St. Joseph’s Prep

Philadelphia, PA
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Teacher: Mr. Conners

The Authority of the National Park Service

Keith Luscinski

One of the most important functions of government is to maintain order in a society.  It is through government that a country stays unified and the rights of the majority of the population are protected.  For any government to be successful, it must take on the responsibility of being a regulator.  Regardless of the way in which the government regulates, there is a fine line between lack of regulation and over-regulation.  Balancing on this line is where the most desired forms of law can be found.  However, as it is impossible to please all of the population all of the time, the best types of existing government lie equally on both sides of the line.

There are both unnecessary laws and legitimate laws within the National Park Service.  This specialized branch of government was set up for the purpose of conserving nature and wildlife for future generations. To fulfill its duties, the Park Service has made laws against the use of vehicles off of established roads and parking areas.  To protect the wildlife, the National Park Service also prohibits walking or hiking off of a trail, because it kills vegetation and causes erosion.  In order to take in enough capital to fund the enforcement of these laws, the parks also charge inexpensive admission fees.  In addition, the parks have specialized fees for activities such as filming within the park.

However, the National Park Service has many laws that are unnecessary and demonstrate its over-regulation.  Although it is justifiable to charge a fee for filming inside a park, it is unreasonable that the park charges $500 a day for a park ranger’s supervision that is required. Another unreasonable law is that along with the admission fee and the money required to buy a camping permit, backpackers also have to pay up to $40 a night for camping in the park. They have already paid for their camping permit, which states they are allowed to camp in the park, and it is pointless that they should have to pay another fee for camping.  One of the National Park Service’s most controversial issues is its prohibition of BASE jumping.  BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth, which are the objects from which BASE jumpers leap off and parachute to the ground below. BASE jumping is a new sport which has been banned in national parks since Yellowstone National Park had a one month trial period with it in 1980.

BASE jumping is just like any other outdoor sport that should be regulated, not banned, by the National Park Service.  One of the reasons that the parks have prohibited the sport is their belief that it destroys the environment.  When the jumpers parachute from cliffs in the parks, they go one at a time.  The maximum number people allowed in a hiking group is 35.  One parachutist compared to 35 hikers does a negligible amount of damage to the environment, because smaller groups do less physical damage than larger groups. In fact, the sport of BASE jumping does almost no harm to the environment.  The part of sports that does the most harm are the structures that the sport requires.  However, BASE jumping does not need any additional structures, like boats need a launch ramp.  Also, BASE jumping does not cause any contamination of the environment, such as air pollution.  While the National Park Service has sufficient reason to prohibit all terrain vehicles and snowmobiles parks, they cannot justify banning BASE jumpers.

Through prohibiting BASE jumping, the National Park Service is also infringing on the public’s rights to pursue happiness.  As long as two people’s desires do not affect each other, they should be allowed to do whatever they want.  BASE jumpers do not decrease tourists’ ability to enjoy the park.  The only time there has ever been a large gathering in a national park due to BASE jumping was at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on October 22, 1999, where there was a protest against the ban of the sport national parks.

Despite many people’s beliefs about BASE jumping, it is actually not a very dangerous.  However, as with all extreme sports, there is some inherent danger in jumping off cliffs.  El Capitan is the Mecca of BASE jumping, from which an estimated 2000 people have parachuted, and yet only two of those have died.  The more recent death was Jan Davis, who died during the demonstration on October 22, 1999.  Davis was one of the most experienced female BASE jumpers in the world, however, when she was making her last jump her borrowed parachute failed to open. It is estimated that only 32 to 45 people have died while BASE jumping, since the sport started in 1980.  Even when Yellowstone had a trial period and nobody was killed, it was ended after one-month because there were too many safety violations.  A simple answer to this problem would have been to just make stricter regulations, instead of completely banning all forms of parachuting in national parks.

The word “parachute” is the root of many debates between BASE jumpers and the National Park Service.  While the National Park Service bans air deliveries in all parts of the parks, the definition of an air delivery only covers parachutes.  The device that BASE jumpers use is actually called a ram-air canopy, which is technically a non powered aircraft.  Ram air canopies are not classified with parachutes because they are rectangular, have steering handles, and are capable of lift, or climbing to a higher altitude.  Other devices like hang gliders fall under this category of non powered aircraft, which are legal in designated parts of the parks.  On top of BASE jumping incorrectly being illegal in national parks, the consequences of getting caught are rather severe.  The fines reach up to $2000 along with the confiscation of all the gear.  In cases like the one involving the death of Jan Davis, the accompanying jumpers were also ordered to pay for the expenses of recovering the body.

A great way to take care of these controversial issues within the National Parks would be to set up a group of elected officials in an assembly like congress.  Only certain people would be allowed to elect the members of this group.  These people would have to apply to become National Park Service voters, and have some involvement in forestry or outdoor recreation.  With this set-up, only informed people would be allowed to vote, and it would take total control away from the National Park Service.

In the National Park Service, there are many costs that come along with regulation.  The Park Service must pay the salaries for all of the park rangers, along with the cost of law enforcement.  However, there are many hidden expenses of the Park Service.  There are advertisements that have to get out to the public to keep the tourism rates up.  Along with the extra people coming to the parks come their trash, so there is extra money that has to be put into cleaning up the park.  The roads also have to be kept in good condition so the tourists are able to get from their home to the parks.

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