“The most important dilemma facing us is not ideological. It is logistical. The security and surveillance state has made its highest priority the breaking of any infrastructure that might spark widespread revolt. The state knows the tinder is there. It knows that the continued unraveling of the economy and the effects of climate change make popular unrest inevitable. It knows that as underemployment and unemployment doom at least a quarter of the U.S. population, perhaps more, to perpetual poverty, and as unemployment benefits are scaled back, as schools close, as the middle class withers away, as pension funds are looted by hedge fund thieves, and as the government continues to let the fossil fuel industry ravage the planet, the future will increasingly be one of open conflict. This battle against the corporate state, right now, is primarily about infrastructure. We need an infrastructure to build revolt. The corporate state is determined to deny us one.
“The corporate state, unnerved by the Occupy movement, has moved to close any public space to movements that might reignite encampments. For example, New York City police arrested members of Veterans for Peace on Oct. 7, 2012, when they stayed beyond the 10 p.m. official closing time at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The police, who in some cases apologized to the veterans as they handcuffed them, were open about the motive of authorities: Officers told those being taken to jail they should blame the Occupy movement for the arrests.”
I find it hard to let such articles in. My life is filled with Chrysalis and Alysia recovering and family: I am busy and I am hopeful so I judge such articles as beyond my sphere of influence and continue on with my daily life.
Each school year for more than 15 years, Chrysalis takes a late September all-school camping trip and another one in May. We have gone to Yosemite National Park twice, Lava Beds National Monument at least three times, the redwoods and coast many times, nearby Lassen Volcanic National Park many times and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area at least three times. Every time we write ahead, asking for an educational fee waiver. Each time we get back a simple fee waiver request form. Name of group. Size of group. Time of visit. Where in the park is the class going? For what curricular purpose is the trip. That’s about it. The park sends us a fee waiver; we make copies of it for each family so they can drive into the park for free to participate in our school activity that day.
This fall we were going over to the redwoods and ocean again. But this year, Redwoods National and State Parks said we needed to apply for a Special Use Permit. We were a bit confused but said OK so they sent us NPS Form 10-930 REV 06/20/2013 OMB Control No. 1024-0026, Expires 08/31/2016, the Redwood National and State Parks’s Application for Special Use Permit.
Here are parts:
Please supply the information requested below….A nonrefundable processing fee of $___ (left blank for us) must accompany this application unless the requested use is an exercise of a First Amendment right. You must allow sufficient time for the park to process your request; check with the park for guidelines. You will be notified of the status of the application and the necessary steps to secure your final permit. Your permit may require the payment of cost recovery charges and proof of liability insurance naming the United States of America and the State of California as also insured.”
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“List support personnel including addresses and telephones; attach additional pages if necessary”
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Do you plan to advertise or issue a press release before the event?
Will you distribute printed material?
Is there any reason to believe there will be attempts to disrupt, protest or prevent your event? (If yes, please explain on a separate page.)
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Note: This is an application only, and does not serve as permission to conduct any special activity in the park. The information provided will be used to determine whether a permit will be issued. Send the completed application along with the application fee in the form of a cashier’s check, money order or personal check, made payable the National Park Service, Attn: Permit Coordinator at the Park address found on the first page of this application.
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Threatened and Endangered Species Addendum
Due to threatened and endangered species which inhabit our forests, beaches, rivers, and coastlines, we must solicit detailed information for all events or activities. …. If the proposed event/activity falls outside of the scope of the existing consultations for this program, further consultation with the regulatory agencies may be required. Complex compliance issues may result in an increased workload for our employees necessitating the park to charge higher fees to recover costs associated with this process.
Describe all activities planned in Redwood National and State Parks. Detailed answers to all questions of relevance to your event/activity will greatly expedite the application process. Take extra space if necessary.
A) Is singing planned? If so, what type, how many voices, microphone use, etc.
B) Will musical instruments be played? If so what kind, how many of each type, how long to be played? Explain approximate music volume, amplification, duration and frequency….”
The permit fee was waived for us and, upon sending a certificate showing we were covered with $1,000,000/$3,000,000 minimum liability insurance, our special use permit became official, permitting us to perform “Hiking and educational activities with groups of up to 15.”
Is this what we’ve come to – a special use permit with proof of $1,000,000/$3,000,000 liability insurance to take school kids walking in our national parks? Bringing our children to a national park is like pilgrimages for Americans, one of the highest things we can do for them while they are in our care.
I’m sure that the Park Service would say that of course they welcome school kids walking in the redwoods. Their concern is with other groups doing large events where hundreds of people might gather and compact the ground, leave trash, and make loud sounds that stress endangered species. But we were going to be just small groups walking in the redwoods, looking up at the tallest trees in the entire world and the park service, knowing that, still required the permit and the insurance certificate. That is not welcoming.
Judging by the shaky voice of the ranger when I called asking why we needed this permit, she did not want to be doing this. The only explanation she could give is that a letter would accompany the permit warning us to stay back from wild elk because it is the rutting season. But that cover letter could have gone out with an Educational Fee Waiver form just as well.
We need to change course for her sake and for the sake of the National Park Service. I love the National Park Service. I served in the National Park Service as a seasonal naturalist for 7 wonderfully idealistic, long-term seasons. Our National Parks are often described as the best idea our national government ever had. Visitors came up to me and said “this is one thing I don’t mind paying my taxes for”; I always felt that I was doing noble work in service to a noble cause. The National Park Service was filled with idealists, serving in one of the best examples of what a government “for the people” can look like. But when they are required to impose Special Use Permits on school classes, it violates the fundamental creed of an idealistic organization, and the energy of both the organization and its employees start to rot in a decaying feedback spiral.
Surely, this special use permit is not originating from the National Park Service. Surely it’s coming from elsewhere, from people who are so insecure in their power that they are afraid of children walking in the redwoods. Suddenly, the downward erosive force of their fear is a lot closer than I wanted to acknowledge. This time I can’t say it’s beyond my sphere of influence. These are my Chrysalis students and my National Park Service. I have to do something. So I write this article (and you have my approval to forward it on to whoever you wish). I also sent similar letters to the entire national and state park hierarchy from president and governor down through my legislators to park superintendents. (Several years later, I’m happy to report that we have never again been asked to fill out the Application for a Special Use Permit. Just the simple educational fee waiver request.)
This experience is the poster child face of the surveillance state. Many people respond to stories of the surveillance state with “I’m not guilty so I have nothing to hide”. That misses the point. The surveillance state isn’t about targeting individuals. It’s about creating a world that is predictable and controllable. This is done by draining away as much of the potential for surprise as possible. It’s a deadening of the world, a suffocation of spontaneity for everybody. We might never be targeted but we are, right now, living in a country where teachers needed a special use permit with proof of insurance to take their students walking in the redwoods.
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