tfelber 0 #1 March 29, 2005 I recently sent a letter to my congressman regarding BASE jumping permits in National Parks. Here's his reply... Quote Dear Mr. Felber, Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to the prohibition of BASE jumping in National Parks. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. According to the National Park Service (NPS), BASE jumping "is not an appropriate public use activity within national park areas" and is therefore prohibited under federal law. This NPS regulation has been challenged in court on many occasions, and in 2000 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NPS can prohibit dangerous activities. I appreciate your passion for this activity, and I will keep your views in mind should legislation dealing with this issue come before the House of Representatives. Once again, thank you for you correspondence. I hope you will contact me on other issues of importance to you. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit my website at www.house.gov/calvert. Sincerely, Ken Calvert Member of Congress I guess I'll try again... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nicknitro71 0 #2 March 29, 2005 Tony, I also sent a letter to my congressman and got a similar response, just not as negative. If everybody wrote to thier congressman manybe things could start moving...Memento Audere Semper 903 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HydroGuy 0 #3 March 30, 2005 Can you post your original submittal?Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tfelber 0 #4 March 30, 2005 Here's the letter I sent... Quote I am a new resident of CA, moving here in April 2004 from Phoenix, AZ to open an office for my company. I am an avid skydiver and newbie BASE jumper and am quite surprised to see BASE jumping outlawed in our National Parks. I have heard many reasons for not allowing BASE jumping, but none of them seem to make much sense. Reasons like noise, damage to the environment, rescue efforts, danger to self and others clearly do not hold up when exposed to scrutiny. Hikers are the number one liability as far as rescue efforts go and it's not outlawed or restricted. Off-road vehicles surely do much more damage and create far more noise and it's not outlawed. As for the inherent dangers of BASE jumping, climbing and rope jumping are not outlawed and they are at least as dangerous. With the continued technological development in BASE jumping and the recognition of risk by BASE jumping participant's, BASE jumping has become a fairly safe sport. At Bridge Day, where over 600 jumps are made in a single day with an NPS permit we have experienced a very, very low incident of injury. The restriction of BASE jumping in National Parks motivates some individuals to cross the lines of the law in a quest to participate in their desired sport. They end up trespassing on private property such as antennas or buildings to do this, however if these same people could drive to the beautiful cliffs in northern CA for instance there would be far less reason for this dereliction. Already other states have made BASE jumping legal on their public lands; look at AZ and UT for example. Have these states cost of existence increased due to this? I think not! As a matter of fact, they have probably been able to reduce their expenditure by reducing the additional policing and enforcement of these laws. Legalizing BASE jumping in the National Parks could even increase federal, state, and local revenues by enabling them to establish organized events and annual permits. BASE jumpers are not a bunch of hoodlums running around trying to kill themselves and endanger the public. We are actually a group of educated, successful, financially responsible individuals who enjoy participating in an extreme sport; much like snowboarding, motor sports, rock climbing, or hang gliding. Take stock car racing for example. This activity evolved from outlaw liquor runners to a very lucrative and highly profitable sport that benefits spectators, participants, and the communities in which the events are held. Please assist us in bringing BASE jumping over the line. Best regards, Tony Felber Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eb66to77 0 #5 March 30, 2005 Don't count on it man. I put in a congressional once and it was summarily overlooked. Kind of like they were used to doing it. We could definitely inundate them with letters. The responses might be mildly amusing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuckbrown 0 #6 March 30, 2005 Congressmen pay attention to people who raise funds for them. Period. Hold some political fund raisers and give some money to the congressman's political action committee, and they might find time to consider your issues seriously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #7 March 30, 2005 You might want to ask your Congressman to examine the NPS's stance on BASE and ask for a review of that before pushing for the Parks. Thing is if he takes action on further defining it in your favor thats really a huge victory for the legalization in parks.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
