Re: third death
Posted by Farmer Dean on August 19, 2004 at 11:56:03:
In Reply to: third death posted by . on August 19, 2004 at 06:49:28:
Maybe I can guess why the NPS would suppress information. To try and cover up what a pathetic job they're doing. One of their primary functions is to keep Visitors to the Park safe. This is why they bar off audits. Take a drive down 190 when the Encampment is going; portable neon signs flashing warnings of pedestrians ahead, slow down. It's all to protect Park Visitors.
Explain to me why the NPS has time to check if a motorcycle tire has a DOT stamp on it or you have a shovel ready at your camp, but obviously doesn't have time to weather watch.
Look back at the posts and you'll see that Andy R saw the storm coming. We all know that thunderstorm + desert terrain = possible flash flood. It's a real danger. Why isn't someone in NPS watching the forcast. The Furnace Creek Wash and 190 are one in the same and it funnels right down through the Inn parking lot and employee housing.
As soon as it started dumping, a Ranger should have gotten his lazy a-- up the hill and blocked the road.
The Park is relatively empty this time of the year. The NPS should have the resources to handle this type of potential threat. They should have a ready plan of action to warn or protect Visitors in the highly populated areas.
Other National Parks and their staff proactively keep their Visitors informed of thunderstorm activity, particularly where hikers and narrow canyons exist.
If Doppler Radar shows a massive thundercell heading towards Titas Canyon then maybe a Ranger should race out there and make the Canyon run to check or warn Visitors that may be in bad spot of Titas.
I'm not pontificating that the NPS needs to hold my hand in the backcountry, but they do have access to real time resources (current weather alerts) that nearly all visitors don't. The NPS needs to get that information to any Visitors in the Park that it could help. If a thunderstorm is heading North over the Panamint Range and has just crossed Emigant Pass and the Mosaic Canyon parking lot is full...then you need to send a Ranger up Mosaic and warn people!
I really don't mean to slander all Rangers or the entire NPS at Death Valley. It just seems that they squander away to much time and resources on piddley things, and they miss the big stuff. I'm not insinuating that the NPS has blood on their hands or that these deaths were even preventable.
What I am saying is that this should be a wake up call for the NPS and that at their next weekly meeting instead of discussing how to collect Visitor fees more effectively, maybe they should start working on a Summer flash flood alert plan.FD