[Geysers] I absolutely agree with Scott Bryan.

[PopcornBabe99]

 Keeping it short: I agree on every point. YNP is NOT McDonald's, NPS.  I don't want the beauty dragged down to the level of people too lazy, spoiled and apathetic to get out and experience the full wonders of the basin for themselves. Also, the boardwalks are wheelchair accessible; I have seen plenty of people in wheelchairs enjoying the basins. One additional: When I worked at Old Faithful, talk had it that there was a thermal feature under one corner of the Laurel dorm; the rooms above it were affected by heat and moisture...mold...? Also, rumored (?) to be thermal features under the Inn itself? Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me. We all know how thermal features can pop up or reactivate.  
And I too am worried about access being limited or restricted. BUT, by the time I left YNP in 2008, the sheer numbers of people doing idiotic things around the boardwalks was way up (anecdotal here) from when I first worked OF in 1990 and 1991. Seriously, I think stupidity might be contagious. But that just argues for letting darwinism have its say (kidding, I think)... Seriously though, isn't there ENOUGH of a problem with the disconnected-from-reality "Disneyland" attitude towards wildlife and thermal features, without even MORE "make it safer" coming along?
It's past time that stupidity quite being rewarded, and education rather than damage control (people's actions-wise) be the focus. Just my two cents (ha'penny post-taxes.)
Kate Parry

--- On Mon, 5/10/10, geysers-request at lists.wallawalla.edu <geysers-request at lists.wallawalla.edu> wrote:


From: geysers-request at lists.wallawalla.edu <geysers-request at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Subject: Geysers Digest, Vol 1749, Issue 3
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
Date: Monday, May 10, 2010, 6:42 PM


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Today's Topics:

   1. Trip report 4-26 to 5-1 UGB (stepheneide at cableone.net)
   2. Re: Old Faithful scoping document (Janet Johns)
   3. Re: Making Comments On Old Faithful Use Plan (Bruce Jensen)
   4. Old Faithful EA (Karl and Lori Hoppe)


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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:32:01 -0700
From: "stepheneide at cableone.net" <stepheneide at cableone.net>
Subject: [Geysers] Trip report 4-26 to 5-1 UGB
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
Message-ID: <1340.1273530721 at cableone.net>
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 9 May 2010 23:15:32 -0400
From: "Janet Johns" <pinkconemtgo at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Geysers] Old Faithful scoping document
To: "Geyser Observation Reports" <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Message-ID: <AEC4B18885C84BBD9C8019224C9ED560 at IBM802FBFDA3DC>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Well Curmudgeon.  I agree.  Where you say scary...so do I.  Resource management and protection in EA's always make me feel scared about my access being denied.  Boardwalks moved back (ie Grotto and Old Faithful) or trails removed (so many I can't even number).   Its why I will write about continuing to see, hear, and smell the geysers everywhere.  I so seldom post here but this will get me to beg and plead with everyone on this list.  If you like our present access to the geyser basin...make it known on the EA by the due date.   No shuttle to Morning Glory....no viewing Grand from the River Bank.  Protection can be by the rangers through education.  As for congestion......well park and walk....and if you can't walk...then maybe a bike or wheelchair will do.  You must make your opinion know with anecdotes.

Janet Johns




From: TSBryan at aol.com 
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 7:40 PM
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu 
Subject: [Geysers] Old Faithful scoping document


The Curmudgeon here. I certainly will submit comments to the "Old Faithful Area Comprehensive Plan" stuff. But here a few items for your thoughts, keyed to the pages of the 4-page "Public Scoping Newsletter May 2010". I provide these thoughts, in part, knowing that some NPS people see this listserv.

Page 1--
-- In the "Dear Friends" column, was it really necessary to cite on five different occasions some form of "resources"? Talk about overkill.
-- And really, have these "resources" ... "provided... human... inspiration for THOUSANDS of years." I mean, really, thousands?
-- In the second column, can we please have a definition of just what comprises the "Old Faithful developed area" within the context of this document? That is, how far does it extend; does it include the boardwalk areas; does it extend as far as Biscuit Basin; or might it end just below the "lower store"?

Page 2--
Under "Why is this Action Needed?"
-- Item #1: I didn't know hydrothermal features could "effect" nearby buildings. But maybe the silica on the Lodge windows qualifies as an "effect" (?).
-- Item #2: Good lord. How many times has this topic been addressed by the National Park Service? It should have been addressed in the 1960s, before the existing road alignments were put in. Now that they are in, and now that the entire area is constructed predicated on the existing alignments, what could happen? I mean, really!
-- Item #3: They have to wait a whole 90 minutes? Oh, golly gee. Could they possibly go look at something else? Oh, yeah; there's a gift shop over there. And is it SO far from the parking lot. [Don't kowtow to the out-of-shape American public, NPS.]

Under "Resources & Concerns"
-- Public health and safety" -- This scares me. More railings in the geyser basins; boardwalk removal?

Page 3--
Under "Visitor Use"
-- "Provide the visitor with opportunities"....: As if these opportunities don't exist now?
-- "Increase visitor understanding...": Gosh, was I wrong in thinking that a big, new (overpriced) multimillion dollar "Visitor Education Center" was to open to the public in this very calendar year? Did they not plan to use it to help visitors understand the area? Why not? Is there in this item an admission of NPS interpretive failure?
-- "Improve vehicle and pedestrian circulation and parking": See page 2, item 2, above. Folks, unless you plan to do a LOT of MAJOR construction and reconstruction, you are many years past correcting this ridiculous situation... a correction that I'm certain would involve cutting [gasp] some trees.

Under "Public Health & Safety"
-- "Address needs of visitors exposed to open and hot conditions and long distances": Well, as with page 2, item 3, above... Maybe this is when they install a shuttle system, complete with refreshment stands at 
Castle, Grotto, and Morning Glory...? Aw, c'mon dammit; this is a national park, and it should be a natural, outdoor area complete with all environmental consequences.

Under Resources
-- "Protect... The fragile and dynamic hydrothermal Upper Geyser Basin": I'm scared, again.

Page 4
"Do you have other ideas......": You bet, but I'll only mention one here: Whittlesey might comment on this, and I'm pretty sure M. A. Bellingham did so a year or two or three ago...The trees in the parking lot below the Old Faithful Inn, which almost completely impede the view from the Inn (even the from balcony) into the geyser basin do not belong there. These trees are not natural, right? What is the justification for allowing them to remain, especially if this whole process is designed (page 1) "to enhance the visitor experience at the Old Faithful area." Let them see the view that was afforded the visitors of a century ago. See attached photo dated 1912.

OK, I'll shut up.

Scott Bryan


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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 07:26:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bruce Jensen <bpnjensen at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Geysers] Making Comments On Old Faithful Use Plan
To: Geyser Observation Reports <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Message-ID: <768273.3377.qm at web112611.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I intend to ask for:
 
* Removal of volunteer trees in front of the Inn
* A Boardwalk to Purple Pools - you never know!
* As you suggest, no reduced access.
* Further positive increases in light pollution reduction
* If time and &&& permit, a downbasin streaming webcam that might capture Grottto, Giant's platform, Riverside, F&M or some combination thereof...only provided it can be done with minimal environmenal disruption.
 
Bruce Jensen
~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
~ Albert Einstein

--- On Sat, 5/8/10, Janet Johns <janet.johns5 at verizon.net> wrote:


From: Janet Johns <janet.johns5 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Geysers] Making Comments On Old Faithful Use Plan
To: "Geyser Observation Reports" <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Date: Saturday, May 8, 2010, 6:24 PM





Thanks Lynn for this very important opportunity.  
 
My comment will be centered on continued access to all upper geyser basin features so that I can hear and see and smell the geysers and additional personnel to give interpretion walks and monitor people usage.
 
What are other people writing?
 
Janet
 




From: Lynn Stephens 
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 10:27 AM
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu 
Subject: [Geysers] Making Comments On Old Faithful Use Plan

There is a short-time frame to make comments.  Deadline is midnight June 7.
 
Here's a direct link to the "scoping newsletter"
 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=111&projectId=31367&documentID=33798
 
This page has links to
 
(1) pdf file with "newsletter" about the Plan
(2) Comments--http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?parkID=111&projectID=31367&documentId=33798
 
I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for people because I think it is really important to provide input.
 
Lynn Stephens



The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy. 



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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 09:21:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Karl and Lori Hoppe <karlori at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Geysers] Old Faithful EA
To: Geyser List <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Message-ID: <218836.11546.qm at web34507.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

According to the newsletter that is accessible from the link that Lynn posted (thank you, Lynn), "this is the time when any interested individual, organization, or agency can provide relevant information or suggestions for consideration in this plan."  (emphasis added)

Is GOSA/the GOSA board of directors planning on submitting input from the geyser community at large?

I will certainly be sharing my thoughts, mostly revolving around accessibility and staffing (and a few trees impeding my view of Lion from the Old Faithful Inn), but wondered if our voice would also be heard via the organization?

Karl Hoppe


      
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End of Geysers Digest, Vol 1749, Issue 3
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