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Recreation.gov call center
#27363 08/30/12 12:54 AM
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Steve C Offline OP
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Inyo National Forest has announced this -- If you want to talk to a live person to make a reservation, you should call the Inyo Wilderness Permit Office at 760-873-2483.

There is no change to making online reservations -- recreation.gov is still the place to go.

Here's the announcement:
Originally Posted By: Inyo National Forest
Affective immediately, we have made a change in how visitors get assistance with on line wilderness permit reservations.

The recreation.gov call center will no longer make WILDERNESS reservations...
Recreation.gov will still be responsible for campground reservations. They can also still help with resetting passwords or ID administration for a persons account.

Answers to wilderness questions and assistance with reservations for wilderness permits will be referred to the Inyo NF Wilderness office at (760) 873-2483

Recreation.gov is located in New York. I can imagine the answers people might get to questions when they call about wilderness permits for hiking in the Sierra. crazy

Re: Recreation.gov call center
Steve C #27366 08/30/12 07:57 AM
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One step forward and now a step back to the 1980s. This is not a good thing.

I would not have expected rec.gov to answer local questions. Any questions I would have about Inyo hiking trails or the MMWT, I would direct at the Inyo.

Re: Recreation.gov call center
wbtravis #27369 08/30/12 09:44 AM
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Steve C Offline OP
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> and now a step back to the 1980s.

I'm not sure I understand that comment.

It is always better to have local people answering location-specific questions. I can see people calling, finding a quota full, and then asking about related trails. It takes a local person who knows the area to answer those questions, and it should be THAT person who then checks availability and sets up the reservation for the caller.

How is quality service a step back?

Re: Recreation.gov call center
Steve C #27375 08/30/12 05:43 PM
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Steve,

I would have never have asked rec.gov about local matters, trail conditions, specifics about the Portal or Horseshoe Meadow. I would have called the Inyo after securing a MMWT permit reservation or visited the world famous whitneyzone.com and asked its many experts, if it is going rain on September 2, 2012 a 1:27 PM PDT.

If I can buy $1,500 - 50" HDTV on the internet, I should be able to acquire a $15 permit reservation for the MMWT online, either through rec.gov or joethepermitseller.com. This is 2012 for God's sake, not 1989.

Re: Recreation.gov call center
wbtravis #27382 08/30/12 09:47 PM
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Steve C Offline OP
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> I should be able to acquire a $15 permit reservation for the MMWT online

And THAT has NOT changed.

It's just that you cannot do it anymore by using the telephone and calling the rec.gov call center. THAT is the only change.

Re: Recreation.gov call center
Steve C #27391 08/31/12 09:57 AM
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Thanks for clearing that up. I thought we were going back to the bad old days.

Re: Recreation.gov call center
Steve C #27394 08/31/12 10:46 AM
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Ken Offline
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Steve, I'm with you on this.

I'd imagine that on those phone calls, there are ALWAYS local questions that come up. You might as well be talking to someone in India!

"What is the road like to the George Creek trailhead?"


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