| Page 1476 | National Parks Traveler

Sad stuff. I live in California and we keep motorized vehicles off most of our beaches, even proposing opening beaches up to vehicles would cause a riot. The internal combustion engine is dying, but it will take a generation for those die hards to let go. Go read a book about sea turtles- we've just about wiped them out, and we do not know what the effect of that will be.

Aug 28th - 10:58am | Chuck Mullins

Just want to agree with what FHTS had to say about buisness being off this year.My family started coming to the OBX about 25 years ago.We fell in in love with Hatteras the first day there.We averaged two to four trip a year up until this year.We work hard all year to be able to do this.With the closures this year affecting most all of the areas we fish that changed.My family is now three famil

Aug 28th - 07:59am | FHTS

It's a fact the the turtles are nesting in large numbers on the whole east coast. It's also a fact that they are not endangered or threatened. So why the massive closures?

Aug 27th - 22:56pm | Bernie McCants

And the reason for full beach 24/7 nest-to-dune for pedestrians is what? And the closure during the day for ORVs when the nests are enclosed by a barrier is what. I would love to see the data to verify the 3/3000 statistic. Can you point me how and by whom this number was arrived? Or is this truthiness?

Aug 27th - 19:26pm | Anonymous

As a former official NPS employee that no longer works in CAHA some of your facts are wrong. There are criteria for moving turtle nests in CAHA and it does happen. I myself moved one with a record 168 eggs of which a more significant portion did not hatch than usual. The primary reason for moving it was to allow greater access for ORVs to South Pt.

Aug 27th - 18:37pm | Kingspointer

------------- Posted by longcaster On August 27th, 2008 At midnite Sept 14 the rules of common sense change. The full beach will be closed dune to surf. No human may pass this closure, not by walking or driving. Is it that the turtles want to go into the dunes to play with the gulls & raccoons? --------------

Aug 27th - 17:35pm | Anonymous

The reason for the full beach closures after Sept 15 is because the night-time driving prohibition is lifted. Headlights behind the nests will cause the emerging hatchlings to travel toward that light.

Video: Birds and Bike Paths in Grand Teton National Park

Aug 29th - 20:08pm | Rick Smith

Kurt-- I drove through Grand Teton on the way to Yellowstone this summer. I was absolutely appalled by the amount of ground disturbance that was being caused by the construction of this bike trail. I cannot believe that NPCA was the principal supporter of this project since it is an organization that is supposed to protect parks, not develop them. I don't get it. Rick Smith

Bear Mauls Woman in Gates of the Arctic National Park

Aug 29th - 14:18pm | Hiker

Very lucky lady to have survived a mauling and I wish her the best in her recovery. Having backpacked in Yellowstone and Glacier NP's several times I am puzzled about the "food Tent" being in the same close area as their sleeping tents. Is this common in Alaska or at long term camps to establish the food prep and storage tent in the same camp as sleeping tents?

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

Aug 29th - 11:43am | jsmacdonald

As a follow up on crime statistics, I was just checking them out for this year. A quick glance of the numbers shows that more homicides have happened in Police District 7, which is Anacostia, than any of the other districts. Property crimes are higher in some of the other police districts. Even if crime rates were lower, my point would have been the same.

Aug 29th - 10:55am | jsmacdonald

Shaw is gentrified (my friends in Proposition One - the anti-nuclear vigil at Lafayette Park in front of the White House - can tell you that by the rapid increase in property taxes that they can't afford to pay) and the Benning Road / East Capitol Street area isn't far behind.

Aug 29th - 10:01am | Lone Hiker

Actually, in the purist sense, laws are what we "civilized" people use to delineate between law-abiding citizens and the criminal element. To repeatedly utilize the rhetoric, as has been stated in SO many previous threads that laws only apply to those who follow them is ludicrous, and a prime example of flawed logic.

Aug 29th - 09:57am | Ted Clayton

MRC said:

Aug 29th - 09:26am | Ted Clayton

Jim Macdonald asserts: "The issue is Anacostia, poverty, racism ..." The topic of this post, titled "Park Police Arrest Men Who Brought a Loaded Submachine Gun to a Playground in National Capital Parks-East" is unusually tightly-focused, and it is a guns-issue topic, to an unusually emphatic degree.

Aug 29th - 05:48am | Anonymous

Eloquent and spot on. I am interested in solutions. Any ideas?

Aug 29th - 02:26am | jsmacdonald

I'm not talking about Piscataways except in an ironic sense. The issue is Anacostia, poverty, racism, a place that has been left behind, and the world that has grown up around this depressed place. It's only irony that allows this to be called a national park at all, although there's something green about it in the stench of the air.

Aug 29th - 00:17am | MRC

Is there any reason why the city parks of D.C. are in the jurisdaiction of the NPS and their Park Police? Give them to the City then there is one police force, who knows the parks as part of the neighborhoods. Not two with experience in the either the parks or the residential areas. This split jurisdiction seems to me as a nightmare from the point of law enforcement.

Aug 29th - 00:12am | Ted Clayton

Jim, I do have a strong interest in Native American themes, and have become a much more assertive advocate on their behalf as the 'victors version' of history has worn thin for me. I may well look into the native context that you bring up.

Aug 28th - 23:23pm | jsmacdonald

The park is in the poorest part of the District of Columbia; the Park Service has its local jail in that area as well. It's a very sad and filthy place - you can't go there without recognizing that racial divisions are alive and well in our country.

Aug 28th - 19:08pm | Dave O

And here I thought it was illegal to have firearms in a national park! Wait..it is against the law. Plus those fully automatic weapons were not legal to possess anywhere. Silly me. Laws only apply to people that follow the law. As this article has stated, the criminals already have the weapons in our parks and the rest of us are left unprotected.

Aug 28th - 15:58pm | Ted Clayton

Strange alright ... 'course, had they been in a homicidal frame of mind, they had more than enough firepower to overwhelm the two officers - and escape. They were up to something irregular ... but maybe not a shooting-spree. Hope we get more info on the case.

Aug 28th - 14:52pm | Anonymous

Hail to the NRA! Seig Heil! The Republicans gotta love this guy. Good job, America!

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

Aug 29th - 00:05am | Lone Hiker

I believe the simplistic answer to the protection of historic signage is simply, and feel free to correct (or feel indignant by the usage of) the colloquial grammar: The system ain't got no money for such altruistic pursuits.

Aug 28th - 21:01pm | Ted Clayton

Omar asks:

Aug 28th - 19:09pm | Omar Quadivich

If these signs and other signs around the National Parks are felt to be "Historic" (designated), then why does the NPS not Protect them from Vandalism, ie. plexiglass enclosures. Are the fines that are collected for vandalism going to be used to protect similar historic signs in the future?

Aug 28th - 16:28pm | Ted Clayton

My great-grandparents homesteaded in New Mexico, and Grandpa was raised in the classic "Three Sisters" agricultural + ranching milieu. Through him, all his kids have continued to refer to sorghum as sogrum, and are always non-plussed when somebody (who doesn't know not to..) asks, "You mean sorghum?"

Aug 28th - 13:46pm | Lone Hiker

So, any sinage left for posterity by the earliest explorers of the world, regardless of national origin, are now subject to grammatical "fixing" the self-annointed grammar police? I take it "Olde English" simply isn't an acceptable method of conveying one's ideas any longer.

Hidden Hall of Records at Mount Rushmore

Aug 28th - 22:37pm | wow gold

I'm certain that the new movie, National Treasure, will stir up renewed interest in the hall and its creator.

Viewing National Parks Traveler on Firefox 3.0

Aug 28th - 18:49pm | Kurt Repanshek

Yeah, but that module usually only contains the five most recent posts. On good days there might be five or six kicked out, and if you rise too late or miss a day, well, you'll miss the juice;-) And don't forget the featured post.

Aug 28th - 18:42pm | Kirby Adams

You've made the juice too accessible by the backdoor! I usually follow a link directly to an article from my Yahoo module. While that article is up, the Visitor Center and Recent Comments appear on the right. That's all I need. Now, if you hide those frames, I'll be forced to go to the front page, which would make me angry....and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. ;-)

Aug 28th - 18:00pm | Kurt Repanshek

Kirby, you don't go to the front page?!?$#?!!! That's where all the juice is! Ted, Bill's paying me to thwart FF. Anon, yeah, we saw the problem with Safari, too. Not sure what became of that. Beamis, flattery will get you nowhere. But remember the sentiment once we get the non-profit;-)

Aug 28th - 15:44pm | Anonymous

It was sometimes like that with 2.0 on a Mac as well, and with Safari.

Aug 28th - 15:41pm | Ted Clayton

Now that's what I like to see: A good [s]excuse[/s] reason not to upgrade! ;-)

Aug 28th - 15:40pm | Kirby Adams

I'm guessing it's this: On the front page, under the Photo of the Week, there is a Latest News headline. It's all blank space under that until the bottom where the latest news actually shows up. Not really a big deal. I never go to the front page, so I didn't notice until now. -Kirby.....Lansing, MI

Aug 28th - 14:49pm | Chas

I'm viewing this with Firefox 3 and don't see a problem. Can you post a screenshot showing the difference?

Flooding Nurtures Life in Congaree National Park

Aug 28th - 15:58pm | Kirby Adams

I might add that the Harry Hampton Visitor Center is among the best in the NPS. Everything from it's setting (almost invisible from 100 feet away!) to the educational dioramas and mounts to the most energetic rangers I've ever met made that VC a memorable one for me. Badlands may have just eclipsed it as my favorite VC, but I love the Harry Hampton.

Aug 28th - 13:30pm | SaltSage236

If it's national park wilderness you're looking for, Congaree has a special, exceedingly rare brand of it.

Aug 28th - 10:06am | Kirby Adams

Yeah, you were within shouting distance as you came down 127. You're just teasing me now. I really want to see Congaree in flood, or at least damp. We were there in April of last year and it was pretty dry. We had to portage a few spots on Cedar Creek that I imagine are passable in higher water.

Aug 28th - 09:32am | Bob Janiskee

Kirby, while returning from northern Michigan last Saturday I cruised down M127 and hung a left on I-96 at Lansing to head over to US 23 South (where I participated in a 70-minute traffic delay just north of Ann Arbor). By my reckoning, I must have passed within a few miles of your house.

Aug 28th - 09:14am | Kirby Adams

Stop it, Bob! You're making me want to look for plane tickets to Columbia. My wife will wonder where I went when she gets home from school. -Kirby.....Lansing, MI

The Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep Trouble

Aug 28th - 14:42pm | Mark E

Frank, I'm sure you had a great time knocking around in those canyons, and that they're no worse off for it. Same goes for the idylls I've enjoyed in a host of remote locations while hiking, running, climbing and biking. The occasion for the original essay is the Economist speculating that American parks are in trouble.

Aug 28th - 13:30pm | Mark E

I'm surprised to read so many posts lauding the not-so-noble pursuit of hiking off trail! From the standpoint of recreation impact, a gaggle of tourists who stay on the trail will generally have fewer impacts on the natural world than an off-trail rambler in search of mystic connections with the landscape.

Presidential Politics and the National Parks

Aug 28th - 12:12pm | Lone Hiker

Dear Mr. Kiernan,

Aug 28th - 10:07am | Rick Smith

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