Subject: [NEXTEL-1] NPS allows tower too close to Old Faithful

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:37:59 -0500

NPS allows tower too close to Old Faithful

by Emily Motsay
March 16, 2004

WASHINGTON

The National Park Service has violated the law in 
allowing the construction of an 80-foot cell phone 
tower in close proximity to Old Faithful in 
Yellowstone National Park, according to Public 
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). 

According to PEER, the tower was built in 2001 
following approval of Michael Snyder of the NPS 
regional office in Denver. PEER claims Snyder’s 
approval of the tower build ignored the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the National 
Historic Preservation Act of 1965, and the NPS’ 
1916 Organic ACT, which calls for the agency to 
conserve park scenery. 

PEER pointed out a comment from a report from the House Commerce
Committee dated July 1995 relating to the 1996 Telecom Act: “The
committee recognizes, for example, that use of the Washington Monument,
Yellowstone National Park or a pristine wildlife sanctuary, while
perhaps prime sites for an antenna and other facilities, are not
appropriate and use of them would be contrary to environmental,
conservation and public safety laws.” 

In addition, PEER said NPS failed to file a written notice in the
Federal Register that it was considering approving the tower, as
required by law. 

Earlier this year Judy Wolf, review and compliance program manager of
the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, wrote to the NPS at
Yellowstone urging the agency to “reduce or eliminate this adverse
effect” caused by the tower in the Old Faithful Historic District. Wolf
pointed out that the tower does not comply with the preferred
alternative site that was submitted by the group in 1999, and would have
had no adverse effect on the area. 

As an aside, the Federal Communication Commission is expected to soon
reach an agreement with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
The programmatic agreement is being drafted in an effort to streamline
the historic-preservation review process for wireless facilities. The
FCC said recently that the draft programmatic agreement would over-rule
ACHP’s proposed rules to implement the National Historic Preservation
Act. The wireless industry last month dropped out of the negotiations. 

 http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=17319

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