Rainier Resort

[Guest]

The same thing was being considered down at Smith Rocks, but I think local opposition stifled it (I wrote a letter to the Oregon governor's office about it.)

This resort wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, if the resort were required to provide transportation for its guests. Imagine 100 cars going up to Paradise being replaced by two or three busses a day -- that's not so bad.

The reality is that we're a country that leaves the remote control on the couch only to get into our air conditioned SUVs, and to hope that the remaining natural resources will be managed for anything besides business profits and what Edward Abbey called "industrial tourism" is deluded. The 2 or 3 percent of park vistors who actually venture beyond the vistor's centers are "elitists," special interest snobs. That's why we have to pay peak fees to climb Rainier, and now Adams and St. Helens, while the park service spends million$ to widen 410 to make the highway safe for RVs. (As of a couple of years ago, something like half the Yellowstone Park budget was devoted to widening roads for RVs, according to the NY Times.) You have to buy a permit to go cross-country skiing, but you're exempt if you're riding a snowmobile. Sorry folks, we're on the losing end, here.