Update early March 2012: Last week I sent a reply to the Inyo Forest Supervisor responding to the District Ranger's email response to my appeal of the Environmental Assessment. I also requested a copy of all public documents pertaining to the Environmental Assessment. I still have not received a formal written reply to the appeal letter sent last October, which should come from the Forest Supervisor, not the District Ranger, per National Forest Service NEPA appeal regulations.
In my letter, I point out that this program is not exactly "voluntary." By removing the toilets, what else is a hiker to do? Except for a few locations where digging a cathole might be acceptable, there really is no other responsible option except to carry out your human waste.
Also, the following terms are used in Inyo publications to describe the human waste packout program, "required" "must" "expected to" and "only acceptable." The claim just doesn't hold up, in my opinion, that this is a "voluntary" program and therefore it was not necessary to finish the environmental process.
I still have not received one comment or even acknowledgement of the Rocky Mountain National Park Engineer Report on the Performance of Backcountry Toilets.
Despite the slow and limited response to date, I'm still optimistic that a sincere effort will eventually prevail to get this right.
