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Alaskan Alpine Club

Mountain Climbing Taxes

The following is the Alaskan Alpine Club proposal on National Park Service climbing taxes (fees), sent to UIAA, other mountain climbing organizations, publications, climbing equipment manufacturers and retailers, and other entities. We even sent a copy to the Park Service, courteous sorts that we are.

Contents of the page....
The proposal
Additional information
Access Fund
Open challenge to the National Park Service
Brief history of the club

July 2011

A proposed process to eliminate climbing fees in the US

Introduction....

The explanation of this proposal is long, offering the complete knowledge of the issue. Government corruption is dependent upon an ignorant society. This proposal offers the knowledge about the US National Park Service that is profoundly useful to climbers.

Most climbers will recognize the issue within the first section, and agree, with no need to read the rest of the information, except to learn the extent of the Park Service and American climber organization leadership corruption.

The first section ends with the bold print "End of suggested formal wording."

The job of organization "leaders" is to do the thinking. Thinking (asking and answering questions to identify and resolve contradictions) requires the use of time. If the leaders do not have time to ask and answer questions (think), they are not genuine leaders.

If the mountaineering organization leaders are not capable of eliminating unsupportable climbing taxes and other government burdens imposed on climbers, then the mountaineering organization leaders are useless to mountain climbers, and are serving only government.

New leaders and organizations might be needed for the concerns of actual mountain climbers.

This proposal establishes a model, controlled by mountain climbers, for reasonable climber protection of mountaineering freedom (free access). This proposal is for consideration by the 2011 General Assembly of UIAA (International Union of Alpinist Associations), and all genuine mountain climber organizations, publications, equipment manufacturers and other groups of people who understand human rights. The proposal, designed to demonstrate an efficient process to protect climber rights, can to regain the rights of climbers in and visiting USA.

The proposal will be understood by genuine mountain climbers, who inherently seek individual freedom. It will not be understood by power-damaged minds who seek government POWER over other people.

The proposal is presented in three sections...

The Introduction,
The Proposal,
The Reasoning.

The reasoning is long because it answers all the questions that the government seeks to avoid.

A common objection to the reasoning for this proposal will be that it involves too many words. REASONING, understood by thinking people (genuine leaders), involves the methodical identification and resolution of each contradiction created by those seeking "power" over other people. Institutional "power" is commonly used by ignorant leaders, instead of reasoning. Less-thinking, incompetent leaders prefer unquestioned, brief conclusions imposed by institutionally titled people corrupted by their petty power, creating the unreasoned, social problems this proposal seeks to solve among more-thinking mountain climbers.

The conclusions, or goals of this proposal, are presented below in full bold print paragraphs. The reasoning is in regular print. Some phrases are presented in bold print for emphasis.

The incentive for this proposal is the most wealthy government in human history, USA, announcing that it is again raising the taxes on mountain climbing to get more money for its insatiable military and wars. The US spends more money on its military war machine and ongoing wars, than all other nations combined. The climbing taxes (fees) go to the US Treasury for general distribution. The Park Service lies as usual to imply that they go to "mountaineering programs".

The US government has demonstrated its intent and process to keep increasing the climbing taxes because the primary US mountaineering organization leaders (American Alpine Club), as well as the Access Fund leaders, have traditionally been described as "in the pocket" of the US National Park Service. Those "leaders" do not effectively object to the climbing taxes and other illogical Park Service climbing regulations. The reason is identified later.

The varied Park Service regulations are designed to "get more money" for the government, by issuing citations (fines and threats of arrest) to climbers who logically fail to obey the illogical regulations. The process has become known as "taxation by citation". Those regulations do nothing to actually protect the climbers or the environment. They destroy climbing freedom, and create paperwork excuses for Park rangers to arrest and fine more climbers, to get yet more money for the government.

If you want American and international climbers to pay for the perpetual US wars and the lavish lifestyles of US government leaders, ignore or oppose this proposal.

This unique proposal offers national and international mountain climbers and climbing organizations a process to eliminate the climbing taxes without any involvement in government politics.

These are absolutes defining genuine mountain climbers....

1. Mountain climbers do not appreciate government bureaucratic paperwork and required fees.
2. Mountain climbers seek the individual freedom available in the mountains.
3. Mountain climbers need only the mountains and freedom, not governments or organizations.
4. The free mountains, void of government interventions, prove that all the government statements about mountaineering management and mountain rescues, are lies.

All human problems can be solved by reasoning, the identification and resolution of each actual contradiction. No problems can be solved, and nearly all social problems are caused by, Government Power which replaces reasoning with institutional power. Are UIAA and other mountain climbing organization leaders intellectually capable of reasoning (identifying and resolving each actual contradiction), or do their minds know only raw Power?

The reactions to this proposal will reveal which mountain climber organizations, publications, equipment manufacturers and retailers represent mountain climbers, and which represent a greedy government seeking to tax and deny the rights of climbers. The list will be uploaded on the internet.

The proposal....

The Alaskan Alpine Club proposes that UIAA and other mountaineering organizations and publications issue a formal Declaration defining the climbers who climb Denali (Mt. McKinley) and Mt Foraker, in Alaska, and Mt. Rainier in the State or Washington, USA, and pay the climbing tax, after November 2011, as "A disgrace to the history of mountain climbing", for record of this era of mountaineering history.

This proposal suggests that UIAA and other organizations record a list of any such climbers, whose names are learned from public and government sources, until such time that the United States government rescinds its tax on the RIGHT of common people to access, walk, hike and climb on American public land.

It is noted that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the US, a law, insures that the public-record names of all climbers who register, get permits, or pay fees to the National Park Service at Denali and Mt. Rainier National Parks, for climbing, can be obtained as public information.

The proposal is internal to the mountaineering community, not involving any nation's politics.  It does not harm the opportunities of mountain climbers who have a vast selection of many other mountains on this planet. Genuine mountain climbers can easily avoid these three tourist mountains. Climbers who support the government attacks on climber rights can disregard this declaration which carries no effect of a demand or law, leaving each climber to his own sense of integrity, reasoning ability, concern for fellow climbers, and his future reputation in the actual climbing community. This is not a boycott of the mountains. It is only the recording of a climber effort to regain free access to mountains, for the mountaineering history of those three mountains.

Concurrently......

UIAA might also start a program to list and openly endorse climbing in countries which offer freedom of mountaineering, which impose no climber taxation, and few if any bureaucratic restrictions. Such nations welcome climbers who will spend their money on real services and products offered by the local people of those nations, which is the preference of all reasoning people.

All small organization members of UIAA who tend to represent actual climbers rather than governments, are encouraged to vote for this proposal, and if unable to attend the 2011 General Assembly, to allocate their proxy vote to a member organization which supports the proposal.

Even government-supporting delegates may enjoy this opportunity to express their opinion of the arrogant United States of America whose wealthy leaders lie about representing freedom, and strongly criticize every other government for not supporting human rights. Of course the wealthy American Alpine Club will oppose this proposal, much to the amusement of actual climbers.

This vote will define UIAA and its delegates as either representing actual mountain climbers who universally oppose government taxes and restrictions on climbers, or representing the US government's taxation and restrictions on mountain climbers. An attempt by the UIAA leadership, to deny a General Assembly vote on this proposal, as it has done for other proposals that the American Alpine Club opposed, will define the UIAA leadership as opposed to the interests of actual mountain climbers.

Within the international mountaineering community, UIAA respectfully concludes that the climbing taxes applied to certain mountains demonstrate an unsupportable and damaging application of taxation on mountain climbing, and that those taxes are not tolerable within the mountaineering community.

With no intent to interfere with any government's policies or laws, and to only establish a standard for the integrity of genuine mountain climbers within the mountaineering community, UIAA Declares the following:

Mountain climbers who climb Denali (Mt. McKinley) and Mt. Foraker, in Alaska, and Mt. Rainier in the State or Washington, USA, who pay the climbing taxes thereof, subsequent to November 2011, shall be respectfully listed and described as "A Disgrace to the History of Mountain Climbing", for record of this era in mountaineering history.

UIAA shall record and maintain a list of any such climbers, whose names are learned from public and government sources, until such time that the United States government rescinds its tax on the RIGHT of common people to access, walk, hike and climb on American public land identified as mountains.

This international standard for respect of climbing freedom, among actual climbers, with the list of those climbers who choose to not apply the standard to themselves, currently involves only three mountains in one country, based on well considered reasoning demonstrating that the unique taxation excuses, and the uses of that tax money, so extensively defy human reasoning that this Declaration is appropriate for those three mountains.

The Reasoning....

The US National Park Service climbing tax on Mt. Rainier started at $15 per climber, and has been routinely increased to $56 per climber, in an obvious trend. In addition to the $10 entrance feed, $200 per climber NPS climbing tax on Denali and Mt. Foraker has been increased to $350 per climber.

Mountain climbing involves ego gratification and "bragging rights" among fellow mountain climbers. Genuine mountain climbers can easily surrender that ego gratification for three mountains, and create a disincentive for those bragging rights for tourist mountains when a greedy government uses that ego gratification desire against climbers, to seize more money for more police (park rangers) to arrest more climbers, to get more money for a war machine.

The tax is on the RIGHT of mountain climbers to walk on public land (climb mountains). A human RIGHT cannot be lawfully taxed, and still remain as a human RIGHT. A tax (that inherently favors the more wealthy folks), turns a "undeniable right" in a "deniable privilege", by definition of rights and privileges in prevailing law.

Human rights, including the right to walk on public land, are protected in US prevailing law.

The US government, and especially its National Park Service, is notorious for violating all laws.

The United States of America was formed when the common people openly rebelled against the British King's tax on tea. That action is a prominent part of US history. UIAA, and especially the British delegates, might wish to define UIAA's future as genuinely representing freedom-advocating mountain climbers, by peacefully rebelling against the US tax on climbing, for record of mountaineering history. Future climbers will enjoy telling stories about that principled action by UIAA. Current UIAA leaders will achieve a place in mountaineering history, that no prior UIAA leaders have achieved.

All it takes to lose your rights is for a few people to remain silent.

To speak up for human rights, against government power, requires courage. Of what use are organization leaders if they hold no courage?

If UIAA leaders fail this opportunity, new international mountaineering leaders will defend the human rights of climbers, and leave UIAA representing the Obama and Mubarak styled governments.

Now is the time to do this, with the common people of the world rebelling against war and police regimes who tax the common people for more police and military.

This proposal suggests that UIAA delegates and other climbing organization leaders recognize that the corrupted United States government has taxed Denali, Mt. Foraker and Mt. Rainier into a disgrace to mountaineering freedom, and the climbers supporting that taxation are likewise a disgrace to mountaineering.

Also, this proposal suggests that the names of each government officer using their power of office to impose the climbing taxes, be recorded and highlighted with the list of climbers who are repugnant to the human quest for freedom, for the written history of US mountain climbing. Such government officers would currently include the primary US National Park Service rangers enforcing taxation on climbing, Park Superintendents, the Director of the National Park Service, the Secretary of the Department of Interior, and the US President.

This action will not and cannot "shame" government officials into eliminating the climbing taxes. The first damage that power does to the human mind is to eliminate its recognition of "shame", or wars, and taxes on the right to walk on public land, could not exist. This is merely a matter of recording the current international mountaineering community's leadership standards of support for mountaineering freedom, for record of mountaineering history. The effect will be based on economics and the personal standards of actual mountain climbers, not any "thinking" by the power-damaged minds of government personnel.

When Denali, Rainier and Foraker no longer attract enough climbers to tax or provide excuses for mountaineering budgets, and become public image embarrassments to National Park Service management policies, the taxes will be eliminated.

The Poster..... The related poster will be popular among climbers and last longer than the controversy. It will insure that this issue will not be ignored in American mountaineering history. The proposal will either be endorsed by the climbing organization "leaders" to prove that they are genuine LEADERS, to therefore eliminate the climbing taxes in a short period of time, or the leaders will continue to fail the climbers, and the issue will become a long term fight dividing the climbing community between the arrogant, government-power rich, and the common mountain climbers. Your choice.

Let the US government have those three mountains for their own police and unquestioning minions, while the mountain climbers climb elsewhere and educate the world about those three mountains and the US National Park Service representing a disgrace to human rights and freedom.

UIAA has issued "Declarations" to protect the environment, be nice, and other feel-good things. If UIAA cannot issue a Declaration to effectively protect climber rights, then UIAA is of no genuine value as a "climber organization".

Every intelligent mountain climber recognizes that governments are merely organizations of self-serving people who have fooled or intimidated the common people into working hard to pay taxes for the comparatively comfortable lives and craving for power by government people. The most common excuse throughout history is the government claim that it must protect the people from the armies of those other governments, then starts wars to fool people into thinking the claim is valid. The many wars started by the Roman emperors and US presidents are classic examples.

When a government openly becomes the primary initiator of destructive wars in the world, such as the US government, based on obvious lies, only timid people or war mongers keep giving money to the government. Genuine mountain climbers are not timid. How shall international mountain climbers and their organization leaders of this era define themselves in regard to giving money for America's Presidential Ego Gratification Wars that are slaughtering innocent civilians in several countries, including mountain countries?

The purpose of this proposal is to begin an effective program to regain and defend the human rights of mountain climbers, related to their activity, in the American Police State.

Mountain climbers, by the nature of their challenging dangerous goals, are capable of LEADING the eternal quest for human rights. The test is of the capability of their current leaders.

Throughout history the common people have considered that the right to walk and travel on PUBLIC LAND, is an undeniable HUMAN RIGHT, not a deniable privilege granted upon payment of tribute to the greedy police of a government.

Mountain climbing constitutes walking and traveling on the land, without consumption of mountain resources. Mountain climbing is, and socially represents, a zenith of individual freedom that does not damage the people or the environment.

In contrast, the US government is the primary destroyer of natural environment in the world, to support its insatiable, resource squandering war machine. Besides thousands of tons of toxic Agent Orange dioxins dumped in Asia, the US military has fired many thousands of "depleted uranium" artillery shells, to dump thousands of tons of US nuclear waste in villages and towns of other countries where cancer cases have then vastly escalated among those civilian populations. Impact vaporized "depleted" uranium is highly toxic. It is heavy nuclear waste vaporized into the atmosphere, that then settles back to the ground where it is absorbed into food products. That is what the US climbing taxes finance. The damages of that yet-increasing nuclear radiation from America's war machine will persist for thousands of years.

Wars are just the zenith example of government-induced waste and destruction of human energy and natural resources, for which government taxes the people. With the US obviously being the world's leading war-maker, the example reveals that the US government is obviously squandering the taxes it seizes from climbers, and cannot justify a real need for that money. The Alaskan Alpine Club paperwork guy assigned to write this proposal, is a Vietnam war veteran, and enjoys expressing the truth about wars. All wars are always based on lies, just like the lies that the US National Park Service police use to attack the rights of climbers.

Any country that can afford HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars each year for a war machine being used to destroy other people's lives and property around the world, does not need any more money from climbers. If any climbers support the American war machine, the US Army and Marines are looking for physically fit recruits who do not know how to think, (do not ask any questions). This proposal does not hinder those climbers who want to donate their money, time or lives to America's Presidential Ego Gratification Wars.

Amusingly, those gullible military chaps believe the lie that they are fighting and risking their lives and limbs for "American rights and freedom". Then they return to discover that weasely little war-dodging National Park Rangers make them buy back the basic right to walk on public land, just like the chaps who did not risk their lives for those "rights".

The Alaskan Alpine Club suggests that this proposal should become the most prominent current program of UIAA and all genuine mountain climber organizations and publications, as a result of the escalating corruption and greed in the US government. The US government has singled-out climbers for special taxation and regulations that are not imposed on any other outdoor recreation group. No other outdoor recreation group must pay a special tax for the right to walk on public land in the US. All the other outdoor recreation groups have LEADERS who would not tolerate such damaging discrimination.

The primary quest of humans has always been to be free, to make one's own reasoning-based decisions that do not harm others. Government, an institution based on using force above reasoning, is the opponent of that eternal human quest for liberty. Government personnel, with their power-craving minds, insatiably seek more "power" and "money", not reasoning ability or rational governance of a free society. They demand the power to make YOUR decisions for you.

The question comes forward: Shall UIAA leaders and other mountaineering organization leaders represent mountain climbers, or government?

Mountain climbers will continue the human quest for freedom, with or without the UIAA and other organization leaders. The organization leaders can catch up with the genuine leadership of the individual climbers, in regard to the freedom issue, or they can descend into increasing disfavor among genuine climbers, as governments routinely do, as is becoming obvious in the world. Governments will increase taxation and restrictions until the people effectively stop the government. Government power-damaged minds know only the quest for more power and money.

This proposal is internationally impartial and beneficial. It is based on objective criteria that rationally causes its initial and perhaps only long range effect to be limited to the insatiably greedy United States of America, for obvious reason.

This proposal facilitates the delegates of UIAA demonstrating their intellectual ability to apply the declaration only where it is warranted for stated UIAA reasons on record. International mountain climbers have accepted that it is reasonable for certain financially less wealthy countries with limited resources, to charge peak fees for more wealthy international climbers climbing selected peaks in those countries. The fees are often discussed among climbers. Some climbers perceive that charging no fees would facilitate more visitors who would therefore spend more money in those countries, for local services. But most climbers accept the peak fees in resource-poor countries, for the reasoning of poor or undeveloped resources. Reasoning therefore prevails above power.

But when the most wealthy, most arrogant, most war mongering government in the world, seeking to add climbing taxes to its war treasury, imposes and increases peak fees, the decision to actively oppose them is clear, and can be distinguished on record.

It is fully within the international mountaineering community leadership duties to define the War Taxation Mountains of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Foraker and Denali as precisely that, to eliminate their ego gratification reputation among mountain climbers. This case is clearly defined since the US War Machine is not defending against any military attack against America, or any damage to the environment. The US is openly slaughtering innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and other covert operations, every day, which the US military routinely admits as "unfortunate collateral damage". The daily recurrence of that action and excuse is not tolerable by honest people.

The US claims that its wars are against "terrorists", because there are not enough "communists" for the war excuse. But the US definition of "suspected terrorists" who are subject to seizure and permanent imprisonment without charges or protection in written law, and worse, now includes anyone who criticizes the US government, therein obviously most mountain climbers. Genuine climbers are not intimidated. Are the "leaders"?

In contradiction to the incessant lies of National Park Service mountaineering rangers, the climbing taxes go to the US Treasury for its war machine, NOT to Park Service rescue services or mountaineering programs. The general taxes in the US pay for the Park Service budgets. Each new tax that is applied, such as climbing taxes, only increases the tax money going to the Treasury, for the insatiable US War Machine.

Ongoing rescues across the spectrum of accident victims on all US public lands and waters, conducted by various government agencies, are paid by general taxation, not specific taxation of each activity group at each land area, therein again exposing the US National Park Service lying about the use of the climbing tax. If the Park Service is speaking, it is lying, which can be exposed by effective questioning. The Park Service holds no lawful taxation authority or separate treasury. The climbing tax is imposed under an inferior law (Park Service written) contradicted by a superior law, and enforced by lying and intimidation in violation of the prevailing law.

"An inferior law contradicted by a superior law holds no weight or effect as law." - US Supreme Court, and any person literate in the English language. That ruling constitutes the prevailing law. The RIGHT to walk and travel by common means on the public lands and rights of way prevails above any law imposing taxation and required permission (permit, license), in law.

US National Park Service personnel criminally violate every written law that detracts from their raw power. They rule by armed intimidation, as does the entire US government. The US government will not make its personnel obey the written law, especially when they are unlawfully seizing more tax money for the US war machine.

The many non-Park mountains in the US, with climbing equally or more dangerous, and more year-around climbing activity, void of mountaineering programs, police, regulations and bureaucrats, expose the lies of the power-craving National Park officials and rangers.

"There can be no lawful obligation or liability to a forced benefit" (such as Park Service rescues that exclude volunteer rescue personnel). That is the prevailing law in the US. The Park Service cannot lawfully charge a tax or fee for its rescue services or forced mountaineering "programs", for the same reason all the other government agencies cannot and do not do so. The armed National Park Service mountaineering rangers merely function on an unlawful intimidation scam based on their lies to the public. And the US news journalists dutifully parrot the Park Service lies, as implied truth, because the Park Service and other government agencies give the news services free, "copy-ready" news releases (lies) that look like real reporting and save the news services money.

In the US, any taxation on the right of the public to walk and travel by common means on public land and public rights of way is unlawful by prevailing law. But the US government is completely corrupted, and now imposes decrees under inferior laws contradicted by superior laws. The taxes are imposed by government bureaucrats using raw power of office, with unquestioning, armed Park rangers using intimidation, who do not respect the rule of written law.

Under the higher prevailing law in the US, the government holds no authority to demand the payment of a tax or fee, or require government permission, permit or license, to exercise a RIGHT. Walking on open (unfenced) public land is a RIGHT in the US. But since the corrupted court judges get their salaries from the same "taxation by citation", the US courts simply rubber stamp every demand for all forms of taxation. The US has the most powerful government in the world, and thus the most corrupt. There is an easy process to have a higher court overturn such lower court rulings, but most climbers cannot afford the time and money for a higher court review of the case, and the Park Service knows that.

There is also an easier process to individually preclude the Park Service from imposing inferior laws on individual climbers, but that requires learning new knowledge, and the climbers are not made aware of the knowledge by their organization leaders who parrot the Park Service lies.

The Washington DC government rules the US the same way Mubarak ruled Egypt, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, and Gaddafi ruled Libya, lying to everyone.

The war issue, mentioned in this reasoning for understanding of where climber taxes go, is a matter for the Americans to correct, but in defense against being forced to pay climbing taxes used for such non-climbing issues, international mountain climbers can declare that Mt. Rainier, Mt. Foraker and Denali, and the people climbing them, are a disgrace to mountaineering freedom, based on the illogical taxation alone.

The reasoning for this historic action is extensive, recognized by THINKING mountaineering leaders. The reasoning involves several aspects of social and climber well-being around the world, such as the following.

Medical science has confirmed that diseases are often "triggered" or initiated by psychological stress. Social stress in the modern world is obviously increasing. Stress relief activities are imperative for good health, and becoming more critical. Recreational mountain climbing is a stress relief activity. To tax and regulate mountain climbing back into a stress-inducing activity under threat of arrest illuminates the ignorance of government personnel, and the dismal failure of mountain climbing "leaders".

The psychological health of humans is in great part achieved by the historic right of the common people to escape stress by walking out in the natural environment areas most comfortable for their individual interests, without encountering stress-inducing harassment by armed government agents (National Park Service rangers) demanding taxes and paperwork. This core requirement of the human mind, central to the human condition during the entire evolution of humans, prevails above all the lies, greed and self-serving interests of government personnel. Government personnel use their raw government power to benefit their wealth and craving for more power, at the cost of the common people. The threat of arrest for violating any of too-many-to-know regulations induces stress. US National Park Service thugs could read this paragraph, and would have as much concern for even their own family's health, as Mubarak's police thugs had for the Egyptian people. Park Service thugs are that malicious and greedy for money and power. They hold power-damaged minds.

This proposal is design to eliminate some of that stress, for the benefit of all people, defining the reasoning ability of mountaineering leaders.

Any tax reduces the number of the common people who can afford to walk on what was supposed to be their public land. Such a tax identifies the repugnance of the wealthy, privileged American government elite who force common people with less money to pay the government elite.

The source of the rescue lie.... Mt. Rainier National Park initiated the Park Service's forced seizure of mountain rescue services, from the many previous volunteer mountain rescue groups of US mountain climbers. The first year that Mt. Rainier National Park claimed a "mountain rescue budget", in the 1970's, Park officials claimed a previous year expenditure of $34,000 for "mountain rescues", and requested that amount for the next year's mountain rescue budget. In a resulting public meeting at Mt. Rainier National Park, attended by members of the Seattle and Yakima (cities on each side of Mt. Rainier) volunteer mountain rescue groups, answers to certain climber questions were demanded.

Upon effective questioning the Park Service admitted that it had spent no money on mountain rescues the prior year. All the rescues were performed by volunteer rescue groups of fellow climbers. $17,000 of that budget claim was discovered to be the salaries for the normally paid time of Park Service rangers siting in their offices down at the Park headquarters, during the hours that the rescues on the mountain were being conducted by volunteer mountain rescue groups. The Park Service claimed that the rangers back in headquarters were officially "in charge" of any activity in the Park, so they could claim the time they were "in charge" of the volunteer rescues, as a budget excuse. The other $17,000 was a claim for the money the Park Service would have had to spend if the volunteers on the mountain worked for the Park Service. The Park Service claimed a new double budget for an activity that resulted in no actual expense to the Park Service.  The claim was a complete LIE, otherwise described as the ongoing, criminal fraud by US National Park Service officials and rangers.

Then Mt. Rainier National Park officials presented that LIE to the Congressional budgetary staff back in Washington DC. Since no climbers were present to expose the lie, and because the Congressional staff are also power-damaged minds craving more money, they eagerly funded the lies for the same reason they are funding the lies that keep the current Presidential Ego Gratification wars going.

That is how Park Service at Rainier National Park seized the mountain rescue responsibilities that volunteer mountain rescue groups, of climbers, prior performed at no cost to the taxpayer. With the new money to hire armed rangers (police) as "mountain rescue personnel", the Park Service then progressively denied the volunteer mountain rescue groups the right to rescue their fellow climbers in Mt. Rainier National Park. The salary expenses for the new, book trained, incompetent Park Service "mountain rescue expert" rangers, were then used to claim increasing budgets every year. Then the "mountain rescue expenses" and "mountaineering programs" were used as excuses to impose a climbing tax on the climbers.

That process illuminates the normal corruption of government power, exposing the repugnance and lying of US National Park Service superintendents and mountaineering rangers.

The other mountainous National Parks quickly adopted that process. The deadly incompetence of the Park Service's "instant mountain rescue experts" (armed Park Service police) has been repeatedly proven in court cases. Accident victims in the mountains have died because the Park Service "expert mountain rescue" bureaucrats and police did not conduct actual rescues that competent climbers could have conducted, as proven in court.  The traditional history and infrastructure of climbers voluntarily rescuing their fellow climbers in the US, was wiped out by the repugnant National Park Service corruption. That action inherently diminished the bond among climbers who no longer had to be concerned with their fellow climbers because "the government" disallowed climbers from rescuing fellow climbers who encountered the inherent accidents of challenging the limits of human endeavor. The concurrent repugnance of the American Alpine Club's and Access Fund's support for the National Park Service is again illuminated. Their interest is power and money, not climbers.

The Park Service has consistently lied to the public and news media, to hide the fact that US mountain climbers had their own volunteer mountain rescue groups, and their own volunteer mountain rescue financing programs that cost the taxpayers nothing. The Park Service used its power to diminish and eliminate the effect of climbers helping climbers, to gain power and tax funding for "controlling climbers".

The solution to mountain rescues is precisely what the US climbers created, volunteer mountain rescue groups of fellow climbers, and volunteer mountain rescue financing programs, therein identifying REASONING. As the previously common volunteer mountain rescue climbers know, a "rescue" is a perfect excuse to go climbing, with a purpose. With American Alpine Club support, the Park Service destroyed that reasoning-based solution to the rescue "problem". The Park Service had the POWER to deny access by volunteer rescue groups. The government rescue budget excuse supports more taxes to hire armed police (rangers) who are NOT genuine mountain climbers or mountain rescue personnel. They are armed police who are incompetent at mountain rescues, but who have the power to preclude any competent competition.

The Park Service CANNOT hire competent mountain climbers as mountaineering rangers, because the primary job of the armed Park Service mountaineering rangers is to arrest or issue costly citations to mountain climbers, to "get more money" and display more power over climbers. No genuine climbers will arrest or cite other climbers for not kowtowing to illogical government regulations, paperwork and taxation. Genuine climbers seek freedom, not government dominance. The deadly incompetence of US National Park Service rangers (armed police) is deeply entrenched. The National Park Service mountaineering rangers do not tell climbing stories among themselves. They tell arrest and citation stories. They enjoy "getting" those climbers. And then they lie to the public, just like other self-serving government officials.

An Alaskan climber in his tent at base camp on Denali overheard a Park ranger outside his tent saying the following to a new Park Service ranger who had just arrived on the flight from Talkeetna.... "Your job as our CIA man here is to act like a climber and find out who has not registered. Just let us know, and we will issue the citations." That is one of the Park Service "mountaineering programs" for which the climbing tax pays. Climbers are paying the police who are only there to arrest the climbers who do not pay them. That is one of the mountaineering programs that the Access Fund wants "fully funded". No genuine climbers will work for the US National Park Service, but American Alpine Club members are always eager to get Park Service jobs.

An investigation into one Denali National Park non-rescue of accident victims on Denali, with the Chief Mountaineering Ranger and his "expert" minions on the military helicopter that was sent to the rescue, resulted in a dead person who would have otherwise easily survived if a real rescue had been allowed, also resulted in a Park ranger admitting to an investigator that "dead bodies in National Parks make good budget excuses".

Like all therefore inherently corrupted US government agencies, the Park Service is funded for the existence of problems, NOT solutions. If the problems are solved, the Park Service does not get funding for those problems. The Park Service creates and increases the deadly problems that climbers would solve for obvious reason, if the Park Service were not given control of those mountains. If you want to know why humans do what they do, identify the INCENTIVE. The incentive of government is money and power. The incentive of climbers is to have a fun time, safely, at the least cost, with no noticeable damage to their playground.

All data processed by government power-damaged minds arrives at one controlling conclusion, by design of the concept of power in the human mind. That conclusion demands more power and money for the central authority, regardless of reasoning or damage to the common people or environment. Power-damaged minds CANNOT recognize individual human rights above power. A process to regain human rights is to stop giving money to the central authority. Mountain climbers can do that. Government-controlled organization leader cannot.

"Public land" in the US was created, and precluded from private ownership, under management paid by general taxation. Access to "open", unfenced public land cannot be lawfully taxed (fees) or under any requirement to get permission, permit or license. Authority to demand fees or permission lawfully defines "private property". Permission that is grantable, is deniable. To require the payment of fees/taxation for access to the land renders the land as the "private land of government personnel" who can deny access to those who cannot pay them. Since that land would therefore be managed by private (government employed) owners, and since government managers are notoriously more expensive, more malicious, and offer lesser quality service than private managers, the "pay to access" public lands would logically be sold at public auction to private owners, or the fees should be abolished. The reasoning is flawless in itself and in the prevailing law. The armed Park Service thugs imposing POWER above reasoning, are insatiable, by design of power. Power-damaged minds display an eternal quest for "more power" and "more money". Unless that power is stopped by a reasoning process, the climbing taxes in the US will increase to render the popular mountains as accessible to only the wealthy elite and government cronies.

For the record in mountaineering history, the question is of which international and national climber organizations will support "public mountain lands" with free access benefiting the common people, and which will support "private mountain lands managed by insatiable government thugs" with pay-to-access taxes, in addition to general taxation, that exclude climbers who are not wealthy?

The Park Service has successfully targeted mountain climbers, with taxes and dangerous regulations for bureaucracy budget excuses, because it is said the Park Service functionally owns the environmentalist-led American Alpine Club, Access Fund and certain climbing equipment advertisers in the dutifully compliant US mountaineering magazines. No other outdoor recreation group has been so openly made fools of by their government-compliant "national leadership".

The American Alpine Club leaders are hopeless. They will continue supporting the government against the climbers. But will the US mountaineering magazines support this proposal, to belatedly support the freedom of the mountains, or must international climbers lead the Americans back to the mountaineering freedom that the Americans timidly surrendered? The opportunity for international UIAA delegates and other clubs to demonstrate greater support for freedom, than the arrogant Americans, for record, is too good to ignore.

The reactions.....

Who shall first attempt to attack the Alaskan Alpine Club, for daring to suggest that the actual mountain climbers can make the decisions that define the mountaineering community, for daring to suggest that the government thugs DO NOT speak for the actual mountain climbers, and for daring to suggest that the government's pocket mountaineering organization leaders DO NOT speak for the actual climbers?

The government's pocket organization leaders and publications have a problem in that regard. Because the Alaskan Alpine Club has repeatedly spoken in defense of mountain climber rights, we have already been repeatedly attacked and lied-about by the government and its minions, and thus we became more known among the actual climbers. Climbers around the world have stated that they enjoy being a member of the Alaskan Alpine Club. You are a member of the Alaskan Alpine club if you say you are. We represent the freedom for climbers to make their own decisions, the individual freedom that government hates, and that individuals enjoy.

This might be the time for UIAA to emerge from being a ignored little organization of the inconsequential organization leaders who only perpetually bicker over their organizational structure, to now genuinely lead the mountaineering community, and demonstrate its leadership for the rights of the common climbers. For whom do genuine leaders exist, themselves or the people?

The Park Service personnel can be demonstrated in public as having power-damaged minds. Their minds cannot neurologically recognize any thinking process that does not conclude at more power and more money for their agency, in absolute defiance of reasoning. Park Service personnel are malicious, armed, lie incessantly, and hold no respect for the rule of written law, as can be proved with a series of questions. They are receiving this proposal. They will start bribing and "influencing" certain American Alpine Club sorts and other outdoor organization leaders, to actively oppose this proposal, among other dishonest tactics. They have the tax paid staff to do that.

In the past, the Alaskan Alpine Club wrote the series of questions, in a certain format, for record, that proved the ongoing criminal racketeering of certain National Park Service Superintendents and rangers, including Denali and Rainier, regarding their lucrative mountaineering concession permits. The Park Service therefore arrested and jailed Doug Buchanan, the person who wrote the questions. The false charges (for asking questions) were formally listed as "interference with government operations", and "operations in a National Park, without a permit". The arresting officer stated, "We can arrest you for virtually anything. It's true". Doug was jailed for a week, in a cell with an accused murderer who in fact killed the person he was accused of killing. Doug was denied bail (too dangerous to be in public), denied a trial (the facts could not be allowed on court record), denied appeal, ascribed to a federal criminal record (without court recourse), and more (shackled in chains, etceteras). Doug was amused. As a war veteran, infantry, the pitiable Park Service thugs had no hope of intimidating him with mere jail. He still laughs when writing these words.

When the Park Service unlawfully imposed concession permits for mountaineering guiding services in Denali National Park, Alaska, all the Alaskan mountaineering guides, except one pocket Park Service supporter, were denied permits. Six out of the seven permits were given to lower 48, non-Alaskan guiding companies who were politically supporting the Park Service, including Whitaker's commonly despised Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI).

The world's climbers who wanted a guide to climb Denali in Alaska were denied Alaskan guides, and required to pay for non-Alaskans who were inexperienced with Alaska mountain conditions, who fed their clients Park Service propaganda instead of Alaskan mountaineering knowledge. If any current Denali National Park concession permit guides (political puppets) want to claim an Alaskan or international mountain climber ethic, just ask them in public, with their name on record, if a climber should be arrested and jailed for not paying the Park Service a tax for the RIGHT walk on public land. An Alaskan and any genuine climber will say NO, for public record. A Park Service puppet guide will attempt every arrangement of words except, NO, because the Park Service owns him.

Likewise, until the Alaskan Alpine Club asked the questions, on record, that proved the unlawful nature of mountaineering guide "concession permits", Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI) was the MONOPOLY concession permit holder for guiding climbers on Mt. Rainier. When government bureaucrats select mountaineering guides, based on political favors and kickbacks, instead of mountaineers selecting mountaineering guides based on mountain climbing knowledge, clients get government lies instead of mountaineering knowledge from the guides.

The Denali and Mt. Rainier National Park mountaineering guide concession permit holders can gouge guided climbers for excessive profits because more competent guiding competition is precluded from operating in the parks. Those lucrative permit holders will scoff at this proposal, most likely bribe the American Alpine Club and other outdoor organization leaders to oppose it, and encourage the Park Service to threaten anyone who supports it, among other dishonest tactics.

Public Law 89-249, creating "concession permits" for National Parks was adopted by Congress to logically limit the number of hotels and other "facilities development" inside the National Parks, to prevent the parks from becoming tourist cities. The law allows the limited, and thus very lucrative "concession permits", ONLY for business operations that build "facilities" (buildings) in the parks, or create recognizable and definable "crowding". Mountaineering guides do not build buildings in parks, and even the popular mountains have so few climbers per acre that the Park Service cannot and has not defined any related "crowding" for the effect of the law. "Concession permits" for adventure guiding in National Parks are therefore unlawfully (criminally) imposed. The limited number of concession permits prevents competition, and thus increases lucrative profits for the permit holders who can therefore afford to "pay kickbacks" to Park Service officials to obtain and maintain the concession permits. In Denali National Park, all ALASKAN mountaineering guides, except one "pocket" Park Service supporting guide, were denied a concession permit when the system was imposed. All the rest were lower 48, environmentalist connected, summer weather guides, comparatively ignorant of Denali.

The Alaskan Alpine Club's efforts broke the long standing RMI (Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated) MONOPOLY concession permit for Mt. Rainier, much to the extreme anger of the politically connected Whitakers and the Park Service, but only very limited competition was allowed.

The mountaineering guiding concession permits for those two parks (among others) is a court verifiably, highly lucrative criminal racketeering operation by Park Service personnel, rife with accusations of kickbacks, among obviously dishonest, climbing guides whose incompetence cannot tolerate free market competition. They are primary supporters for the tax on the climbing rights, by order of the Park Service which can revoke their permits.

The permit holders had the money and American Alpine Club support to defeat most of the Alaskan Alpine Club efforts, so far.

If the Swiss and Italian governments denied guiding permits to the Swiss and Italians, for climbing the Matterhorn, and gave those permits to the British and Germans because they bribed the Swiss and Italian governments, how would the Swiss and Italian mountain climbing organizations react? That is how we suggest they react in this case. We will list the reactions of the UIAA and international mountaineering organization delegates, for the recorded history of mountain climbing.

The US news media will dutifully ignore this proposal, or print only the Park Service lies without asking the questions that prove the Park Service statements as lies.

Defending the rights of mountain climbers is dependent upon the actual mountain climbers. Mountain climbers have always been criticized and attacked by governments and social institutions because climbers dare to challenge human limits in government-intimidated societies. Governments are dependent on ignorant, unquestioning, intimidated people who will challenge nothing. So are the mountain climbing organization leaders actual climbers, or have they sunk to representing government power over climbers?

We also suggest that the name of the "UIAA Access Commission" be changed to the "UIAA Climber Rights Commission". "Access" can be granted, but taxed to eliminate the commonly poor climbers, and regulated to eliminate harmless freedom. "Rights" cannot be lawfully taxed or subjected to permits, by definition of rights. Does UIAA support "actual access" to the mountains, or "access" that can be taxed to deny access to most climbers? Are the people of the world seeking their rights, or only increasingly taxed access?

You may ask any questions.

Thank you for considering this proposal for the benefit of mountaineering freedom.

Respectfully,

Doug Buchanan
Alaskan Alpine Club delegate to UIAA.

Additional information......

"Leaders"....

As anyone can recognize from studying the phenomenon of citizen organization "leaders" who become cronies of government bureaucrats, the American Alpine Club and Access Fund "leaders" have put their government-developed, personal friendships with government bureaucrats, above the interests of the common climbers. As well known to perceptive people, "important sounding", titled government bureaucrats offer all manner of flattery and petty benefits to ego graving, petty citizen organization leaders, who therefore perceive that their own titled importance is greater than the interests of their common followers. The two groups of mutually flattering "leaders" therefore psychologically develop more in common with each other, than with any followers.

The petty little American Alpine Club and Access Fund "leaders" could read the above paragraph, and to defend their egotistical view of themselves, they will deny that they were so easily and traditionally duped with such petty flattery by government dolts, BUT THEY OBVIOUSLY WERE, AS THE RESULTS AND ANY OBSERVATION OF THEIR CONVERSATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS, PROVE. The process is as old as government, and quickly recognized by every commonly perceptive person in human history. How else could a climbing tax have been imposed on mountain climbers in the US, while the Access Fund and American Alpine Club "leaders" existed?

The reality behind National Park Service propaganda.....

There is a process to create much more effectively managed National Parks, at a fraction of the current taxpayer cost, with greater environmental protection, and more public support for more such Parks, verifiable against any questions anyone can ask, but not as long as the National Park Service is supported and funded for its POWER instead of the reasoning ability of its personnel. Power corrupts, always, by design of the perception of power in the human mind. Reasoning cannot corrupt, by design of the human mind. Extremely few Americans understand the preceding two sentences, as their US, State and local governments make so obvious.

If you were to get past the Park Service's bureaucracy defenses, to discover the large number of highly paid "Directors", "Assistant Directors", "Associate Directors" and other high titles being paid high salaries in National Park Service national, regional and sub-regional offices, who do NOTHING that actually benefits or protects the environment, you might belatedly figure out what the Park Service and its lucratively benefited environmentalist organization leaders do not want you to know, for the same reason the US military generals and their flag-waving military industrial complex executives do not want you to know what causes, sustains and actually happens in wars.

Like all government bureaucracies, the Park Service started with a good idea and dedicated personnel, many decades ago. But because power corrupts, and the government merely seizes the money it wants, with taxation and other descriptions of taxation, such as fees, levies and citation fines, the power to tax is used to increase the taxes without any natural limit until the people revolt and overthrow the government. The Park Service exists to increase the salaries of themselves, and give high paying, do-nothing jobs to their cronies, like all government agencies since government was invented.

Access Fund........

In response to the Alaskan Alpine Club proposal to eliminate the climbing fees, one of the Access Fund's Regional Coordinators stated: "Recently there have been numerous meetings in Boulder and Washington by representatives of the climbing and mountaineering community, with the common goal of fully funding our National Parks." As noted elsewhere on this website, the anti-climber, US environmentalist organizations have bragged about "taking over" all the US climbing organizations. The Access Fund statement again illuminates that fact. Fully funding the Park Service is NOT a goal of climbers. It is a goal of self-serving Park Service bureaucrats and their Access Fund cronies betraying the actual mountain climbers in the name of the climbers. Regaining climber rights and eliminating climbing taxes are goals of climbers. The Access Fund has duped many climber-paid organizations, publications and companies into donating to the Access Fund to pay for the destruction of American climber rights.

To say that fully funding the National Park Service is a goal of mountain climbers, is like saying that fully funding the military is the goal of peace organizations, which the Access Fund leaders would say and work to achieve if they were the peace organization leaders.

Not comprehendible by Access Fund leaders, American Alpine Club leaders and government dolts, is the inherent fact that when a lot of people finally recognize that they have been rhetorically flim-flammed into paying for the destruction of their own rights, the reaction is not within the control of the organization and government "leaders" who betrayed their supporters. Upon the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Kremlin guards looked at the crowd coming toward them, including their own families, and started shooting INTO the Kremlin. The climber children of the Access Fund and American Alpine Club dolts may be reading this, and recognize who destroyed the freedom of the mountains that climbers inherently seek. The Access Fund "leaders" may be sufficiently flattered by petty government dolts, but their children do not derive any benefits, and recognize who destroyed their valuable rights in exchange for such worthless illusions.

The above reality, the climbing taxes and restrictions in the Parks, that are disproven as legitimate by prevailing law and the non-Park mountains, are what the climbers contributing to the Access Fund, including the climbers buying products and services from companies contributing to the Access Fund, have been getting for their money. The climbers are paying for more fully funded legions of National Park "Associate Directors" and their staffs using their funding to only write more regulations to harass and bilk more money out of climbers and everybody else. The proof is manifest in the existence of a special tax on climbers that no other user group must pay, and would not have happened if the US climber organizations had actual leaders representing climbers instead of more funding for the Park Service.

The List of Names........

The climbers who climb the taxed mountains put their names and other information on "public record" by demand of the National Park Service. Law defies that information as "public information", which must be released to the public at any request, especially a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It is not a "State Secret" or "private information", which are each defined in law. The Alaskan Alpine Club will be requesting that information for the purpose of putting those names on the list of the climbers who are in the opinion of the Alaskan Alpine Club, a "Disgrace to the History of Mountain Climbing". The Park Service will attempt to hide the names, but cannot successfully refuse a FOIA request, related court order, or public curiosity as to the official reason of record in law that such information is not released.

Would the Park Service attempt to hide those names, or deny that those climbers climbed those mountains, to thus prove for public record that the Park Service shares the shame of those climbers? The mere attempt to prevent the distribution of those names will highlight the issue to the general public, and illuminate that those climbers are that ashamed of their action. The attempt to hide or cover-up public information has become a major public issue in the US, for good reason. The government is increasingly trying to keep all of its increasing violations of law, secret from the public. If that tactic includes even the names of the people who climb Denali, Rainier and Foraker, the extent of the general government corruption becomes more apparent, damaging the credibility of other government agencies which claim more substantive reasons for refusing to release public information. All governments inherently increase their POWER to its own inherent collapse. The Alaskan Alpine Club proposal will sooner illuminate the extent of the Park Service's insatiable grab for more money, power and evasion of accountability.

An Open Challenge to the National Park Service....

The Alaskan Alpine Club challenges the National Park Service to attempt to defeat this effort and thus retain its tax on the RIGHT of the common people to walk on their own public land, instead of COMPLETELY rescinding the tax.

It is impossible for the Park Service to sustain the tax.

Go ahead, our good friends in the Park Service fortress, yet again squander more tax money on your best Park Service-supporting crony public relations experts, to devise the program to defeat this effort. They either hold power-damaged minds like yourselves, and will thus defeat you by their own not adequately questioned, unresolved contradictions that will be turned against you by inherently more-thinking individual climbers, or your cronies also will belatedly recognize that you are taxing their children out of their rights, and their children, via the internet, can learn what their parents did. Those thus belatedly thinking cronies will therefore accept your Park Service money to to devise a program that will easily fool you and then defeat you. You Park Service dolts will remain clueless because your power-damaged minds hold no ability to recognize and resolve contradictions, or you would have never attempted to tax a human right.

You cannot identify within your institution or among your cronies, who is "on your side", and those who have belatedly decided to betray your betrayal of the common people, including the children of your Park Service personnel and cronies. As the government inherently uses its power to grab more power and thus attack more human rights, an increasing number of its own personnel turn against the government to defend the rights of their children who might be reading this. Why do you think your US government is escalating its increasingly counter-productive laws against "leaking" "government secrets"? Therefore more US government personnel are leaking more of those "secrets" because those laws increasingly deny the right to freedom of speech for the families of the government personnel. Government dolts are too ignorant to identify that obvious answer to the question, or they would not be making and supporting those laws against freedom of speech, or taxing the RIGHT to walk on public land.

Who among your Park Service mountaineering rangers, office secretaries and Assistant Directors do you think have been "leaking" to various climbers the inside information on Park Service intents, tactics, plans and discussed "problems" (weaknesses, contradictions)? The loyalty of your own personnel is only as deep as the thickness of the paper money you pay them, or the extent of their profound stupidity and thus incompetence. When they belatedly recognize the worthlessness of what you pay them compared to the value of their children's RIGHTS, and the results of their children eventually discovering what their parents did to their RIGHTS, all your power and money only serve to defeat you sooner and more completely.

As the old joke goes... "I have figured out what is wrong with the National Park system." "What is it?" "The National Park Service." Power ALWAYS extends itself to its self-demise, by design of power in the power-damaged human mind.

You Park Service sorts can email the Alaskan Alpine Club and ask how you can most benefit the National Park Service by its official reaction to this effort. We are the best friend you have in the world. We will tell you, and verify the accuracy of the answer against your every question. But you have power-damaged minds, and thus cannot comprehend the value of that offer. Your power-damaged mind cannot recognize that your true friends, whom your power-damaged minds perceive as your enemies, will tell you what you are doing wrong, how to correct it, and how to verify the accuracy of their suggestions. Your true enemies, whom your power-damaged minds perceive as your friends, will keep flattering and supporting what you are doing wrong, so those wrongs will continue to anger more people, and ultimately defeat you because they were wrong (contradicted).

You Park Service sorts and your crony American Alpine Club and Access Fund leaders deserve each other. You and they are the source of your increasing problems, with no comprehension of the solutions.

Otherwise you can just completely rescind the climbing taxes to escape your immediate problem, or watch them blossom into a vastly greater, out-of-your-control problem for the Park Service. The smallest flaw left in place can defeat the greatest empire. The more obscure Alaska climbers climb Alaska Range mountains in the middle of the winter, have fun doing so, and laugh. The climbing tax issue is easier than that, fun, and has caused much laughter. It was casual notice of the Mt. Rainier climbing tax increase that introduced the casual suggestion to saunter to the easy "summit" of defeating the climbing taxes. Having fun climbing mountains in the Alaska winter involved interesting challenges. Knowledge that was new to human minds had to be learned, out in the cold. Defeating the climbing tax is not a challenge. It is just boring paperwork process.

Learning the knowledge of the human mind's functional design, and thus the damage that power has done to YOUR power-damaged Park Service minds, and thus their vulnerabilities, was easier than climbing Alaska Range mountains in the winter. Power is the most vulnerable phenomenon of the human mind. Nobody has a superior design of human mind, so anyone can learn what any other mind can learn. One need only ask and correctly answer the right questions. All the questions and correct answers have long been available. Why can a common mind, with their name in public, answer the two questions: "Does power corrupt?", and, "Do government personnel hold power?" Why cannot a power-damaged mind with a government job, with their name in public, answer those two questions? A common person can answer the immediately preceding question that Park Service personnel cannot. What do you call the school student who can answer a teacher's question, and what do you call a student who cannot answer the same question? If you needed somebody to help you solved a problem, would you select a smart person who can answer questions, or an ignorant person who cannot answer questions?

Go ahead our Park Service friends, ask your Access Fund and American Alpine Club cronies those two questions at a public meeting, then let the Alaskan Alpine Club know when you want to learn the process to most beneficially extract yourself from your inherently self-defeating, self-induced dilemma.

And for the non-Park Service readers of this challenge to the Park Service, laugh robustly. The power-damaged minds of the Park Service chaps cannot understand anything therein.

A brief history of Alaskan Alpine Club leadership adventures, for those who have not read it elsewhere on this website....

The Alaskan Alpine Club was started in 1979 as a small club of actual climbers with no rich guys, strongly opposed by the wealthy, establishment American Alpine Club and Sierra Club which were actively supporting the Park Service regulations against climbers at that time (and still). Lacking money, the Alaskan Alpine Club leaders had to think, that is, what leaders are supposed to do.

The strongly stated initial positions of the Alaskan Alpine Club conclusively prevented the official National Park Service's formally published intent to impose what were the most restrictive climbing regulations in the world at that time, for all the new National Parks created in Alaska in 1979 by President Carter's unlawful imposition of the Antiquities Act. Cost - a pricey poster paid over time, and a lot of time with innovative rabble rousing, trouble causing and general carrying-on, much to our amusement. No cost to lower 48 climbers.

The Club established Mt. Drum in the Wrangell Range of Alaska, permanently, as "The People's Monument to the Freedom of the Mountains", by placing a high quality highway sign, of official National Park Service standards for its signs in National Parks, on the summit, stating, "Go Home National Park Service", with an engraved aluminum plaque denouncing a powerful US Senator for supporting the proposed Park Service climbing regulations that would have criminalized over half the normal Alaska climbing activity. The story of that adventure would amuse anyone, except the Park Service thugs, of course.

The Club caused the environmentalist-controlled University of Alaska to rescind our University recognition and right to use University building rooms for meetings, because we dared to criticize their god-figure, the National Park Service, by placing the above mentioned sign on a mountain, much to our amusement. We were accused of "violating the law", despite the State of Alaska writing a letter informing the University that such peaceful public demonstrations against the government are lawful, and no law could have possibly been violated by that action. The Feds also could not identify any law that was violated. We think Egypt's Mubarak was administering the University of Alaska, and still is. The sign was donated by the Alaska company that makes the Park Service signs, owned by the Aunt of the first Park Service Regional Director assigned to all the new National Parks that were created by President Peanut Carter.

The Club presented President Ronald Reagan with a plaque that he displayed to the national news media which covered the story. The plaque was of a meat cleaver on the thick book of Park Service regulations, slashed in half. Reagan's quote was: They want us to throw away both halves." The meat cleaver cost us $54. It was a good one. I think we absconded with the regulation book, from a Park Service office. The unmitigated audacity.

The Club caused the Secretary of the Interior, and his Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, to inform us that we caused more grief and hesitation for the Park Service, than any small group of which they had heard.

The Club caused the Denali National Park Superintendent to walk out of a public meeting because the questions respectfully asked by the Alaskan Alpine Club proved his criminal use of power of office to violate the prevailing law, and deny the rights of the people in Parks, regardless of which way he answered the question. His refusal to answer, and walking out, left the audience, many of them prior supporting the Park Service, understanding the fundamental criminal nature of Park Service decisions and actions.

The Club caused another Park Service official, sent instead of a Superintendent to another public hearing (because the Sup knew the Alaskan Alpine Club would be there), to start crying in front of the diverse public at the meeting, and plead for personal compassion, when faced with similar questions that proved his, and his boss' criminal violations of the law and denials of harmless human rights in National Parks. He did not answer the questions. Pitiable power-damaged mind. For his loyalty to raw power in the face of adversity, he was subsequently promoted to a high position in the Park Service. That is the type people promoted in the Park Service. If he had been born in Libya he would have been working for Gaddafi, worshiping Gaddafi, and would have had is thugs gun down anyone who dared to criticize any Gaddafi agency. He was praised by the environmentalists.

The Club testified in the Clouser / Scanlon court case which proved the "negligence" of the Park Service for intentionally blocking a civilian rescue of accident victims on Denali, then intentionally conducting an expensive non-rescue to leave the accident victims on the mountain for four days, until one person died and another lost fingers and toes to frost bite.

The Club offered testimony for the Ben Johnson case where the Park Service used a similar ploy to thwart a real rescue, then intentionally conducted no rescue until the accident victim on the mountain died. Few things are more repugnant that Park Service rangers who derive their budgets from the deadly problems they orchestrate. The parents of the victim could not afford to sustain an appeal against the court rubber stamped, tax paid Park Service lawyer tactics to make legal actions against the Park Service not affordable to the common people.

The Club caused the US Army to have to sign a formal agreement with the State of Alaska, to actually clean up its notorious litter and messes each time after the Army used State land for military exercises, reported in the Wall Street Journal. The Director of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources later said the State had been trying and failing to get such an agreement, since Statehood. Government people are not innovative thinkers, or better stated, they simply do not understand the process of thinking (asking and answering questions to methodically resolve each contradiction that forms a "problem"), much like the American Alpine Club and Access Fund leaders, because their power-damaged minds only know "power", not reasoning.

The Club caused the governor of Alaska to order the immediate rescinding of the otherwise adopted Alaska State Parks ban on rock climbing at three locations and wherever the Park bureaucrats subsequently imposed the ban for the officially stated reason of "protecting climbers from themselves". The ban was written and imposed by an American Alpine Club member, praised by the American Alpine Club. He told the Alaskan Alpine Club at a public hearing that we had no ability to prevent the ban. Cost - about $300 for a plain black print poster depicting, "Governor Sheffield's Legacy, Welcome to Alaska's Parks. You're under arrest.", with the expressed support from the Japanese Alpine Club, some Australian climbers and a few other international climbers who understand climber rights. When international climbers support each other on freedom issues, freedom can be achieved.

The Club created the first climber supported, volunteer Mountain Rescue Fund in the United States, to fund the costs of mountain rescues. It was and is the only such Fund open to anyone. This embarrassed the American Alpine Club into creating its member-only rescue insurance program after the AmerAC strongly opposed such a fund since they supported the Park Service rescue expense excuse for more climbing regulations.

The Club became the second US member of UIAA, voted into UIAA mostly by the small climbing club nations of the world, against vehement and repeated opposition by the laughably arrogant American Alpine Club. The rest of the world recognizes what Alaskans recognize about the US government and its American Alpine Club. And we could not even afford to attend the meeting where we were voted in.

The Club unequivocally blocked the American Alpine Club proposal to UIAA that would have encouraged governments, especially the US government, to allow only climbers approved by the "primary national climbing organization" leaders, especially the American Alpine Club leaders, to be allowed to climb in Antarctica.

The Club spoke up and gained support for climber rights and freedom, at the UIAA meetings that the club delegate could afford to attend, much to the comical anger of the American Alpine Club delegate who only craves more government power over climbers. If US climbers had heard Putnam's statements at the Matsumoto and Santiago UIAA General Assemblies, the American Alpine Club would have no climber members, if it does.

The Club created the Alaskan Alpine Club competition climbing team that took first place, women's division, and beat the American Alpine Club team, men's division, in the first UIAA World Cup Competition Climbing meet at Leeds England. That enraged the American Alpine Club so much that they reportedly paid off some UIAA leaders to force the Alaskan Alpine Club team to become the American Alpine Club team, and disallow the participation of the Alaskan Alpine Club, with sudden new "back room written" regulations, and even disallow subsequent discussion of the issue at the UIAA General Assembly. That is the "good sportsman" attitude of the American Alpine Club and other power-craving minds. That earned the American Alpine Club more of its unrepairable reputation among international climbers. The UIAA Competition Climbing Committee later abandoned UIAA to become an independent organization, to manage their affairs more honorably.

The Club broke the Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI) guiding monopoly on Mt. Rainier. The Park Service gave another group the credit, to hide the truth as usual, much to our amusement. But a proof of the real credit was the Alaskan Alpine Club main rabble rouser who presented the questions on inescapable formal record for court evidence, that revealed the unlawful, criminal racketeering nature of the concession permit, was arrested when he revealed his name at a Rainier National Park entrance station, for having asked those questions. "We can arrest you for virtually anything. Its true." - his arresting officer. He was jailed for a week, denied bail, denied a trial, and more. And he is still laughing when telling people the details of that adventure. Pitiable Park Service thugs.

The Club openly informed climbers of the very useful basis in prevailing law, of the unlawful nature of concession permits for adventure guiding in National Parks, and the same of the tax on the RIGHT to walk on public land (climb mountains in National Parks), that the American Alpine Club, Access Fund and Park Service have consistently attempted to hide from climbers. Climbers who knowledgeably use the prevailing law, and therefore obey it and gain its protection, already do not pay the Park Service climbing fees, and commercially guide climbers in National Parks, without permits. Laughably, the doomed institutional power of the government, American Alpine Club and Access Fund is dependent upon keeping climbers ignorant in the internet age wherein the old "establishment news distributors" can no longer hide knowledge.

The Club lost several entertaining political battles against the Park Service, but time will change that. As a Secretary of the Interior once told the Alaskan Alpine Club main rabble rouser, about a certain issue, "Well, the Sierra Club had more clout than you had." But we spent next to nothing, had infinitely more fun, and laugh at the inescapable self-destruction of the National Park system. As the old joke goes.... "I figured out what is wrong with the National Park system." "What is that?" "The National Park Service." The human quest for freedom (each mind making its own decisions based on its knowledge) ultimately prevails above its quest for power over others (one power-damaged mind making decisions for everyone), by design of the human mind.

The Club achieved several "things" beneficial to climbers, and learned extremely valuable knowledge that government-supporting dolts can never learn, that need not be made public because they would profoundly embarrass individual Park Service thugs who deserve their current and future troubles for more obvious reasons.

The Club made the highest man-made ice towers in the US, second highest in the world, with the ideas and wherewithal of a classic Fairbanks Alaskan innovator.

The Club acquired a permanent Alaskan Alpine Club headquarters, from wise associations among freedom oriented climbers, and wise investments. The Club is in the process of creating a currently modest Alaska climbing museum. That is an amusing project among very independent minded Alaska mountain climbers.

The Club proposed the above process to eliminate climbing taxes in the US. The poster describing the legacy of the current governors of Alaska and Washington, and a certain other poster, may be forthcoming. Weren't those governors supposed to protect the rights of their State citizens, including the rights of their own children, from the criminal maliciousness of the federal "Sheriff's of Nottingham"? Isn't the right to walk on public land, without paying tribute to the federal sheriff's, rather fundamental? What will YOU tell your children about your part in protecting their rights?

The Club created the most efficient, hassle free, expense-reducing system of organization membership perfectly designed for inherently independent minded mountain climbers. You are a member if you say you are. If you want "the club" to do something, instead of just do it yourself, explain it and send the money for the expenses. Otherwise, do what mountain climbers do - go climbing.

The Club will continue to represent the core interests of principled mountain climbers, NOT the ego, power and money craving of self-serving government and organization leaders.

And we will continue to have entirely too much fun, while the American Alpine Club, Access Fund and Park Service dolts get angrier and more stressed, without escape, because.... "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light." - George Washington. If a power-damaged mind is trying to hide something (truth) that inherently cannot be hidden, and his opponent is only informing people what he is doing, openly asking him questions about what he is doing, and laughing at him, what are the sooner results?

These pitiable government sops and their minions who sincerely perceive that they can fool all the people all the time with simpleton lies, are the best comedy on the rock.

Stand back everybody, the Alaskan Alpine Club main rabble rouser, trouble causer and arm waver just found another screen to fill with that truth stuff, just as soon as he wipes away those tears of laughter.

Remember, you are a member of the Alaskan Alpine Club if you say you are. You can be certain that you are not associated with those pitiable government sorts, except for that inherent percentage of Park Service rangers who keep us informed because they despise their repugnant bosses more that we do, which is why collapsing governments pass more and more laws against personnel who "leak" more of the therefore increasing "government secrets".

And keep on having fun.

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