Misguided Park Visitors Enabled by Technology

The country's national parks always have attracted some visitors with, shall we say, questionable judgment when it comes to feeding animals, getting too close to wildlife or venturing into the wilderness without adequate preparation.

But New York Times reporter (and former GovExec staff writer) Leslie Kaufman reports that technology has enabled and emboldened park visitors to take even more missteps:

A French teenager was injured after plunging 75 feet this month from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon when he backed up while taking pictures. And last fall, a group of hikers in the canyon called in rescue helicopters three times by pressing the emergency button on their satellite location device. When rangers arrived the second time, the hikers explained that their water supply "tasted salty."

Of course, technology has its benefits as well. When well-prepared hikers run into unforeseen trouble, GPS-enabled devices can save their lives. And the Park Service itself uses technology to monitor parks. Last summer, for example, a group of men who thought it would be funny to urinate into Old Faithful were caught on video due to a camera the agency had installed to allow people to view eruptions of the geyser on the web.