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

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.

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.

Sep 2nd - 13:46pm | Ted Clayton

I assume that Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l Park is a proxy for examining the wider potential impact of rising fuel costs on Park visitation.

Sep 2nd - 11:07am | Kirby Adams

I don't buy the fuel cost scenario. Roosevelt may be right on an Interstate (literally), but it's a long drive from anywhere and not even all that easy to fly into. If someone has driven there, they aren't going to blink at driving another 75 minutes to the North Unit, regardless of gas prices.

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

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.

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.

Is Technology Compatible With The National Park Wilderness Experience?

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

Sep 1st - 11:29am | Dave O

I think it falls on each of us to determine what experience we want in the backcountry. I just don't want some do-gooder, thinking they know better than anyone else, pushing for a rule to prohibit us from taking along things I think will make the experience more enjoyable for me.

Aug 31st - 15:10pm | Ted Clayton

Anti-technology sentiment is a game-token that will prove to be 'off the board'. It isn't in play, never was, and those who devise a plan that relies upon using it will lose points. Technology & humanity are two sides of the same coin. They are one entity. There is no daylight.

Aug 31st - 12:39pm | Lone Hiker

Aron Ralston; (n) 1) a foolish child; 2) an accident waiting to happen.

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.

Sep 2nd - 14:37pm | Lindsay S.

We saw one in Yellowstone last week while doing some back country hiking near Shoshone Lake. We didn't know it at the time, but all of the descriptions I have read lead me to believe that our little guy was in fact a marten. We were able to get a several photos of him as he tried to scare us away with his growling and chirping. Adorable if you ask me!

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

Sep 2nd - 10:46am | tahoma

The NPS Public Use Statistics Office can be found at: http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/ The counting methodology apparently varies by NPS unit and through time, but most seem to use a traffic counter multiplied by some constant (assumed average occupants per vehicle).

Sep 2nd - 09:29am | Ted Clayton

RoadRanger; Absolutely & dramatically, Olympic Nat'l Park is counting visitors multiple times. Furthermore & worse, I believe they are counting those who merely drive through at certain points, because the highway cuts through the Park.

Sep 2nd - 01:43am | RoadRanger

Re Kurt's comments on the 275 million or so visitors in the parks last year. Those who support fees as a means of significant funds for park budgets need to keep in mind that this figure counts visits, not visitors. Does the NPS have any idea how many individuals made multiple recreation visits to parks last year?

Sep 1st - 22:35pm | Kirby Adams

Two words: Corporate Sponsorship. Anyone been to a sports stadium lately? Who wouldn't want to visit the "Frito Lay National Military Park at Gettysburg"? Or perhaps "General Motors National Park"? (It's in Maine. The tallest mountain there is already named for a GM brand.) -Kirby.....Lansing, MI

Sep 1st - 20:58pm | Kurt Repanshek

Sounds good Frank....until you work the economies of scale, no? You're not talking about one or two locations, a city zoo here, or an art museum there.

Sep 1st - 12:44pm | Mark_(not the r...

As science fiction great Heinlen said, TANSTAFL, There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. I might accept that there is a compelling interest for the government to set aside area deemed special for historical, geological/ecological, or aesthetic reasons (although I'm not sure where the Constitution gives it authority to do so), but as a basic rule:

Aug 31st - 20:54pm | RoadRangers

Interesting that this post came up when it did. My wife and I are retired NPS with over 65 years of combined experience. Our children grew up in and love the parks. Yesterday, our son and his fiancee drove from Potomac, Maryland to Shenandoah NP to enjoy a dinner and a day on Skyline Drive.

Aug 31st - 20:41pm | RoadRanger

Interesting that this post came up when it did. My wife and I are retired NPS with over 65 years of combined experience. Our children grew up in and love the parks. Yesterday, our son and his fiancee drove from Potomac, Maryland to Shenandoah NP to enjoy a dinner and a day on Skyline Drive.

Aug 31st - 03:12am | Lone Hiker

And this is an exemplary point of why the entire NPS system should be removed from federal "management".

Aug 30th - 22:59pm | Kath

You pay to ride the buses in Denali, which is the only way to access the park after the 15 mile mark. You pay to access the Channel Islands by boat, or Kenai Fjords by boat, again the only access to most parts of the park. You pay for the tours at Mesa Verde to see most of the cliff dwellings, no tour, no access. We can't pretend that this Gettysburg thing is something new.

Plague Kills Many Prairie Dogs and Black-Footed Ferrets in Grasslands Near Badlands National Park

Sep 1st - 19:27pm | Lone Hiker

Nope, missed the sarcasm completely due mainly to multiple references in prior threads pertaining to the same culprit as the basis for all the world's ills, along with the same self-righteous fool of an ex-VP being touted as the "hero" of the planet.

Sep 1st - 17:14pm | griz

Actually the extended allergy season has nothing to do with goldenrod. The pollen of goldenrod is too large to be carried by the wind and cause allergies. The real culprit is likely ragweed.

Sep 1st - 13:38pm | Ted Clayton

Anonymous; For sure, I took your sarcasm hook-line-and-sinker. ;-) The reason I did, of course, is: Going by Anonymous, I have no idea who's talking, and... ... I read identical (but earnest!) language every day!

Sep 1st - 13:03pm | Lone Hiker

Bob-

Sep 1st - 12:58pm | Anonymous

Perhaps you didn't recognize the sarcasm! Everything bad gets blamed on global warming and my comments were intended to be tongue and cheek. In fact in VA they recently attributed the extended goldenrod season and resultant elevated allergies on global warming - egad!

Sep 1st - 11:51am | Bob Janiskee

Lone Hiker, I'm a bit puzzled by that reference to "your dissertation." What makes you think that the (anonymous) person who made that statement has a doctorate or is working on one?

Sep 1st - 10:40am | Ted Clayton

Anonymous queries: "What dreadful man made act has caused this plague." The Wikipedia Misanthropy entry defines & describes it as:

Sep 1st - 10:12am | Lone Hiker

It appears that the rampant global warming that we have caused by our abuses has bought some time forre the treatment process.

Sep 1st - 08:14am | Bob Janiskee

Calling plague a bad thing, or laying blame on humans for causing/worsening it, takes us into very tricky ground. Sylvatic plague -- called "sylvatic" because it infects wild animals, not domesticated ones -- is endemic in the prairies.

Sep 1st - 06:42am | Anonymous

What dreadful man made act has caused this plague. It appears that the rampant global warming that we have caused by our abuses has bought some time forre the treatment process. Please send former VP Gore the information so he can use it in his next movie.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial You See Over There By the Tidal Basin Is Not the Original

Sep 1st - 16:32pm | Ted Clayton

My aunt last year gave me a locally-published small book about the history of the logging community & industry on the "West End" of the Olympic Peninsula (NW Washington State).

At Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Presidio Trust Ponders Where to Put a New Art Museum

Sep 1st - 12:16pm | MRC

On August 28 the Landmark Advisory Board declared the site on the parade ground of the Main Post "would not be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features of the historic Main Post buildings, and would therefore violate the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards." http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15876

Glacier National Park Officials Plan to Scale Down Search for Missing Hiker

Sep 1st - 10:57am | Ted Clayton

Anonymous (Sept. 1); It seems to me that "risk" & "daring" are important parts of the overall formula that attracts many visitors to our Park venues.

Sep 1st - 09:18am | Anonymous

In the future a hiker chould be required to carry a GPS unit that gives off a signal in case they need to be located. It could require a deposit with a refund upon return. This isn't really an invasion of privacy but a matter of safety for the hiker and those who come to the search and rescue effort.

Aug 31st - 12:31pm | JG

I'm praying for your safe return Yi-Jien Hwa.

Creature Feature: The Red-Throated Loon

Sep 1st - 10:06am | Jeri-Anne

It took me a bit to find your wonderful site! I too have been trying to find out which birds were habituating the lake my husband and I went camping at this year and last year. I was sure the two birds I have been seeing were loons, but the sounds they made and the red eyes and chest were what kept throwing me off. I am now glad to see that we were right in assuming they were loons.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historical Site Commemorates a Great Achievement in Early Transportation

Sep 1st - 09:48am | MRL

Thanks for putting this article on your site. This is an interesting location to visit if you have not been there. Although not in a heavily traveled area, it is worth the stop to see the ingenuity employed at by the people at that time to solve the problem discussed in the article above.

Considering a Hike up Half Dome?

Aug 31st - 18:47pm | Anonymous

The exclamation in the article about there having been climbers who are actually hiking in sandals is pretty ridiculous. Obviously the ascent to the top shouldn't be made in flip-flops or things like that. But after clicking on the link to see the hiker in sandals I saw that he was climbing in Chacos.

Bear Mauls Woman in Gates of the Arctic National Park

Aug 31st - 16:46pm | HIker JIm

I completely agree with the NPS, NFS, and others who stress LNT principles in the back country. I was not aware of them modifying food safety recommendations when in bear country. I spoke with a couple of friends who go hunting each fall in Alaska and they both said that when they are at their base camp set up they do their best to triangulate sleeping, eating and storing sites.

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