Deaths at Yosemite raise questions about park safety
As the search for a 10-year-old boy washed up in Yosemite’s Merced River continues, the question of liability in national parks begins anew. The parks are meant to be wild and natural, but they rely on visitor fees, among other income, to stay open. Is it remiss to allow people so close to waterfalls, rapids, cliffs, and rodent-borne diseases?
Yosemite is not without its warning signs. Trailheads note the length of the trail and the difficulty. Anything beyond these markers is in conflict with the park’s mission to preserve nature. Lining rivers with railings and creating hotels instead of simple tents would turn Yosemite into a resort rather than a preserve.
The case of the missing child is sad and could possibly have been prevented. Ten-year-old Andy was swimming with his six-year-old brother Jacob down the Vernal Falls river. These powerful waters tumble hundreds of feet into Yosemite Valley. Although August is a time of low water levels and the shallows appear calm, the water still moves with great force across the slippery rocks on the river banks.
The boys were on a camping trip with their church group at the time. His mother was watching from further away near the waterfall with other adult members of the church group. The area is a popular resting place along the Path of Fog they were walking on. Regardless, young Andy was swept into the river and drowned. Jacob has not been found and is presumed dead. His mother was also injured when she ran and fell on the rocks trying to reach the shore near where her children got lost.
Like most deaths in Yosemite, the children were too close to fast-moving water. Two other hikers got lost last year when they decided to cross a footbridge that was slippery because of the proximity of a waterfall. No sign warned them not to cross in wet conditions, but for many hikers this is a skill-based decision. A similar call is made by climbers scaling the face of Half Dome, where they intentionally put themselves in danger and rely on their own gear to survive. The two hikers who crossed the bridge fell off the slippery footbridge trying to save time with the shortcut.
The park is responsible for the maintenance and care of the land. It would be considered negligence if there was a foreseeable and preventable hazard in the conditions of the maintained land. For the park, controlling the levels and speed of the water is not reasonable. However, there could be other precautionary measures that were not taken. So the question is how to enforce the safety rules in the huge park.
Ultimately, the care of young children falls to the guardian present at the time of the accident. Getting separated from a group in the wild is dangerous not only because people easily lose track of their position in the park, but because help is so much further away. It is best to be as cautious as possible to avoid these terribly sad situations of loss in nature.