Page 30 - Flathead Beacon // 8.17.16

LIKE I WAS SAYIN’
TWO FOR THOUGHT SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT VIEWS THE TWO-PARTY STRONGHOLD
KELLYN BROWN
PARK QUIETUDE
AS THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CENTENNIAL ushers in record crowds, it’s common for superin- tendents to pour a little cold water on the celebra- tion. The parks, they say, are near capacity. There’s not much room left for all the tourists.
“The question many are asking,” Dan Wenk, superin- tendent of Yellowstone National Park, told the Christian Science Monitor last month, “is can Yellowstone escape from being loved to death? My answer is yes, I believe it can. But Yellowstone won’t be saved if we stay on the same course.”
And he’s right. Infrastructure in both Yellowstone and Glacier national parks can only support so many visitors. Je Mow, superintendent of Glacier National Park, struck a similar tone when talking about the yearlong celebration as some of the most popular and accessible
areas have become especially overrun.
“As we move forward, how do we help people with
those expectations?” Mow said about the number of vis- itors ocking to the park. “If people know they’re going to be sharing this with a lot of people, that’s OK if they expect it.”
Both parks experienced their busiest months ever in July, with nearly 818,500 people visiting Glacier and about 996,000 visiting Yellowstone. As expected, both parks are again on track for recordbreaking years, stretching infrastructure to its limits.
In response to the crowds, the Chicago Tribune edito- rial board wrote earlier this month, “The quietude of the national park experience is diminished when the experi- ence starts to feel and sound like everyday urban bustle.”
It then advocated implementing a quota system, writ- ing, “Set the caps already! We make reservations at our favorite restaurants – why should the concept of making a reservation at Yellowstone or Yosemite be any di erent?”
That seems a bit premature – at least in Montana. Yes, our two most popular parks are attracting a lot of people. But is the experience worse?
I just went on a hike in Glacier during its peak season, found a parking spot near the trailhead to Siyeh Pass (a relatively popular area), hiked the route and grabbed a shuttle back to our vehicle. Sure, there were a few others on the trail, including some familiar faces from town. But our group was mostly alone.
Americans looking for some solitude in our national parks should continue to book trips. They can nd it. They may just have to look a little harder or climb a little higher. But it’s there.
Moreover, the parks have begun to implement solu- tions to reduce tra c congestion. In Glacier, a free shuttle system began in 2007. It has also launched a multi-year planning e ort to address congestion on its most popular attraction, the Going-to-the-Sun Road. In Yellowstone, the park hired its rst social scientist to study people’s behavior in the park, which may “eventually lay the foun- dation for possible changes in how tourists navigate Yel- lowstone,” according to the Monitor.
For all the stories about our busy parks, there are still plenty of reasons to visit them. The experience is worth- while, especially o the beaten path, even in the most popular parks.
Following a recent visit, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Paul A. Smith pointed out that Yellowstone crowds “are almost entirely con ned to developed areas of the park. It’s not hard to nd seclusion.”
In a plugged-in world, what our national parks still provide is perhaps more important than ever. And while they’ll continue to search for solutions to their increased popularity, that “quietude” remains.
BY TIM BALDWIN
The 2016 election season is unique to American
history. After the shakedown, Americans are stuck with a Republican and Democratic candidate that have masses of would-be loyalists not willing to vote for either one. Enter Libertarian Gary Johnson: the only other candidate who will be on every ballot across the nation.
Politico opines that Johnson could realistically win. This is the most unpredictable election in decades because as undesirable as Trump and Clin- ton are, it is plausible that neither Trump nor Clinton will get the 270 electoral votes to win. The vote for president would then go to the House of Representa- tives. If Johnson is allowed to enter the debates, who knows what could happen.
Johnson appeals to as many liberals as he does conservatives. Truth be told, Libertarian views appeal to many Americans (especially younger gen- erations). But most Americans have felt pigeon- holed in voting either “R” or “D” for so long. More voters than ever before will exit that paradigm this November.
For Americans who are voting for Trump or voted for Sanders primarily as a protest against established or systemic corruption, they will be faced with the question of whether a bigger protest would be voting for Johnson as a clear sign of rejecting the two party stronghold and wanting a party that is neither Dem- ocrat nor Republican.
BY JOE CARBONARI
For most, voting for Gary Johnson, the Libertar-
ian candidate for president, is a cop out. Don’t kid yourself or try to kid me. Voting for Donald Trump because he will stir things up is even worse. Trump is much too risky, as is Johnson and the Libertar- ian platform. Do you really support weakening our national defense? Doing away with Social Security? Abandoning the war on drugs ... and, no, I don’t mean just recreational marijuana. I mean the world could go up in smoke, literally.
The trouble with libertarianism is that, like pure socialism, it does not comport with human nature. Given the choice, we often opt for our own self-in- terest over the common good. The lazy, hazy days of summer are best kept as a vacation – not a way of life.
Yes, I know that Gary Johnson had success as New Mexico’s governor, as did William Weld, his running mate, when he served as a Republican gov- ernor in traditionally Democratic Massachusetts. More power to them, but not the power to control the levers of the most powerful country on the globe and the defender of the free world.
In 2000, just a few votes in Florida for Ralph Nader were enough to give George W. Bush the pres- idency. A few votes can matter. The upside of “send- ing a message,” by voting for a third party candidate, is a chimera. It disappears like a pu of smoke. It is not a lasting e ort. It is a foolish risk. Think it through.
AMERICAN RURAL DIANE SMITH THANKS TEAM USA!
A
Hooper, Nebraska (pop. 830)!
Here in my backyard, I’m surrounded by athletes;
young and old, tall and small, just about everyone has a favorite sport. Even more amazing, so many folks are thrilled to embrace the risks of scaling a moun- tain or cartwheeling through whitewater and are willing to put the sweat and dedication into becoming really good at it. I guess that’s why it’s not a big sur- prise anymore that so many Olympians come from o the beaten path and I’m jazzed to cheer for every one of them. I think the Olympics is such a big deal that I choke up every time the Star Spangled Banner plays. No matter the sport. Every time.
This might explain why my favorite 2016 Olympic moment so far didn’t even happen at the Olympics, but did come from a small town athlete. It was when rower Megan Kalmoe of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin (pop. 2,094) wrote about the media coverage of the health risks and pollution in Rio, “I will row through s**t for you, America. And I will do it gladly, and proudly, because rowing on this Team in Rio is not something I’m afraid of, or going to complain about ... get behind us and cheer your faces o . Put your rally caps on. Let’s pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Let’s go for the gold together... Long Live the Dream.”
That’s the Olympic spirit. That’s a small town ath- lete. You all make us proud. Thanks Team USA!
NYONE WHO’S EVER FOLLOWED OR PARTIC- ipated in small town sports knows that rural
and small town athletes often punch above their weight. So it’s no big surprise that rural and small communities are well represented at this year’s Olym- pics in Rio. Some interesting 2016 Olympic facts: 554 athletes from across America are representing Team USA in this year’s Olympics. U.S. athletes are compet- ing in 244 of the 306 medal events, re ecting 27 sports. 46 U.S. states are represented by Team USA. 124 U.S. athletes hail from California, 39 from Florida, and 33 from Texas. Our oldest athlete is 52, the youngest 16 years old. There are 10 mothers and 42 fathers on Team USA.
Even though small town and rural residents make up less than one-third of our national population, two- thirds of the 2016 U.S. Olympics triathletes are from small cities or rural areas. One half of U.S. taekwondo competitors and 40 percent of the U.S. shooting team looks to be from rural or small communities.
The U.S. track and eld team has 129 athletes from all over, including folks from Festus, Missouri (pop. 11,829), Sand Hill, Mississippi (no population count available), Carlinville, Illinois (pop. 5,813), Ovilla, Texas (pop. 3,543), Crested Butte, Colorado (pop. 1,487), McAlmont, Arkansas (pop. 1,873) and Boring, Oregon (pop. 8,000). Our volleyballers include ath- letes from Hopewell, Pennsylvania (pop. 230) and
Learn more about Diane by following her column here or visit American Rural at AmericanRural.org.
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AUGUST 17, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM