Outdoors and Nature

I worked in some of the American National Parks for about a decade before leaving at the beginning of the pandemic. Even before I left, I watched “permanent” glaciers melt in Yosemite’s high country, and had each of my seasons in the high country get cut shorter and shorter by wildfires.

From 2011 to 2020 (most of this time in Yosemite) I watched as van life influencers and climbers flocked to the park for photo opportunities and to party - leaving litter and crushed vegetation in their wake, as well as turning the rock walls into greasy, polished flat granite from over climbing.

I watched an even more evil corporation take over the reigns of the concessions and hotels in the park and put all sorts of “greenwashed” language all over the shitty food halls and cheap plastic tchotchkes in the stores. The National Park Service is complicit in all of this too as they sign off on everything that the concessionaires do in the park.

I saw tourists throw styrofoam food containers out their windows in the valley, and even saw a family feeding a coyote leftover Taco Bell that they brought into the park in their car.

Many sections of employee housing were crushed by rockslides and trees falling under the weight of heavy winter snow while I was there, so the workers are squeezed 3X3 or 4X4 into tiny tents to live inside the valley, instead of the park service or the concessionaire investing in dorms outside of the park.

This summer I’ve been hearing from my friends who are still there and reading reports of endless traffic jams in the valley, people driving on meadows, and people waiting for four to six hours in line at the the gates only to be denied entry because then park has reached capacity, then having a meltdown at the gate worker.

I have a constant feeling of dread when I think about it and personally think that the only solution is to either close off some of the parks for years to restore and reconfigure, or at the very least severely limit the amount of people who are allowed to enter annually.

Does anybody have any thoughts or ideas?

Since summer is coming up I thought it’d be a good time to let people who may not know that the National Parks Service offers lifetime passes for people with permanent disabilities.

ADHD falls under the guidelines for a disability, and as such you may qualify for this offer. You can get your pass online for a $10 processing fee, or for free at any National Parks ticket booth. You will need to provide proof of your disability, so either medical records, or a doctor’s note.

I’ve heard anecdotal stories that sometimes you can just sign an affidavit at a ticket booth, or show your meds, too. I recently applied online and had my pass mailed within 2 weeks.

This is such a great opportunity to make use of. Personally, being in nature is the only time I’m mostly free of my symptoms, and I plan to basically live in National Parks this summer!

Edit: a link would probably be helpful

Edit 2: this is for US citizens only unfortunately Pretty typical I forgot these important details.

Backpacher magazine filed a FOIA and was given 17 years worth of records, across all National Parks. With that data, they produced this well-written piece that is worth the read.

A conclusion: "

The Average Victim in the National Parks…

Is more likely to be male than female: While men and women make up approximately equal portions of national park visitors, men accounted for 80 percent of deaths in national parks where authorities recorded the victim’s gender.

Can be almost any age: Members of all age groups were represented similarly among fatalities. (The exception? Children under 14, who made up a smaller share of deaths than other groups.)

Drowns or dies of natural causes: Drowning was the most common cause of death for visitors up to age 55, after which medical issues surpassed it."