Does Old Rag Need Rec.gov? Tell the NPS tomorrow in Zoom meeting.

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Does Old Rag Need Rec.gov? Tell the NPS tomorrow in Zoom meeting.

Рет қаралды 2,477

Күн бұрын

Officials at Shenandoah National Park will be hosting a Zoom meeting on Monday, April 17 at 7pm (1900 hrs) to discuss the results of their Timed Entry Pilot Program on the park’s popular Old Rag Mountain Trail.
Documents show that the number of daily hikers met the limit of 800 per day less than 10% of the pilot, during the 9 month test period. Moreover, all but one of the days that did reach this number were weekend days, showing that at the very least, this restrictive system needn't be a weekday entrance policy.
The question before public land users is whether such numbers warrant a restrictive entrance system that paid a private corporation nearly $100,000 for the service of providing the reservation portal for just this one trail?
Where does this system stop? How long before these polices spread to other hikes that do not need restrictions. Allowing this pilot program to continue sets a very dangerous precedent for the future of trails on which numbers do not meet the numbers that were predicted.
Here are links to both the Zoom meeting, and to the Pilot Study results from 2022, and just for good measure, a similar "pre-proposal" paper from 2020.
Zoom: us06web.zoom.u...
If the links doesn't work, go to the NPS Meeting Notices link page: parkplanning.n...
Pilot Program Results 2022: parkplanning.n...
Pilot Proposal Study 2020: parkplanning.n...
Those who would like to send a message to their elected representatives in the House and the Senate can now visit the Democracy IO link below, which provides a quick, painless method by which you can find and message your reps in a matter of seconds.
Just go to the link below, as well as the Google Doc linked below that, copy the FLREA Letter to Reps in Google Docs, then paste that into the comment section in the Democracy IO link. This takes less than two minutes, and you'll rest well, knowing that you took action to affect change for the benefit of future generations of our people.
Democracy.io: democracy.io/#!/
Googel Doc - FLREA - Letter to Reps: docs.google.co...
Here is Matt Stoller's November article on the Rec.gov arrangement: mattstoller.su....
Thanks for your efforts.
Be sure to check out the most comprehensive National Park guide ever conceived by the human mind, cruise on over to: parkjunkie.com....
Also, don't neglect the opportunity to stay up to date on Park Junkie's blog: parkjunkie.com/
Oh yeah, I just created a new Substack account dedicated to Public Land Access Issues: The Park Junkie Public Land Press - publiclandpres....
And if you'd like to support our efforts to maintain public awareness of issues that affect our enjoyment of our public lands, consider grabbing some Park Junkie gear for yourself & don't forget your public-land-loving friends, family and associates: park-junkie.my...
Thanks for the support, but most importantly, don't forget to support the future generations of our people, who will inherit our great lands. Let's make sure that these lands belong to them, and not a major corporate interest.

Пікірлер: 32

@gaynel618 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your efforts in reading and disecting NPS documents and alerting us to the zoom tomorrow. I am on Pacific Time. Is the Zoom 7:00 (EST)?

@theparkjunkie Жыл бұрын

Yes, so 4pm for you.

@dmerth Жыл бұрын

Starts in 8 min

@overlandv10 Жыл бұрын

Have done that hike many times in all our years spent in VA. Definitely doesn't seem to add up does it? Appreciate all the effort you are putting into making people aware of this topic!

@Taskerofpuppets Жыл бұрын

The buggers are privatizing from the inside, I tell ya' Todd. Thanks for the update, take care.

@CooksterzLittlefield Жыл бұрын

They really have overreached - Thank you for covering this and showing the data/charts/looks.

@dmerth Жыл бұрын

Meeting start in 10 min on ZOOM. Everyone should attend

@Magic4C Жыл бұрын

Those who Define "Congestion & Enjoyable Hike " are the true Authority...

@dawnsteisslinger353 Жыл бұрын

Hey Todd Shenadoah IS my NP. Live about 30 miles from it. The reason why the entrance only had one ( even though that’s normally the case) is because there was some odd fire there a little ago. They are trying to fix the buildings. Right there at Thornton Gap. Right in the middle building which seemed to affect two of those boxes that rangers are in. I got photo someone charged on our SNP photography page to prove. Very rare and creepy for sure. Talked to the one ranger about it the other day. Hmm I can’t post the photo here BUT I do have if you’d like to see it.

@dmerth Жыл бұрын

In the meeting now. They seem to be avoiding the difficult questions.

@theparkjunkie Жыл бұрын

Yes, they didn't really seem to suggest that they had a real direction in mind, other than to extend the pilot program again. Interesting that they sold 95,444 tickets, but then only counted 86,000 hikers. Thanks for your attendance.

@dmerth Жыл бұрын

@@theparkjunkie would have been nice to have seen more than 36 people attend.

@carlhansen9512 Жыл бұрын

So, if a person finds themselves in a National Park, do they need to "show their papers" to prove they have "permission" to be there?

@Taskerofpuppets Жыл бұрын

Todd, Park Junkie, where’d you go? Miss your updates. Hope you’re alright man. Regards, BT

@dawnsteisslinger353 Жыл бұрын

Oh and yes I disagree about Old Rag as well. Done it once the full thing but am to short w/o help. So I’ve gone from the back side up to the top. I made sure to go up the day RIGHT before free season ended for Old Rag. Was a beautiful day. :) I won’t give em my buck anymore!!

@theparkjunkie Жыл бұрын

Nicely done!

@juanitabrown545 Жыл бұрын

Hi Todd 🙂

@user-gh8sl7iu3y Жыл бұрын

Can’t help but wonder if they are not reaching the limits bc people won’t pay to hike public lands or maybe they’ve never been that crowded. Feels bad that they might price citizenry out of us it the lands then later they close them under the guise that they were not being used then they sell our land, which isn’t theirs to sell, and hi might they sell to? I’m sure it won’t be transparent 🤔

@timwolfers7880 Жыл бұрын

The problem at Old Rag is the log jam of cars at the trail head during busy times.

@theparkjunkie Жыл бұрын

I didn't go into that Tim, but look at the document and it does show stats from the parking lot. They have 3 lots, holding a total just shy of 300 vehicles, 150 of which are held in an overflow lot. The study reports on page 22 that the parking never reached capacity, and only on 47 days during the season did traffic even require the overflow lot. 41 of such days were weekend days. This leaves 234 days during this season that did not even require the overflow lot. That's a lot of leftover parking....

@timwolfers7880 Жыл бұрын

Good to know!

@geogypsytraveler Жыл бұрын

Such BS, but more ammunition against rec gov. Many parks are sadly understaffed, and possibly undergated.

@PatchGirl68 Жыл бұрын

Just using common sense here, I would think the Park has historical entrance records which would have been used in order to establish that threshold number. So to your point what’s the purpose of extending the paid timed entrance fee. Who’s running this pilot program, Booze Allen or the Park Managers? Hmmmm…

@drone_boss Жыл бұрын

BS!!! Keep exposing!

@chuckgmanleyphotos7197 Жыл бұрын

Not following the money grab by Rec.gov. NPS defines access controls, are you suggesting that NPS creates controls to charge a buck simply to bring in $ for the concessionaire? While I’m not familiar with Old Rag, it appears that the presence of a permit by its self reduce visitation? In many instances NPS’ approach for years is out of line with their charter.

@yawndave Жыл бұрын

I imagine the park service would have to incur the cost rangers to enforce this/verify tickets. Seems like it would be just as easy to post someone at the trailhead(s) to keep a headcount and throttle the crowds accordingly.