Must . . . Have . . . PHOOONNNE!!! NPS Preparing 62 Miles Of Cable, 9 Towers In Grand Teton NP
At Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state, park officials plan to hide their new cellular equipment in an attic. At Sequoia National Park in California, a new 138-foot cell tower will be out in the open, but park officials want to disguise it to look like a huge pine tree. And at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, in perhaps the biggest digital expansion of all, park officials ignited a controversy with their plan to install new towers at nine sites, along with 62 miles of high-speed fiber-optic cable, near the park's main roads.
With no nationwide policy to guide them, officials at the National Park Service's 419 sites are finding all sorts of ways to increase their digital connections, hoping to lure more younger visitors. Supporters say it boosts safety and interest in visiting parks.
But critics say it's a big mistake and actually ensures that children will feel more disconnected from nature in the long run. "People should have a right to a no-Wi-Fi zone — there should be places where we're not in contact and reachable," said Richard Louv, a California author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder."
Louv acknowledged that he appears to be on the losing end of the argument with park officials, but he said people should be taught "that connecting to other life is more important than collecting your email." "The big problem is the lack of focus on nature as media, that nature itself is a network, a connection that is every bit as important — and I believe more important — than our electronic connections," he said.
EDIT
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/06/28/stories/1060641217
= new reply since forum marked as read
