Park Service Squelches Web Cams at U.S. Parks

The National Park Service director has banned new Web cameras at all parks and ordered
Yellowstone to drop plans to show corporate sponsors on its Internet site featuring Old
Faithful geyser. “What has happened in Yellowstone served a purpose in making us stop and
take a closer look at this and how we should be handling this technology,” said David
Barna, a Park Service spokesman. “The idea of corporate logos and names in parks is
something no one’s going to stand for.” A local newspaper, the Billings Gazette, disclosed
that Yellowstone officials were seeking corporate donations of $5,000 for placement of
company names for six days on “sponsor recognition banners” above a live image of Old
Faithful. Park officials said the banners were simply a way to acknowledge donations, not a
form of advertising, which is prohibited by Park Service policy.