Perhaps you read that the National Park Service is trying to eliminate the communications equipment from the top of Shasta Bally. Their concerns revolve around aesthetics and views for the park.
Those concerns are valid, but only to a point. The laws of nature and physics dictate the best positioning for this equipment, not aesthetic judgments. The antennae and equipment pre-date the park. It was put there by (apparently wiser) citizens some 50 years ago, who saw the site as the only viable and practical location for complete coverage. The Park Service seems to have very little concern for local communication, only their vision for a prettier mountaintop. It’s an admirable idea, on paper. The reality is that Shasta Bally is not Half Dome, and the man-made lake it overlooks is not Tahoe. While it is lovely to consider a pristine mountaintop presiding over our park, that vision is trumped by the absolute necessity of getting clear communication in an emergency in our mountainous areas. This is not an aesthetic concern, it is a concrete reality of the electromagnetic spectrum. We should not lose this irreplaceable communication resource for the vague goal of an idealized mountaintop. Your life may well depend on it someday.
Eliminating this local resource will be harmful to the local population. Tell the Park Service Bureaucrats how you feel about this at their website HERE. In attendance at the hearing in Redding last night, it seemed apparent that the decision has already been made, and your interests and safety are secondary. Imagine CalFire unable to communicate, or an auto accident on 299. If you think those antennae aren’t pretty today, I guarantee you will feel differently in an emergency. The Park Service individuals making this decision may no need to live with this after they retire to wherever, but YOU WILL.
