Re: Inyo Wilderness Permit Gripe
Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 9:06 am
As many of us know, this whole permit debate got a lot of posting print in numerous threads last year and before that even. The issues of "ghost permits" (permits bought on rec.gov with intent not to use all of them but have backups), and non cancellation of any permit that is ultimately not used, is a problem that is not going away unless all permits have to be picked up in person at a ranger station. And I suspect that is history.
I got heavily involved in giving feedback to Sierra NF and Inyo NF during the "changes" and I can assure anyone that they are aware of the limitations with the system. Indeed, that is why Sierra insisted on having permits picked up in person as losing $15 on a reservation was not a big enough hit.
With Inyo, as I understand it, once you print the permit the system acknowledges "confirmation" and that is that. If the permit holder is a no show there is no way anyone but them knows it. And yes, the slot is then lost to anyone else to use (as I'm not sure if one can cancel and get it open again after that - even if the holder had the social consciousness to do it).
So here's the upside. And once again, known by the powers that be...No shows mean that the overall trailhead quotas actually have less people going in than there would be if every single permit holder used their permit. Yes, it means another person gets to lose out on that slot, but overall, there is less congestion and people impact on the wilderness and trails. To some, that is a good thing and at least it is not the other way around. However, inability to get permits can mean more people just deciding to go without one...with a fine risk.
As Daisy mentioned, my sense is that the TH quotas are quietly taking into account the fact that there will be a certain percentage of no shows.
And so on....From what I can tell the basic issue is that there are just too many of us humans tawdling around...and it ain't going to get better any time soon.
M.
I got heavily involved in giving feedback to Sierra NF and Inyo NF during the "changes" and I can assure anyone that they are aware of the limitations with the system. Indeed, that is why Sierra insisted on having permits picked up in person as losing $15 on a reservation was not a big enough hit.
With Inyo, as I understand it, once you print the permit the system acknowledges "confirmation" and that is that. If the permit holder is a no show there is no way anyone but them knows it. And yes, the slot is then lost to anyone else to use (as I'm not sure if one can cancel and get it open again after that - even if the holder had the social consciousness to do it).
So here's the upside. And once again, known by the powers that be...No shows mean that the overall trailhead quotas actually have less people going in than there would be if every single permit holder used their permit. Yes, it means another person gets to lose out on that slot, but overall, there is less congestion and people impact on the wilderness and trails. To some, that is a good thing and at least it is not the other way around. However, inability to get permits can mean more people just deciding to go without one...with a fine risk.
As Daisy mentioned, my sense is that the TH quotas are quietly taking into account the fact that there will be a certain percentage of no shows.
And so on....From what I can tell the basic issue is that there are just too many of us humans tawdling around...and it ain't going to get better any time soon.
M.