You are here

Home

All Recent Comments

Big Bend National Park: Is It Ready For A Mountain Bike Trail?

Sep 5th - 00:18am | Mike

I stumbled across this site while researching a trip to Texas for some mountain biking that we want to take in the fall. I appreciate the thoughtful approach the poster and commenters have taken to what is generally a contentious issue. My wife and I (mid-30's) are avid mountain bikers in the DC area.

Sep 4th - 09:52am | Anonymous

Good questions, Kurt. All NPs offer opportunities for some activities; that doesn't mean all/some NPs should accommodate all activities.

Sep 4th - 09:16am | Kurt Repanshek

Mark raises an intriguing question (although it's one that's been touched on previously). It revolves around his statement that adding mountain biking trails "holds the promise of bringing many new NPS supporters into the fold."

Sep 3rd - 22:25pm | Mark E

As an unabashed fan of adding more shared-use trails to national parks, I have to thank "Barky" for a well-considered message. Trail design and construction do more to determine the impacts of recreation than whether the traffic comes from foot travel, bicycles or equestrian use.

Sep 3rd - 20:41pm | Barky

First, I haven't been to Big Bend yet, so please take that into account for the following comment:

Lakota Gather Peacefully at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, But Still Insist that the Black Hills Belong to Them

Sep 4th - 23:57pm | Anonymous

Perhaps we oughta tear up the treaty and re-commission the Calvary. Then finish the job.

Sep 4th - 23:20pm | Ted Clayton

The U.S. doesn't really have to give the Indians anything. This has been proven historically, to everyone's satisfaction. It does not have to accord them human rights, and it does not have to honor treaties it signed with them. It has violated both, and gotten away with it.

Sep 4th - 22:02pm | Anonymous

Damn right the Black Hills belong to the great Lakota Nation...without a doubt! Plus, Custer had it coming with those giant mosquito sticks. My dear white mother was born in the Dakota's in the early 1900's and testifies about the horrible brutality that the Lakota's suffered under. Slow cruel systematic genocide mark with grave indifference by many Americans during that period.

Sep 4th - 20:09pm | Grey_Lensman312

I have been to the Black Hills a number of times, and I cherish it's beauty. We have it as a result of a grave injustice. That is the truth of it. Is there not some way to share administration / responsibility for that area to acknowledge the Lakotas spiritual heritage and hold that land in trust as the treasure that it is. Restrictions on some areas or holy times.

Sep 4th - 16:10pm | Julia

Recommended reading: Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown. Very moving and well written book.

Sep 4th - 16:06pm | Naturally

When are we going to finally come to terms with the reality of US history? This constant denial of the aggressive history inflicted on Native Americans, which includes early attempts at biological warfare, genocide, stealing, lying, cheating and rape of a once pristine land; impedes our progress and relations more than any other single factor, in my opinion. This country is stuck.

Sep 4th - 15:16pm | Anonymous

I recommend that we give the land back -- to whoever the Indians took it from.

Sep 4th - 14:35pm | Lone Hiker

You'll be hard pressed to find one treaty that the US goverment has honored in the past 200 years with ANY Native American tribe, regardless of content and motivation. This country was "settled" by homesteaders in the name of Eminent Domain, with little or actually no regard for peoples already in place across the land.

Interior Officials Want to Allow Concealed Carry in the National Parks

Sep 4th - 19:06pm | TC

People are already carrying concealed weapons, getting rid of this rediculous law just makes it legal. 2nd ammendment Duh!

Having Suffered Severe Storm Damage, a Witness Tree at Gettysburg National Military Park is Unlikely to Survive

Sep 4th - 15:59pm | Anonymous

Are you sure onetreehillbuzz.com is the right link? That's what pops up when I click on "this site" on your August 11 posting. [Ed. Sorry. I deleted the link to the "after" site because the relevant story about the damaged tree is no longer available at the site.]

Brucellosis Solution: Kill All Elk and Bison in Yellowstone National Park

Sep 4th - 14:57pm | Sandi Hansen

I know everyone has probably seen the article by now. But those wo haven't.... http://www.normantranscript.com/archivesearch/local_story_246001307

Sep 4th - 13:59pm | Lone Hiker

Kurt- It might work, but we'll have to do a blind taste-test for the invitees. I'll tell 'em its diet-lean ground round initially so nobody's the wiser. When everybody has their gullet filled and the truth comes out, clear the path to the vomitorium..........

Sep 4th - 13:09pm | Kurt Repanshek

Lone Hiker, if you're proposing a bison and elk roast, just name the date and location!

Sep 4th - 13:05pm | Lone Hiker

Before anybody gets their shorts in a knot over this rare bacterial infection, consider the following:

Sep 3rd - 22:01pm | Ted Clayton

Bogator; While writing an earlier response I considered including reference to "Cervid Wasting Disease", CWD. Looking at web-references about this, I saw mention of:

Sep 3rd - 21:52pm | Bogator

Lets do this in reverse; kill all of the cattle and raise buffalo and elk. I understand that their meat is better for us anyway. Ted Turner has been trying to convince us of this for years.

Sep 3rd - 21:34pm | Ted Clayton

Random Walker; Yes! Thank you for the links! YTY - the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is an example mentioned by Kurt (he thought languishing). Their website looks nicely developed, with current news. I think there is extra potential for enlarged (and better) habitat preservation in the more-northern regions.

Sep 3rd - 20:44pm | Random Walker

Are you folks thinking like Y2Y, The North American Wildlands Network,

Sep 3rd - 16:26pm | Ted Clayton

Kurt et al,

Sep 3rd - 15:11pm | Kurt Repanshek

MRC, Yes, I'm well aware of the Yosemite Valley infrastructure and Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. However, the European models I refer to operate on a much, much larger scale.

Sep 3rd - 14:54pm | MRC

Kurt: "How could you have villages within a national park's boundaries?" Ever been to Yosemite? Seen Wawona? Yosemite Village in the valley? Do you know how many primary schools exist in NPS units, because so many families live there? How about Jasper National Park in Canada? Or Banff?

Sep 3rd - 14:22pm | Kurt Repanshek

Ted, you raise an interesting prospect, that of borrowing the European model of mixed-use national parks. I've in the past been somewhat befuddled by that model in say, England's Lake District. How could you have villages within a national park's boundaries?

Sep 3rd - 14:09pm | Ted Clayton

Kurt, Yes, I was also surprised at some of the points that came up in a quick read of the prominent sources on Brucellosis. Wikipedia begins their Brucellosis article with the passage:

Sep 3rd - 13:12pm | Kurt Repanshek

Ted,

Sep 3rd - 13:11pm | Andy

How many of those cattle are grazing on federal lands which are leased at a ridiculously low price? It seems to me that those ranchers don't have much to complain about.

Sep 3rd - 13:03pm | Ted Clayton

It's tricky to be sure what we are actually dealing with, and what the possible choices are with regard to Brucellosis in Yellowstone, because both sides in the debate are untrustworthy & devious on the topic.

Sep 3rd - 12:40pm | Betty H

Plain and simple, whoever wrote this editorial is an IDIOT who obviously knows nothing about the subject !! Not worth any other comments.

Sep 3rd - 09:39am | MRC

Not to mention, that there is not a single proven case of Brucellosis being transmitted from wildlife towards cattle. This whole affair is just about fear of loss in the cattle industry. Not based on any fact.

Is Technology Compatible With The National Park Wilderness Experience?

Sep 4th - 14:31pm | Nathan

So lets leave our cameras behind while we are at it, down with flash lights and plastic cookware! and thermarest mattresses

Sep 2nd - 15:42pm | Claire Walter

"Personal technology" -- cell phone, GPS unit, iPod, etc. -- in national parks doesn't disturb me nearly as much as loaded firearms would. Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com

Find Me, Spot. Staying Found in The National Parks

Sep 4th - 13:21pm | Anonymous

the problem is not the existance of the device but rather the publics preception as to what a emergency is. This is a great tool and will save many lives.

Park Police Arrest Men Who Brought a Loaded Submachine Gun to a Playground in National Capital Parks-East

Sep 4th - 08:30am | New Here

How come the NPS arrests people like this (which they should) and allows things like what goes on a Fire Island National Seashore (see below). Aren't these actions crimes? Should the NPS be looking the other way and letting this happen in view of visitors, including kids, in a national park?

The Wilderness Act At Age 44

Sep 4th - 03:34am | tahoma

Nice essay, Kurt. Can anyone imagine such a visionary piece of legislation being passed in today's political climate? Me memory's fadin', but I seem to recall from '60s Sierra Club Bulletins that top NPS brass lobbied against inclusion as the Wilderness Act was being passed? An "increasing population", with it's

Paying To Understand U.S. History in the National Park System

Sep 3rd - 21:07pm | RoadRanger

I think Beamis's comments 9/2 sum up this thread's journey rather well. The upcoming commission is about to examine an organization with an extraordinary mission. In the world of E. O.Wilson, we have a leader and thinker to match the complexity of that mission. I'm looking forward to meaningful results.

A View from Abroad: Don't Let Tourism Overwhelm Our National Parks

Sep 3rd - 20:35pm | Barky

I really like this article from Australia. I especially like this part: National parks offer a special tourist experience, but not the full range of tourist experiences. The extra bits of a tourist's time in an area - the accommodation, the fun parks, evening entertainment, restaurants and takeaway joints - belong in the neighbouring towns.

Sep 3rd - 00:01am | Anonymous

It seems our perception of wilderness changes as we become more and more urbanized and we are removed farther and farther from the wild as we become overly dependent upon technologies. To someone raised in the city a farm wood lot may seem like wilderness. I have been to the Grand Canyon several times.

National Park Quiz 18: A Potpourri of National Park Trivia

Sep 3rd - 12:21pm | Kurt Repanshek

I think you've got me on that one, Eric. If I were the professor, I'd use weasel-speak and say decommissioned units don't count;-) Good catch.

Sep 3rd - 11:23am | Eric

I always thought that Mackinac Island National Park was the first NP established east of the Mississippi. Do decommissioned National Parks not count?

Have High Gas Prices Deterred Travel within Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

Sep 3rd - 08:47am | Kelly

Getting back to Bob's orginal post, here in the Upper Midwest (which includes T.R. National Park) tourism patterns have been shifting in response to rising gas prices. It's not a simple drop in tourism.

Sep 2nd - 21:57pm | Ted Clayton

Frank; You're right - currency valuations and their relationships are major drivers in the oil markets and elsewhere. Fuel prices can't be accounted for properly without factoring in the strength of the dollar. Lone Hiker;

Sep 2nd - 20:10pm | Lone Hiker

If only there were a direct correlation between pump price and barrel price, but alas, once Big Oil Brother knows the American Sucker will tolerate a given level of gouging, the overall scenario will remain much as it currently stands, with the consumer whining but paying, and oil execs wetting their collective pants in anticipation of the next Gulf Coast storm, insurgent attack or other such n

Sep 2nd - 18:08pm | Ted Clayton

Beamis notes: "Oil prices fell below $106 a barrel Tuesday..." And a welcome trend it is! Coming near the end of the summer demand season, following speculative bidding with an eye on Hurricane Gustav (now proving to be fairly mild), and well before the winter cold season, there is strong down-pressure on crude. At the moment.

Pruning the Parks: Delisted Over a Half-Century Ago, Fossil Cycad National Monument (1922-1956) is a Cautionary Tale

Sep 2nd - 18:07pm | Anonymous

This truly is a sad story indeed. I was born in Hot Springs and am originally from Edgemont, where I lived until 1984. Some of my fondest memories are those of searching for and looking at fossils when I was a kid ( which I still do), including those that I found in our yard. I never knew that Fossil Cycad National Monument even existed.

Grammar Vigilantes Busted in Grand Canyon National Park, Barred from Park System

Sep 2nd - 15:31pm | Rangertoo

In reply to Mr. Quadivich about where the money from fines goes. This is a goo d question and one that many people might ask regarding the fines paid for citations rangers hand out for speeding, resource damage, etc. The fact is, none of the money goes to the parks or to the NPS. All fines go to the Crime Victims Fund maintained by the Justice Department.

Creature Feature: The American Marten

Sep 2nd - 15:21pm | Kurt Repanshek

Nice shots, Lindsay. The only time I saw a marten was during a Shoshone trip as well. Must be a popular place for them. Unlike me, at least you were quick enough with your camera to land proof.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.