Tents, s'mores, and a laptop: parks go online

"It's true that our agency's mission is to get people into direct contact with the world of nature and the great outdoors, and the vast majority of our visitors come here to get away from cellphones and pagers and other technical gadgets from the urban world," says Tom Harvey of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "But there is a certain niche audience that might find the service useful."

Birders, for example. And their distant relatives, the RV snowbirds. In fact, says Mr. Harvey, the idea came from park visitors themselves - especially those exploring the Texas coast. The service will be free in the five Texas parks for three months; then TengoInternet, the wireless provider, will charge about $15 a day.

The company's president, Eric Stumberg, says Wi-Fi parks and campgrounds allow for a more interactive experience of an area. By setting up camp and logging in, a person can learn about the area's history, its plants and animals, and upcoming events.

It also helps those who want to stay connected to family and friends by sending e-mail and digital photographs. "It adds a dimension to your trip," says Mr. Stumberg.

But there are problems with putting Wi-Fi in remote places, experts agree, the biggest of which is terrain.

Mountains, trees, and other foliage tend to diminish and scatter the Wi-Fi signal in unpredictable ways, says Hoy. "Hence, in order to have good coverage, you need to put antennas all over the park."

That may concern environmental groups - especially if the service intrudes on more primitive areas. But in Texas, many of the state parks are already fairly well developed, with plenty of campgrounds and RV accessibility.

"Frankly, when I spend the night in some of our state parks, I'm more concerned about the noise from RV generators and people's portable TVs and radios," says Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club. "At least Wi-Fi will be fairly quiet and less intrusive than some of these other things."

That said, he agrees that balance is needed. "I don't want to downplay the notion that technology is beginning to intrude more and more into ... places where many people go for peace and quiet. But we have to acknowledge that society is evolving and the Internet is part of our everyday living experience."

In fact, Mr. Kramer can see himself using the service in some of the state parks when it is operational, and he says the Sierra Club is a very electronically connected organization.

But as with any new technology, experts say, it's up to the user to keep things in perspective.

"Many people don't realize how important it is to manage those kinds of interfaces until after the fact," says Mr. Horrigan at Pew. "So maybe next time 'round, they will leave that Blackberry or laptop home on the family vacation."

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