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Grand Canyon to change 'unfair' permit system
LufkinDailyNews.com ^ | 11/22/09 | Unknown

Posted on 11/23/2009 10:13:46 AM PST by originalbuckeye

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The National Park system goes global. Now anyone in the world will have equal access to permits for camping in the Grand Canyon. Being an American is quickly becoming unimportant to have an advantage in our country.
1 posted on 11/23/2009 10:13:46 AM PST by originalbuckeye
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To: originalbuckeye

Sometimes I think I’m in a Philip K. Dick novel and my country has ceased to exist, and everyone forgot to mention it to me.


2 posted on 11/23/2009 10:16:06 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Play the Race Card -- lose the game.)
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To: originalbuckeye

So, we the taxpayers have to let the other citizens of the world get their chance at our national parks? Thanks Barry.


3 posted on 11/23/2009 10:16:28 AM PST by caver (Obama's first goals: allow more killing of innocents and allow the killers of innocents to go free.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Allocate a certain percentage of permits to US citizens and have a fax/email reservation system that divvies up those permits. Reserve a smaller percentage for international visitors and let them have a separate lottery. Problem solved.

The current system is unfair in that it is much easier for an Arizona resident to get a permit than one from Indiana. The tour companies have utilized this to their advantage.


4 posted on 11/23/2009 10:19:38 AM PST by Steve_Stifler
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To: caver

They already do something like what is being proposed for the rafting permits through the Grand Canyon.


5 posted on 11/23/2009 10:20:20 AM PST by bagman
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To: originalbuckeye
I'm struggling to understand why there is a limited permit system at all. Would there really be significant "damage" by allowing 20,000 people in each year? 30,000? Where else does one have to get a limited edition permit to go into a park?

What am I missing?

6 posted on 11/23/2009 10:22:51 AM PST by SW6906 (6 things you can't have too much of: sex, money, firewood, horsepower, guns and ammunition.)
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To: originalbuckeye

This country is going down the crapper.

Thanks libs. :D


7 posted on 11/23/2009 10:24:26 AM PST by Tzimisce (No thanks. We have enough government already. - The Tick)
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To: SW6906

Park rangers need to account for the people coming in and out of the canyon. They can only handle so many.


8 posted on 11/23/2009 10:25:34 AM PST by marvlus
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To: marvlus

Of course the Sierra Club seems to have a privileged position for their tours.


9 posted on 11/23/2009 10:27:12 AM PST by Oldexpat
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To: marvlus

Park rangers need to account for the people coming in and out of the canyon. They can only handle so many.


Nanny park.


10 posted on 11/23/2009 10:27:38 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed (“Personal freedom begins when you tell Old Mrs. Grundy to go to Hell.” -Lazarus Long)
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To: originalbuckeye

No Trespassing!


11 posted on 11/23/2009 10:29:44 AM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, then writes again.)
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To: originalbuckeye

“Get off my lawn!”


12 posted on 11/23/2009 10:33:30 AM PST by ladyvet (WOLVERINES!!!!!)
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To: marvlus
Park rangers need to account for the people coming in and out of the canyon. They can only handle so many.

So figure out how many people a ranger can handle (A), then how much it costs to keep a ranger on the payroll(B). Compute C = B / A. Add C to the cost of the permit, and hire as many rangers as needed from the fees paid.

13 posted on 11/23/2009 10:41:50 AM PST by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
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To: ladyvet

That’s the feeling I get when I go to certain parks, especially Yosemite. You get that attitude that every step you take damages something on the ever growing list of critically endangered somethings and that it’s better that human beings not even tread there.


14 posted on 11/23/2009 10:44:07 AM PST by AlmaKing
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To: SW6906
I have the same questions. I think this is a very unpopular position (especially after everyone in the whole country lauded Ken Burns' series on the National Parks) but here goes:

The idea that places of beauty might be privately owned and privately exploited was anathema to certain people in the government. Why should a place like Yosemite or the Grand Canyon be in the hands of only a few? Shouldn't ALL the people have access? And so the government set aside millions of acres so that ALL the people would be able to visit.

And then they limited the number of campers to 11,500 a year.

If a private company owned camping rights to the Canyon, a heck of a lot more than 11,500 people would have the pleasure. But the do-gooders efforts at making this something for ALL the people is a primary reason why it is available to so few.

Much of our country is empty. Why? Well, that's not a lot you can do with some of it. Opening up those lands to the public will NOT result in 5 million people camping in the Grand Canyon next Tueaday.

I see the National Parks as an exclusionary effort whereby the rabble are blocked and the elite get privileges. It's an indication of a feudal society. [/rant]

15 posted on 11/23/2009 10:47:37 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Play the Race Card -- lose the game.)
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To: Steve_Stifler
The current system is unfair in that it is much easier for an Arizona resident to get a permit than one from Indiana.

Yeah, but on the other hand, folks in Indiana have a much easier time getting into the James Dean museum in Fairmount. :-)

16 posted on 11/23/2009 10:52:43 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: ClearCase_guy

Reminds me of the scene from the movie “Into the Wild”, where Alex asks about where he should launch his kayak into the river and the park ranger informs him that he needs a permit and and by the way, the next available permit is in 8 years.

hearing this, Alex just takes his kayak, atop a shopping cart, and launches without permission and evades the “River Police” all the way down to Mexico.


17 posted on 11/23/2009 10:53:13 AM PST by IDRATHERNOT
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To: originalbuckeye
I managed to do a twofer during April in late 60s. Not too crowded then at that time of year. An easy hike in and out and two nights camping in Havasu Canyon, where the Havasupai still live, and a harder trip and overnight to Bright Angel campground below the park visitor's center.


Havasu Falls

18 posted on 11/23/2009 11:02:16 AM PST by caveat emptor
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To: originalbuckeye

Being in a 120 degree hole is not my idea of fun. We’ll make a stop at the gift shop, take some pictures, and maybe even hock some loogies over the side of the canyon rim - then its off to Lake Tahoe or Vegas baby, yea!!!.


19 posted on 11/23/2009 11:10:39 AM PST by NavyCanDo
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To: bagman

“They already do something like what is being proposed for the rafting permits through the Grand Canyon.”

Yeah, I had to wait almost 9 years to get a permit to raft the GC. It was worth the wait. 21 days, greatest white water. The commercial trips of 7 days are good, but rowing your own boat is a once in a life time experience.


20 posted on 11/23/2009 11:15:07 AM PST by stubernx98 (cranky, but reasonable)
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