June 25, 2009, 2:23 pm
Kings Canyon National Park's first cell tower would rise on a 7,500-foot ridge at Grant Grove under a proposal that many neighbors welcome as a way to improve emergency services.But some outdoor enthusiasts don't like the idea of seeing a cell tower in a national park or encountering people chatting and texting amid giant sequoias.
"I object to the insertion of the cell-phone culture in an area where it is not necessary," said Barry Koeb, 57, of La Cañada in Southern California. "My wife and I have been coming to this area for 25 years, and we don't want to see a hokey cell tower."
After officials sort through public comments -- which favor the tower -- and complete environmental documents, the 80-foot tower on Park Ridge might be installed as early as this fall.
The Kings Canyon debate over a cell tower is echoed in other national parks.
Officials at Yellowstone, which has a tower on a hill near Old Faithful, are hearing opposition over a limited expansion of cell service, and waves of opposition stopped a tower in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina.
More than a dozen of the nation's 58 national parks have cell towers, including the Grand Canyon and Grand Tetons. Yosemite has five -- including sites at popular Tuolumne Meadows and at Sentinel Dome above Yosemite Valley.
