The Value of Cellular Dead Zones

February 1, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

When I lived in Montana, in order to use a cell phone I had to hop in my rig and drive five miles (barely a driveway-length in that state) and get to the top of a ridge that offered a straight shot to Livingston. Somehow it wasn’t any annoyance at all. On the other hand, a cell tower staring down the valley at us would been pure visual pollution. Eric Sandstrom, a trail runner, feels the same way, even if age has prodded him to consider a cell phone for safety. He notes a recent story about a Colorado fly fisher whose objections to visual blight helped result in a smart solution: attaching cellular panels to an existing water tank. In the Denver Post.