THE ALLIANCE OF BACKCOUNTRY PARACHUTISTS
dja...@whack.org
The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists
(www.backcountryparachutists.org) is a U.S.-based non-profit
organization created to:
Seek and maintain fair access for backcountry parachutists to local,
state, regional, provincial and national parks worldwide for
parachutists;
Gain fair access equal to that of other recurring recreational
activities that are non-powered, non-polluting, non-damaging, and
minimally intrusive;
Educate members about backcountry practices and responsibilities;
Develop alliances with other access-focused organization;
Assist and cooperate with all government agencies connected with
backcountry recreation and resource protection;
Promote and encourage the study and knowledge of backcountry
parachuting among the membership and the public at large; and
Compile information regarding the sport and science of backcountry
parachuting and to edit, publish, and disseminate the same.
As reported in the June issue of Skydiving Magazine, the ABP has
started an international membership drive and a letter writing campaign
to end a 26-year prohibition of the sport in the United States.
The ABP offers bronze, silver and gold memberships to parachutists and
other recreationists interested in access to national park systems
worldwide.
The ABP also administers a zip code-based letter generating system
that automatically sends pre-written and/or custom-authored fax letters
to the letter writer's congressperson and both U.S. senators.
The letters call on Congress to demand that NPS rescind or indefinitely
suspend Section 8.2.2.7 of its 2001 Management Policies manual, which
expressly prohibits backcountry parachuting, and which serves as a
roadblock to any individual unit superintendent who might seek to allow
backcountry parachuting. Copies of each letter are also faxed to Fran
Mainella, director of the National Park Service, and P. Lynn Scarlett,
assistant secretary of the Interior for NPS policy and budget.
Says ABP executive director Gardner Sapp: "The idea is to inform
Congress and thus pressure NPS and DOI to end its discrimination
against people who enjoy a recurring recreational activity that's
non-powered, non-polluting, non-damaging, minimally intrusive and no
more dangerous than other forms of adventure recreation."
ABP efforts last year resulted in an invitation to backcountry jumpers
by assistant secretary Scarlett to participate in the planning
processes of NPS units with jumpable cliffs - and assured the ABP
that NPS decision-makers would give it serious consideration - but
that hasn't happened yet because of Section 8.2.2.7.
"That's why we're seeking support from Congress in addition to
the outstanding help we've received from Colorado Congressman Tom
Tancredo," Sapp said. "We want NPS and DOI to know we expect them
to do what they say they will and that we are fed up with their
illegitimate discrimination."
Sapp stressed that the U.S. campaign is just the beginning of ABP's
efforts to seek, gain and maintain access worldwide for backcountry
parachutists, and that the organization plans to create letter-writing
systems and related access campaigns for backcountry jumpers in other
countries facing similar discrimination.
"We're starting with the U.S. because it was easiest to get
organized here," Sapp said, "but now we're ready to roll and
we're looking not just for as many members and allied organizations
as we can get, but for people with some specific skillsets that can
help us carry the fight everywhere on multiple levels."
Sapp says the ABP needs jumpers who are lawyers with criminal and/or
civil litigation experience to explore judicial remedies to access
discrimination in all countries with backcountry parachuting
prohibitions.
"We also need jumpers from countries other than the U.S. with
knowledge of their country's political system and how best to lobby for
change," he added, "and we need folks from those same countries
with the website knowledge to adapt the ABP automatic letter generating
system to your country's political/lobbying environment."