The placement of cellular phone towers inside of the boundaries of at least 15 national park units has dialed up an urgent call from park advocates. Several groups, including NPCA and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) oppose cell towers in parks, saying the structures are eyesores that don't belong in a national park. The issue rose to national prominence earlier this year when a tower was built overlooking Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park.
"The [Old Faithful] viewshed is one of the most recognized assets in our National Park System," says PEER board member Frank Buono, former Park Service manager. "It is, however, being managed with all the care of a strip mall."
PEER has charged the Park Service with failing to: protect the special qualities of the national parks; develop a central management plan for placing the towers (the current process is decided by individual park superintendents); inform and solicit comments from the public; and have a clear idea of how many cell towers exist in the park system.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened federal lands to cell towers, and they have since gone up in national parks such as Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Everglades. NPCA does not support the construction of cell towers in national parks and has directly opposed them in parks such as Antietam National Battlefield,
Grand Teton National Park, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (where a recent proposal for three towers along a main road was scrapped in June).
"Over nine million people visit the Smokies each year to enjoy the breathtaking scenery" says Gregory Kidd, NPCA's associate Southeast regional director, "which would be threatened by cell towers."
Although some companies claim they can build towers that blend into public landscapes, "I find it hard to believe that they can construct one that can blend into the natural beauty of the Smokies," says Kidd.
Park Service officials have said that towers help to improve park communications during emergencies and satisfy visitor demand for cell phone coverage. Still, critics assert that the towers degrade the scenery and serenity of the parks.
"We are arguing for a sound, informed public policy that will uphold the solitude and scenic values of the parks," says Chas Offutt of PEER."
