I don’t think the web cam discussion should center around the CCW decisions, whatsoever. There are many other valid reasons given by the Park Service. Resource management, wildlife, wildfire, reduce personnel costs, emergency response…and of course catching the actual criminals.

Finally, while I agree that the the nature and amount of lawsuits in our country is outrageous, and time has proven again and again that anything is possible, at first glance, simply because the Park Service should not be held liable for many of these circumstances. The very reason you escape to the backcountry is to escape everything. The concept of wilderness does not include (even with cameras) INSTANTLY FLY BY HELICOPTER TO SAVE MY LIFE WHEN THE SECURITY GUARD SEES A MAN WITH MURDER IN HIS EYES WALKING TOWARDS ME, IN HIS CAMERA. Obviously, I exaggerate. But the definition of negligence has to meet four separate components, including a duty to act. I don’t see people fighting for the NPS to watch your every move in order to help you out of those tight spots.

I’m not sure how I feel about the cameras in the BC. But if they are there, I would hope that they would be there to watch for wildfires, poaching, marijuana operations (probably not in Yellowstone), wildlife studies, etc, and NOT to come flying in with a bottle of water if they watch me for three days straight and see that I haven’t had a drink of water in 24 hours.

Hope this all makes sense. I’m in class, and hope I’m not too scatterbrained due to focusing on too many things.

Thing is, as I point out in my Backpacker Magazine blurb, this whole discussion gained new traction when the Old Faithful cam caught troublemakers urinating into the geyser. Then I took a look at the Y-stone comprehensive plan and found the section you highlighted. With trends the way they’re going as I mentioned in the CP article above, and the ongoing national debate about privacy, until Jarvis or Salazar or park administrators definitively say they won’t put web cams in the backcountry for the purpose of safety, then the possibility remains open.

I wish we were less litigious, too.

Lawsuits will happen regardless if there is a camera to capture what happens. Here in the United States we are a particularly litigious society. Too much, in fact. It seems the first answer folks have when something goes wrong is to call a lawyer. We shouldn’t let fears of lawsuits drive a decision to install webcams in Yellowstone’s backcountry, or the backcountry of any other national park.

And really, take a look at the existing webcams in Yellowstone. Outside of the one that is focused on Old Faithful, how much clarity is there? And even with that Old Faithful webcam, how much can you make out of the faces of the folks on the geyser’s apron?

Roughly 90 percent of Yellowstone’s 2.2 million acres is de facto wilderness. How many webcams would be needed to truly provide some measure of safety, if that’s the real purpose behind this idea. How many eyes would be needed to watch those feeds? And if a webcam is a good idea for safety’s sake, isn’t a road a better one?

No, I think this is a poor idea, one that’s not necessary. I’ll detail my thoughts more as I continue to follow this on the Traveler. Thanks much for raising the matter.