base311

(stuff snipped) You know when you have stuff to do but you still need to know what your kids are doing when you can't keep your eyes on them? How the hell do you do it? I can hardly get any major stuff done. (more stuff snipped Build a Kid Corral... best thing I ever did. At least you won't have to listen to her scream while she's in it!!!

Why nashville? goto the farm. get lots of jumps. prolly too late to get started for for a jump at BD this year unless you have a lot of money and free time on your hands. plan for next year. at least you got the weather in your favor we need rain BAAADly. -gardner

What's not so accurate about it? It's a kids book!!!!! I thought it was great! I'm gonna buy one for my kids. German and biology lessons all wrapped up in one cover. ganz gut. -gardner

Ladybugs and Praying Mantis -Gardner

Was that a bareboat charter or was it fully crewed/provisioned? I've given some thought to getting my ASA cert. for bareboat charters and going that route sometime soon. Any pointers/tips? I have over 20 years sailing experience... racing mostly, but have never bothered to get the asa cert for bareboat charters. -gardner

That's awesome! -Gardner

Damn right it does... they grow proportionally larger... oversized, vodka-impregnated gummi bears mmmmmm............

Quick jello shots: bag or two or five of gummy bears cheapazz bottle of vodka put gummy bears in mason jar fill to cover gummy bears with vodka let stand 'til vodka absorbed by gummy bears enjoy. cya there! -Gardner

pm'd

Like I like my women... Hot and Bitter. -Gardner

Pack like I've always packed: without packing aids. (except, of course, my trusty Triax T-Stake) Thanks Triax! -Gardner

Interesting that you picked up on the 'conflicting statements' between the regulation (36 CFR 2.17(a)(3)) and the 2001 Management Policies. When NPS wrote the conflicting section 8.2.2.7 of the Management Policies, it put into writing its long-standing management policy which it had denied existed: that - regardless of the permit provisions of 36 CFR 2.17(a)(3) - NPS was not going to issue a permit. You will also be interested to know that the 2001 Management Policies are now outdated. Through the support of its membership, the Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists successfully argued for change of Section 8.2.2.7 during the NPS' re-write of its 2006 Management Policies. The new controlling version of the Management Policies reads as follows: Section 8.2.2.7 - Parachuting Parachuting (or BASE jumping), whether from an aircraft, structure, or natural feature, is generally prohibited by 36 CFR 2.17(a)(3). However, if determined through a park planning process to be an appropriate activity, it may be allowed pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit. The ABP accomplished several key changes in this re-write. First, it removes the outright prohibition from the management policies and places the decision-making authority BACK into the hands of the superintendents, whom we feel are best-suited to make management decisions affecting their parks, not NPS headquarters. Next, the ABP argued that the, "not an appropriate public use activity," language in the 2001 version (and a couple of the 2006 draft versions) automatically stigmatized the activity from the outset of any planning negotiations; this was subsequently changed in the final draft, as you can see. Finally, the Management Policies re-write afforded the ABP an opportunity to forge new relationships with policymakers from the top down and the bottom up. There is no doubt (to me, at least) that we are now significantly farther along the path toward gaining access than ever before. I invite you to check out our Archives section on the ABP website: The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists There you will find many documents related to the fight for access and the history of access in context. Hope this helps your essay. Contact me if you have any questions. Thanks, Gardner Sapp executive director The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists, Inc. [email protected]

...love the dirty sanchez laughing skull... How y'all doin? -g

The more things change... ...the more things stay the same. -Gardner

yeah but imagine the rush freefallin' through all those branches ;) -gardner

There. Fixed it for you. Y'all stay tuned for information on the 2006 Mgt. Policies soon... very soon. -Gardner

what couch?

The Utah Parks Board action simply reaffirms the current regulation regarding unpowered flight in Utah state parks so that the Snow Canyon manager can continue to prohibit the activity until the "stay on the trail" issue and potential conflicts with other user groups can be properly addressed. The ABP supports this essentially interim action because: 1) the action made no new law (please refer to Utah Administrative Regulation R651-602-3. Powerless Flight Launching and Landing); 2) there are good reasons to "go slow" specifically at Snow Canyon (pm me for details); and 3) the action does not affect ABP's ongoing access dialogue with the Utah State Parks department. If you'd like to stay up to date on ABP actions, please subscribe to the ABP action alert list at http://www.backcountryparachutists.org/ Thanks, K. Gardner Sapp Executive Director The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists, Inc. P.O. Box 38202 Atlanta, Georgia 30334 [email protected]

Walt and others, The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists received and reviewed the June 16, 2006, draft of the 2006 Management Policies and immediately began working on comments to the draft and restoration of the ABP letter-writing system to again call on our members and supporters to respond to the third draft. The current version is the third 'official draft' and the fourth draft if you count the 'unofficial re-write' leaked by PEER.org and others. At this point, responding to these changes are a little trickier as the 'formal comment period' has closed; I read that as there is still an 'informal comment period,' so the ABP is gearing up to respond 'informally,' and has already expressed its displeasure in telephone communications with certain agency heads. The timing goes like this: tomorrow, July 7, 2006, the internal (NPS agency) review draft will be presented to the National Leadership Council for its stamp-of-approval. There is still time to make 'informal comments' and we have some language drawn that we will be submitting to the Office of Policy and others. Additionally, Jason Dawson has a meeting scheduled in Washington with Karen Taylor-Goodrich, Associate Director For Visitor And Resource Protection, next tuesday, July 11, 2006, where he will express our concerns about the latest language in the draft and also hope to forge a relationship with another upper-level official. So, at this point, my suggestion is for everyone to sit tight and wait for us to issue an 'Action Alert' calling all hands to submit letters through our letter-writing system. As for the current draft language, it's much better than the 2001 version of the policies, not as good as the 2nd official draft (which had struck the entire chapter 8.2.2.7), but does signal we're approaching some middle ground where we can all be a little happier. Politics is about finding middle ground and we are still working hard to find something we can all live with. Please stay tuned and, at a minimum, please subscribe to the ABP action alert list at http://www.backcountryparachutists.org/ Thanks, K. Gardner Sapp Executive Director The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists, Inc. P.O. Box 38202 Atlanta, Georgia 30334 [email protected]

they actually shoot a small dart out of their head and into the head of the other snail. guess what's on the end of the dart? -gardner

Tom and Gus are correct. Your line of thinking has caused injury in several instances that I can think of. It's not exactly intuitive. -gardner

I'm more interested in seeing the full size pic that you're using on your avatar... -Gardner

Try PARA-CARE 1-800-DONT-GO-IN

This is a good site for monitoring tower-related information. Seems to be the central location of online tower professional discussion: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/ Some speculative discussion surrounding the recent event mentioned above: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/36568 Similarly, Comtrain (tower climbing safety training and construction training company) keeps up with most things tower-related, here: http://www.comtrainusa.com/news.htm

check pm -gardner