Cellphones spill into Yellowstone's wilds despite park plan

In the popularity contest between Yellowstone's natural wonders and on-demand phone service, park administrators appear to have lost ground on a 2009 pledge to minimize cellphone access in backcountry areas.

Signal coverage maps for two of Yellowstone's five cellphone towers show calls can now be received in large swaths of Yellowstone's interior, such as the picturesque Lamar Valley and other areas until just recently out of reach.

The maps were obtained by a Washington, DC-based advocacy group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which has for years fought against new telecommunications infrastructure in the first national park in the U.S.

Ken Sinay, who operates the Yellowstone Safari tour company and has been running nature tours in the park's backcountry for two decades, said phone signals became far more prevalent in many parts of the park over the past several years.

Yellowstone technology chief Bret De Young acknowledged the occurrence of "spillover" cellphone signals into backcountry areas, but suggested the coverage maps — released by the park to Ruch's group under a public records request — exaggerated the quality of coverage in parts of the park.