美国的"户外许可证"能控制人流量吗？

United States

美国版块

Park permits

公园许可证

Firefall and footfall

火瀑和脚步

Many parks are overcrowded.

许多公园人满为患。

Permits are not necessarily helping

许可证并没有什么用。

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK is almost always brimming with visitors.

优胜美地国家公园几乎总是挤满了游客。

For two weeks each February, however, the crowd intensifies.

然而，在每年2月的两个星期里，人数暴增。

For just a few minutes each day, the setting sun lines up with Horsetail Fall, lighting the waterfall so that it appears to be lava.

夕阳与马尾瀑布排成一线只在每天的几分钟里出现，阳光照亮瀑布，使其看起来像熔岩。

“Firefall” has become a tourist spectacle: it drew over 2,000 visitors on a single day.

“火瀑”已成为了旅游景点：它每天吸引超过2000名游客。

Big crowds have big drawbacks, though, risking environmental degradation, unsafe conditions and wildlife disruption.

不过，观光人数众多也有很大的缺点，可能会导致环境恶化、环境不安全以及野生动物受到侵扰。

The National Park Service (NPS) introduced a permit for the spectacle in 2021 because of covid-19, but lifted restrictions this year.

由于新冠疫情，美国国家公园管理局在2021年为该景观引入了许可证服务，但是今年取消了限制。

“It’s a disaster,” says one of a pair of photographers frustrated with the number of visitors and lack of restrictions this year.

一对摄影师中的一位称，“这是个灾难。”他们对游客数量和今年没有限制政策感到失望。

Surrounding their painstaking set-up was a long queue of cars and large groups shouting to one another while they waited for the sunset.

在他们辛苦搭建的设施周围，有排长队的的汽车，以及等日落时互相叫喊的人群。

The pair preferred the permit system, which limited the crowds.

这两人更喜欢许可证制度，这样可以限制人群数量。

But are permits the solution to overcrowding?

但是，许可证是否可以解决人数过多的问题？

America’s parks have many permitting methods, from digital sign-ups to bingo balls in community centres.

美国的公园有很多许可证的方式，比如在线注册、社区中心的宾果球等。

The aim is to keep visits sustainable and access fair. The results are mixed.

目的是保持参观的可持续性和公平准入。结果喜忧参半。

Some permits are effective.

有些许可证很有用。

The delicate sandstone feature known as “The Wave” near Kanab, Utah, can cope with only a trickle of visitors without suffering rapid erosion.

犹他州卡纳布附近被称为“波浪谷”的精致砂岩地貌，只有应付少量的游客才不会遭受快速侵蚀。

The odds of getting one of the four group permits issued in person each day are low, but Utah’s “only legal lottery” has succeeded in preserving one of the country’s most unusual natural structures while creating a gloriously uncrowded hiking experience.

每天，想要获得现场发放的四个团体旅游许可证其中之一的概率很低，但犹他州“唯一合法的彩票（许可证）”成功地保护了这个国家最罕见的自然结构之一，同时创造了一种壮观且不拥挤的徒步旅行体验。

Permits typically carry a fee.

许可证需要花钱。

Although parks try to avoid discouraging the poor, that can be tricky.

尽管公园不想打消穷人来参观的念头，但问题却很棘手。

The cost of the passes and permits can mount up.

通行证和许可证的成本会上升。

Several areas have permits for reasons of safety.

一些地区出于安全考虑设有许可证。

Take Half Dome, a short drive from Horsetail Fall, a challenging hike which attracts tens of thousands of people each year.

以“半圆顶”为例，它距离马尾瀑布不远，是一个具有挑战性的徒步旅行，每年吸引成千上万的人前来。

Cables have been installed on the steepest stretches, to enable those without rock-climbing skills to reach the summit.

在最陡峭的路段上安装了电缆，为了使没有攀岩技能的人可以到达山顶。

From 2005 to 2009 there were 85 search-and-rescue incidents and eight deaths.

从2005年到2009年，共有85起搜救事件，8人死亡。

In 2010 the NPS limited access to those with permits.

2010年，国家公园管理局只向有许可证的人授予有限访问权限。

The number of visitors dropped sharply, and fatal accidents fell by half—but serious incidents per person actually rose.

游客数量锐减，死亡事件减半——但人均严重事故率却增加了。

The scarcity of permits may have unhelpfully increased the pressure to complete the hike, leading to more accidents.

许可证的稀缺可能反而会增加完成徒步旅行的压力，导致更多事故。

And some permits are doubly useless: neither preventing crowds nor enhancing safety.

一些许可证是倍加无用的：既不能限制人群数量，也不能增强安全性。

The Enchantments, an alpine area in Washington state, requires permits for camping, but not for day use.

在华盛顿州的高山地区“魔幻仙境”，露营需要许可证，但白天不可使用。

Many attempt to hike it in a single day, even though it is long and strenuous.

尽管路途漫长而艰难，但许多人仍然想尝试一天就爬完这座山。

On a recent visit, your correspondent only got out a few hours after dark despite starting before sunrise.

在最近的一次游览中，尽管记者在日出前就出发了，但在天黑后几个小时才从山里出来。

Many people without proper gear were still hours behind.

许多没有合适装备的人可能还需要更多时间才能出来。

Several stragglers confessed that they had no idea about the difficulty.

一些落队的人承认，他们对于这座山的难度没有概念。

What may sound like a simple solution, in other words, turns out in practice to be anything but.

换句话说，有的事听起来是个简单的解决办法，但实施起来却大相径庭。

Permit systems require a fine balance—much like the nature they seek to protect.

许可证制度需要一个良好的平衡——就像人们试图去保护的大自然一样。