People venture into Wilderness for a variety of reasons: to seek solitude, view wildlife, commune with nature, and unplug. People don’t visit Wilderness areas to play on their phones. That’s what makes the Connect Our Parks Act (S.2018 and H.R.5919) so concerning to those who value wild Wilderness and are committed to protecting its unique values. Providing broadband or cellular service to developed areas within the parks is one thing, but injecting this technology into the backcountry and Wilderness not only degrades the areas, but further erodes the distinction between Wilderness and our everyday, maddeningly-connected lives. The Connect Our Parks Act has language that not only goes well beyond providing service to developed areas, but also language that is confusing, inartful, and possibly creates needless conflicts that could lead to litigation. For example, the bill directs each national park to assess the need for cellular services in “any area…that would increase access of the public to emergency services…” This language suggests that all park Wilderness or backcountry which currently lacks cell service should have that coverage. Doing so would, in essence, entail wiring virtually all designated, potential, recommended, or eligible wilderness throughout the national park system. The bill would also direct a national park to consider extending cell service wherever it might “increase… the communications capabilities of National Park Service employees.” This expansive legislative directive also seems to lack any boundaries. Nor does the bill offer any explanation as to why every backcountry ranger in even the most remote corner of a national park should be within the coverage of a cell tower. Significantly, the bill’s premise appears to be that cellular service in a park will improve public safety. Not only has that link not been demonstrated but there is a growing body of evidence that visitor reliance on cell phones induces people to take risks they did not previously undertake. This may be one reason that there has been explosive growth in park search and rescue operations. The National Park Service (NPS) recorded 3,371 such incidents in 2021, more than triple the 1,103 incidents recorded in 2015. This is a big issue for Wilderness across the country, since NPS administers approximately 40 percent of the acreage within America’s National Wilderness Preservation System. Together with our allies at PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) we’ve written the main sponsors of the Connect Our Parks Act to express our concerns. Now we need your help! Please write your members of Congress to express your concerns about the language of the Connect Our Parks Act and to suggest how the problems with the bill’s drafting and framework could be remedied. | 
