not what they used to be. These types of visitors cannot relate to the ranger of today. Today's NPS Ranger thinks this type of visitor is dangerous and reckless. They cannot relate. Most rangers wouldn't think of doing this trip themselves, nor could they. The fact is, very few NPS Rangers have spent more than a few nights sleeping on the ground in their parks, if at all. And, that goes across divisional lines.
We are fat, lazy and without a solid wilderness or land ethic. It kills me to write this, but it is true. Now, that is not to say that we don't still have outstanding "real" rangers, especially in Yellowstone, but not many. The NPS has changed, we all see it, and we cannot relate to many of our visitors. Many of these visitors would never ask a ranger today for advice on such a trip. NPS rangers are not highly regarded as subject matter experts, except in the area of visitor "management." We are not credible, by and large, with very few rangers possessing expert level resource, field and backcountry skills. You know its true...
On the plus side, most NPS rangers are fully aware of the new Windows 7 launch, can cut a leave slip in a blink, blog on the Ranger FOP site and negotiate the cruiser through any fast food drive through.
NPS leadership is dismal, but they should be able to understand this: 1) you must re-commit to teaching agency values; 2) every ranger hired should have a foundation rooted in preservation ethic; 3) managers must understand that "Real Rangers, Range," and make sure it is a organizational priority; 4) if you loose the reputation of the ranger, you have lost the reputation of the agency and 5) stop acting like a faceless bureaucracy, remember who you are and what you stand for...
Nothing in this post should be confused to be non-support for law enforcement - balance is the secret - field judgment the calling card. I say this, having never worked in any other capacity (law enforcement) my entire 30 year career.
As we know, the National Parks are awesome, as is the National Park System. However, the National Park Service and its proud history and reputation has been lost under the management of the contemporary NPS. It is sad, but true. I fully understand why the NPS Retiree group are so angry with this generation. Their fine work was undermined, and we have not been good stewards of our agency legacy.
Anon, there's nothing wrong with "interacting with the resource," but what's wrong with following the regs to do so?
What if instead of just one traveler, this guy brought along five of his friends? What impact would that have on the resource? And if others read his story and thought it was a cool trip, what if they head to Yellowstone to do the same without regard to where they camped or where they swam? What impact would there be on the park's hot springs if folks continued to use them as wishing wells, or if they jumped into every one that was cool enough to enjoy without a scalding?
How many people should be allowed to get away with what he did before it becomes a problem? How much "interacting with the resource" in this form can the resource take?
Look back to the last century and the impacts the at-times-rampant, unrestricted visitation to the parks created. Did you see the car camps in the Yosemite Valley that were displayed in Ken Burns' documentary? Remember the pieces of travertine chopped off Yellowstone's features by souvenir hunters? Remember the handkerchiefs tossed into the park's hot springs? Remember what happened to Fossil Cycad National Monument? It was decommissioned after too many folks "interacted with the resource."
And let's not overlook the pot hunters of the Southwest. How many artifacts can be taken before it becomes a problem?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with venturing into Yellowstone or any other park at any time of year. But there also is nothing onerous about the regs that make it impossible, or even hard, to comply with them.
If you read his blog (I remember seeing this in November but didn't read it closely because I don't usually publish a series of captioned photos in my newspaper), make sure you read the comments. He's admitted to everything, which is a foolish move on his part. When you're being watched, just shut up. Instead, he's given an account (see January 12) that makes me think that he's been hanging out with Gilbert Arenas, as the defense sounds awfully similar in tone.
Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World
As a ranger myself I would never assume the responsibility of determining which subgroup of our American population is our "core constituency" under any circumstance (I prefer to let our constituency sort that out on their own.) On the other hand, a ranger with a more cynical disposition than mine might tend to agree with Mr. 30-years-in-law-enforcement, above, that people such as Mr. Howell might indeed be our core constituency, after seeing so many other visitors suffering from an similar lack of respect for our national treasures.
On the very first day of my NPS career I walked into the ranger station door a mere few hundred yards from where Mr. Howell apparently chose to ignore, well, pretty much everything but his own selfish wishes when he sat in that hot springs at Madison Junction without bothering to educate himself on the particulars. My wish is that my compatriots currently stationed at that same ranger station complete their due diligence in ensuring that Mr. Howell is held accountable for his actions, or at the very least is educated on the issues and regulations so he doesn't do similar damage on subsequent trips. Even if it means that they spend just a few more moments at their computer.