Re: [wwarped] Busted!
BASE in the NPS.
The law.
It isn’t legal and the rangers that enforce that are not the same that can change the law. An analogy is speeding. The police don’t make the laws, they enforce them. If you get pulled over, suggesting that the police go chase real criminals like murders and thieves and leave you alone is not a good defense. You were breaking the law and got caught. Telling a Park Ranger to go after the real criminals is not going to get you out the situation.
Getting the laws changed.
It can be done, just like getting any other law changed. It takes some effort and people getting caught and/or taunting the Rangers will not help those efforts. I think that some jumpers do not want the law changed because breaking the law, escaping and evading add to the excitement and experience of the jump. There are a lot of issues involved in getting the law changed. It will take organizing, money and a determined effort. That is not something I am convinced the BASE community can achieve.
The Rangers.
Every Ranger I have spoken with, including Dan, has been professional, respectful, courteous, and helpful. I have not had to deal with the Rangers after an illegal jump. Everyone knows that if you jump in Yosemite, you have a couple of choices for when you land. Stand there and wait for the Rangers to catch you, or run like hell and get out of there. If you choose to run, and fall off a cliff, sprain an ankle, get eaten by a bear, or drown in a river, that was your choice. If I am speeding on my CBR and a trooper lights me up and I run and crash, it is NOT the trooper’s fault. Not even 1%. I made the choice. I have to live with the consequences of the choice. I know my choices and I will live with the results, good or bad.
The Jumpers.
The BASE community includes a lot of different personalities and maturity levels. Jumpers have different motivations for jumping with different goals. If your approach to BASE jumping and your goals are different from mine, that is OK. That is part of BASE jumping, individualism. I do ask that you don’t screw things up for others. We are looked upon as a group. How you conduct yourselves with the Rangers affects how BASE jumpers are perceived just as BASE jumpers tend to associate one Ranger’s behavior as representative of all Rangers. If the Rangers expect us to act responsibly and respectfully if we are caught from past experiences from dealing with BASE jumpers, they will tend to go lighter on us. This is simply human nature.
The Future.
Will the law get changed? I doubt it. Will that stop me or others? Nope. Just have to take certain precautions. If the law does change, but not as a free-for-all, but so that BASE is legal within certain, reasonable, guidelines, would BASE jumpers adhere to those guidelines? History shows us that no, BASE jumpers being BASE jumpers, they won’t adhere to even reasonable requests. Be careful, make your choices and live with them.
Derek
