“In 2018, I went on a solo backpacking trip into the wild stone labyrinth of the Needles district in Canyonlands National Park. I had an iPhone with me, which I was using as a camera, and on a lark I decided to see if I could catch a signal. Sure enough, I could.
I vowed to never again bring my phone on a backpacking trip.
The National Park Service has a different attitude toward cellular technology: The agency has opted to embrace expanded connectivity as an important visitor amenity.
The most vocal and dogged opponent of the cellular build-out is Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which over the past decade has barraged the Park Service with complaints, Freedom of Information Act requests, and, when ignored, FOIA lawsuits regarding its cell-siting decisions.”
