Utah - deseret news editorial - Apr 25, 2000

[base311]

http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/libst...n00&0004250026

(reposted here from www.deseretnews.com)


Rein in Utah's BASE jumpers

Deseret News editorial

Perhaps it is time for Grand County officials to jump to a few conclusions ... before too many more people jump to their own final, tragic conclusions. The first of these should be that the practice of allowing people to hurl themselves off of cliffs with parachutes strapped to their backs must be curtailed and regulated.

In the first place, too many people are becoming seriously injured jumping off the red cliffs surrounding Moab. So far this year, four people have been hurt, and more are likely to follow. Officials report record numbers of people engaging in the "sport."

In the second place, all of the injuries cost money. Search and rescue crews are required to help the victims out of their predicaments, and sparsely populated counties such as Grand are cash-strapped as it is.

An earlier generation may have required long explanations as to why otherwise rational adults would feel the need to jump off cliffs, but a segment of today's young adults seems to find great pleasure and thrill in it. Enthusiasts refer to it as BASE jumping, which stands for buildings, antennae, spans and earth -- rather crude designations for the various high places from which to fling oneself with abandon.

Given the limited means of local law enforcers, they would have no chance of adequately enforcing a ban on jumping. That isn't the way to go. Instead, the county should limit the jumping to the safer canyons and set other requirements, such as permit fees, to help defray the costs of rescues.

Rural Utah counties are forever facing impossible revenue shortages. On the one hand, they attract millions of tourists each year who contribute to landfills and sewage systems and who require police, fire and rescue services. On the other hand, the counties collect little through property taxes and don't get to keep enough of the sales taxes they collect to offset all the expenses.

BASE jumping simply adds to that burden without thought to the trouble it causes others.
--------end

[base311]

my response:

http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/~b...ews_reply.html

signed, sealed and delivered,
Gardner

[guest]

Hey Gardner,

Good talking with you. What a lame editorial, huh? Nothing like a misinformed editor writing about something they know nothing about to a readership of over a million.

For example, the editor's recommendation to charge "permit fees, to help defray the costs of rescues" isn't necessary since Grand County Search and Rescue (GCSAR) already invoices victims to not only "defray the costs," but eliminate them. What's worse is that despite complaining in an April 20 Deseret News article that jumpers are not "paying anything to offset the costs to our taxpayers," Grand County Sheriff Jim Nyland never mentioned to the writer that GCSAR invoices victims. Or that only one of the last four BASE victims had received an invoice (which was 80% paid on April 19th, by the way). That's pertinent info, if you ask me.

I still plan on writing more on the BASE Board about the anti-BASE sentiment expressed by the Grand County Sheriff's Office. I myself wrote a letter last week to the editor in our local paper, the Times-Independent, with salient financial facts regarding GCSAR's current BASE rescues. As an Officer of GCSAR, I was able to provide reliable info to the public that shed a different light on Sheriff Nyland's statements about BASE jumpers and their rescues costs.

Unfortunately, last Friday Sheriff Nyland called me in to his office to tell me he wants me expelled from the SAR team because of that letter.

It gets better. More to come ...

Later,
Matt

[bps]

Nice response Gardner!

I am in the process of writing my own response to this editorial, and should have it edited and ready to mail by tomorrow morning.

I have something else while we are on this subject matter, but I would prefer to post it seperately in a few minutes.

C-ya,

Bryan

[guest]

Hey Matt & Gardner
Thanks for holding up the fort while some are away
Please E me with any info on whats going on in legal land

Mario
Base # 320

[guest]

Yes, lame editorial. Most, but not quite all, have moved on here in Moab.

You say only one of 4 jumpers has received a bill. One of the 4 jumpers doesn't even get a bill cuz he's a local, you. One other got away before we got a correct address. The other 2 are getting bills just not on your schedule.

Your letter to the TI was a personal attack on the Sheriff (who is not the biller) and on the Commander of GCSAR who does send all but locals bills. Your letter contained a number of factual errors that any SAR member could correct by asking a few questions.

You say that as an officer you were able to provide reliable info to the public is not the case.

The billing we do defrays a portion of the operational costs for that rescue but does not come close to eliminating the larger picture costs of running the organization.

It's no wonder you are not a member any more. Rescue people need a better hold on facts and a higher regard for diplomacy with their bosses.

bego

[guest]

>The billing we do defrays a
>portion of the operational costs
>for that rescue but does
>not come close to eliminating
>the larger picture costs of
>running the organization.

Does this mean that if BASE stopped, you'd shut down the SAR unit?

If not, then I don't see how you can logically say that BASE causes you to face those fixed costs.

If the SAR unit will continue to exist regardless, then perhaps you ought to simply increase your invoice amounts to reflect a portion of your fixed operational costs.

--Tom Aiello

[guest]

Matt,

At one time, you and Earl might have been in a unique position to benefit the BASE community in SE Utah and elsewhere. A few months ago, county, state, and federal government officials in this area seemed relatively open-minded about the sport. But your ill-informed letter to the editor of the local newspaper and the confrontational attitude of local jumpers has damaged your cause.

As a GCSAR officer, you should have had a better grasp of the facts before bending them to suit your point. Posting your concerns about GCSAR's billing practices in a public forum before ever voicing them at a GCSAR officers' meeting was inappropriate and showed poor judgment.

A simple fact is that the popularity of BASE jumping in this area HAS increased the workload of Search and Rescue. The same thing happened with mountain biking...and now there's a fee to recreate in the Sand Flats area as a direct result of the impact of that sport. I read often in here about the "opening" of a new site in the Moab area. New bike trails...new jump sites...same thing...impact on local resources...natural and financial. And the last four BASE jumping incidents have each been major operations involving a larger number of rescuers and equipment than the typical callout.

While I'm here, I must dispute Gardner's statement in his response to the Deseret News editorial that only one of the victims was seriously injured. In my book, your compound tib-fib fracture in the middle of nowhere was a serious injury. Nathan's injuries certainly appeared serious enough to the medical personnel on scene and to myself as one of those who short-hauled him out. The fact that he was able to walk away from the hospital the next day still amazes me...as I'm sure it does anyone who witnessed the accident or helped at the scene...not to mention Nathan himself. Mari survived uninjured merely because her chute luckily snagged a rock mid-face. It is the appearance of a victim's possible injuries, not the actual injuries, that dictate on scene treatment and the resources necessary to provide that treatment.

I won't say anything obvious about the fact that Gardner is propagating the mis-information in your letter to the editor. The web of mis-information is growing like a snowball...most likely on both sides of the question.

You stated in an earlier posting on this site that you had a very positive meeting with Sheriff Nyland and would soon post details. The next thing I read was your attack on the sheriff in the local newspaper. If the BASE community hopes to retain unfettered use of the BLM lands surrounding Moab, then a little diplomacy is in order. The local officials are not the "jack-booted thugs" who are keeping you off of El Cap and other big walls. They all appeared to be open-minded a few months ago...and might still be if you approach them in a less confrontational manner. Knee-jerk reactions only serve to kick yourself in the ass.

Personally, I don't feel that BASE jumping should be regulated in the Moab area. If I wanna go jump off a cliff, parachute or not, that's my right. But if I'm going to jump off that cliff, and bring hoardes of others to do the same thing, I have to realize the impacts that will have on the above-mentioned resources and be amenable to dealing with those impacts. The amount of impact is not the question...the impact itself is unquestionable.

Matt, my friend, it's time to take the wheel of your own car rather than letting someone else push you down the road toward irreversible damage. I'm sorry that you are apparently not a member of GCSAR anymore. I have always felt that your skills and attitude were a real asset to the team.

Frank

[guest]

Bravo! The only thing I would have added is the mountain bike injury/fatality statistics. They don't have to pay a fee or get a permit. According to one of the employees at the canyonlands airport, mountain bikers are regularly taken out of Moab via Life-flight. Not only are they seriously injured on a regular basis, they have a tendency to unintentionally ride off sheer slick-rock cliffs. I'd be willing to bet that the mountain bikers cost the county more money in rescues than we do. When we go off a cliff, at least we have a parachute.

[base311]

Dear Mr. Mendonca,

First and foremost, please understand that I have the utmost respect for you and any member of any rescue team anywhere on this planet. The world would be in a heap of crap if it weren't for the work you folks do. I am not one to jab a finger into the eyes of people whom I respect.

As you said yourself, "The web of mis-information is growing like a snowball...most likely on both sides of the question." In any argument, each side is going to bend things a little to suit its point - it's the nature of argument. I think that some of the comments we've all seen recently are evidence enough of that. What can _we_ (You and I) do about it? When someone makes a claim that BASE jumpers aren't footing their rescue bills, that they should be curtailed or regulated... what sort of reaction would you have if someone said you weren't doing something that you knew you were doing - or were going to do? Why didn't Sheriff Nyland (whom I don't know, but respect because of his position) come to the BASE jumpers first - instead of going to Deseret News with his plans for regulation (that's rhetorical)?? Coming to us would have been a much more constructive means to reach some sort of compromise, if compromise is/was really necessary. I know, I know - to whom was he supposed to come?

Frank (if I may call you that), let me be perfectly blunt. BASE jumpers have existed in a confrontational environment since the dawn of BASE jumping itself; we aren't used to being diplomats. We don't know how to conduct ourselves in a diplomatic environment because, frankly, we don't have the experience. Everywhere we've been and everywhere we go people have chased, imprisoned, searched, mis-applied ludicrous regulations, fined, mocked and sneered at us. We are, for some reason or another, always thought of as bad guys (granted, I'll admit there is an underlying cause for _some_ of that). But all we want to do is jump off things with our parachutes and happily go home at the end of the day. For some reason I think that prospect intimidates some people, so they lash out with notions of outright banishment. I really do appreciate your personal belief that BASE jumping shouldn't be regulated in Moab. I wish there were more people like you in the world.

You're right about an impact on the resources. Many of us wouldn't admit it publicly, but everyone is aware (if not, they're either naive (doubtful), in a state of denial, cunning (likely), or stupid(also doubtful)) that our presence in Moab has had some, although somewhat small in the scheme of things, impact on the rescue resources. In the past, there have been several attempts at BASE jumper unification in the form of associations (someone once said trying to get BASE jumpers together was like herding cats); this is most likely our single biggest self-injury. I'm not even sure what the latest permutation of a BASE association is. So this sets the stage for each of us to act on his own behalf and on behalf of the sport - which leads to sporadic attempts at damage control, lots of bitching, hurt feelings, people coming away from both sides generally pissed off and bad vibes and misinformation everywhere. Like I said - we've probably done ourselves an injustice.

Moab is somewhat unique in that we, as a jumping community, have a strong foothold there. It is no wonder that we get confrontational when there is talk of regulation or being curtailed (I'm using 'curtailed' because the Deseret News editor used the term). Moab is a jewel and I think any of us would be willing to fight (and work) valiantly to preserve what we have. Already there are discussions, on here (Bryan - a.k.a. bps), about several ideas to aid Moab (and other places) in some fashion - as well as possibly rescue insurance in some form (Tom?). Please let us work these ideas around a little bit and then let's move on from here in a positive direction. I think we could all benefit from the experience and outcome this situation may afford - if we can get through it without it getting more nasty than it already is. Let's work together.

Once again, I appreciate you, the GCSAR and all of the people of Moab.

Sincerely,
Gardner Sapp
BASE 311