Cellphones in the wild: Pros and consof national park cell tower plan

Mount Rainer is a national park located in the state of Washington. Photo from Wikimedia.

Paradise is a famous site in Mount Rainier National Park. It is a popular stop forvisitors. The area sits on the slope of Rainier, a 14,410-foot-tall volcano. It is oneof the snowiest places on Earth. Soon, this area might be wired for cellphoneservice.

Three cellphone companies -- Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T -- want to place awireless antenna on the visitor center at Paradise. Park officials have looked intothe plan. They wrote an environmental assessment about the proposal. This reporttells the pros and cons of the plan.

The proposed antenna would give cellphone coverage in the area. The coveragewould not reach the top of the mountain, though.

By The Guardian, adapted by Newsela staff on 06.16.17 Word Count 679 Level 680L

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The plan has sparked angry debate. People do not agree about whether it is goodor bad to use smartphones in our parks. Do smartphones improve our outdoorexperience? Or do they ruin it?

The park is only 100 miles south of Seattle. Still, it seems very far away from thecity. Most of the land in the park is labeled as wilderness. The park received 492comments on the plan. They received 249 comments in favor and 241 opposed.

Some people say cellphone service will improve park safety. For example, a hikerin trouble could call for help. Also, the park could send out information about badweather or other hazards. Each year, the park does 40 to 50 rescue missions.Maybe cell service would lower this number, supporters say.

But the report is not so sure. It notes thatcell service in parks can be good or bad.Today, park staff members use two-wayradios to communicate. They will continueto do so even if the new antenna isapproved. The study also says that hikerswith cellphones might take more risks. Theymight feel safer. Because their cellphoneswork, they might think they can always callfor help. However, a working cellphone doesnot mean they will really be safe. That could be a problem for park staff.

The report also points out that using a cellphone while driving is a danger.Sometimes drivers are distracted by their phones. Then they don't pay attentionto the road. This can lead to crashes.

Some people are against the cellphone plan. They say the parks should not havecellphone service available. Cellphones do not belong in nature, they believe.

Jeff Ruch is against the plan. He works for a group that fights against putting celltowers in parks. Ruch says people need to enjoy wilderness areas. They need toget away from city life.

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The park is asking for people's opinions onthe plan until July 19. Then, the parkmanagers will give their opinion to adirector of the National Park Service. Thisdirector will make the final decision.

Wilderness supporters worry about theincrease of technology in wild areas. Forexample, a study found that human noisepollution is on the rise. Such noise is now common in many protected wildlifeareas. It can disturb the wildlife.

Technology has posed other problems in parks, too. Park rangers are worriedabout drones flying in the parks. A drone is like a remote-control airplane. Therangers also complain about visitors taking selfies instead of enjoying nature.Sometimes visitors even do unsafe things to get a better picture.

The national parks are nicknamed "nature's cathedrals." Ruch doesn't like theidea of people playing games and streaming movies on Mount Rainier. It would belike rollerskating through church, he said.

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