National Park Service Watching Out for You

One of my favorite aspects of the culture of the National Park Service is their commitment to the principle that every American is an owner of their National Parks. It’s a beautiful, democratic ideal.

However.

Every American is also paying the National Park Service to steward the Parks, which means protecting the Park from visitors and protecting visitors from the Park.

And many visitors are…decidedly foolish.

So the National Park Service has to walk this tone of “ok, you can totally do [X]…but also…99.99% of people who do [X] die and require rescue. So please, just do the right thing and don’t make us have to rescue you.

I saw the sign above at Lassen Volcanic National Park which has like boiling acidic water like randomly along trails. I love that instead of banning visitors from places with names like “The Devil’s Kitchen” and “Boiling Hot Springs” – the National Park Service puts a trail down to them with a sign clearly stating that you can and should see these places, but don’t be a fool.