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Appellate Court Rules Against Yosemite National Park

Mar 28th - 20:14pm | Anonymous

Raise the fees, that will keep the numbers down, and the rif-raf out.

Mar 28th - 10:12am | Kath

There's only one way to limit Yosemite visitors: reserved tickets for entry. A limited number per day. No big block reservations.

Mar 28th - 04:38am | Marylander

If you have ever traveled to Yosemite National Park, then you know that something has to be done in that valley. Out of all of the national parks, Yosemite is my least favorite because of the crowds. You simply can't escape the crowds, it is as simple as that.

Mar 27th - 23:33pm | Anonymous

Why would anyone expect a sensible ruling from the 9th?

Electric Map Going Away at Gettysburg National Military Park

Mar 28th - 18:24pm | Rachel G

I saw the electric map on yesterday. I was sad to see on the internet that it would be going away. Having the map puts things into perspective and it gives some a view of what actually took place in Gettysburg.

Valley Forge: Once Again A Battleground, This Time Pitting History Against Development

Mar 28th - 17:58pm | melissam523

The development plans horrify me--what can an average citizen like me do to stop this?

Decommissioning National Parks: Some History, And Some Ominous Clouds

Mar 28th - 16:00pm | Bob

This has been an interesting discussion. I have followed it here and on our “retirees” group site. I would not be surprised if some movement is made in this area; the public certainly needs to know.

Mar 28th - 13:29pm | Chas

We wouldn't need this discussion if we weren't spending $12,000,000,000 (thats 12 billion!) a month on our Iraq occupation not to mention the half trillion dollar defense budget. When will we realize that the military industrial complex is the 800 lb gorilla of our federal budget?

NPS Retirees Oppose Carrying Guns in National Parks

Mar 28th - 12:37pm | Anonymous

That's funny that you think that folks who carry have any intention of harming another human or wildlife in a national park. Will you be thinking that when when of those "fools" is saving your life when you're being attacked by a bear?

FY2008 Budget Provides Seasonal Increases At Glacier National Park, But Hamstrings Other Operations

Mar 28th - 12:23pm | ReBecca

Excellent! I am glad to hear Glacier is going to be able to hire more people (even if they are seasonal) and will be able to keep moving forward. It is such a wonderful park!! It is too bad there are some short falls, but at least they are able to do more than some can.

Whatever Became of the Decommissioned National Parks?

Mar 28th - 09:59am | Bob Janiskee

Eric, we owe you a vote of thanks for drawing attention to Alan Hogenauer’s article “Gone but Not Forgotten: The Delisted Units of the U.S. National Park System.” It provides an excellent history of sites that have been entirely removed from the national park inventory after having been established. A surprisingly large number of parks have been erased from the inventory for various reasons.

Mar 24th - 21:48pm | Eric

If you are interested in the topic, it is well worth checking out Dr. Alan Hogenauer's interesting, fun and well researched article "Gone, But Not Forgotten: The Delisted Units of the U.S. National Park System" in The George Wright Forum, Volume 7, Number 4, 1991 You can download a copy here: http://www.georgewright.org/074.pdf

Mar 24th - 20:51pm | Barky

Based on encroachment, gentrification, motorized recreation, and other threats to natural and historic treasures, I'd love to see more NPS involvement, not less. The answer to an underfunded and over-worked NPS is to properly fund and staff it, not knuckle under pressure to decommission sites.

Mar 24th - 20:02pm | Anonymous

Regarding the comment about the site devoted to the fur trade, Bent's Fort NHS already does the job. But, as a "faithfully reconstructed" Fort on the footprint of the original fort I might question its national significance.

Mar 24th - 11:25am | pkrnger

Due to the powerful economic forces of modern-day tourism, as well as community pride in local green spots on the map officially designated as part of the NPS, I think it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to decommission any unit of the NPS.

Mar 24th - 09:49am | robmutch

I wonder if this argument of decommissioning National Park Service (NPS) units doesn't buy into the hands of those who want to privatize our public lands and sell them off. Wouldn't this be giving them what they want? The problem is not a National Park Service that is too large, but, a philosophy of complete free trade that will cure all our ills...a very bad idea.

Mar 24th - 09:24am | Ellen F Fisher

I am uncomfortable with the idea of turning over any of the historical National Parks to the Department of Defense. I have been very positively impressed by the neutral position taken by National Park interpretive rangers, when providing information about sites where people may have strong, differing, points of view.

Mar 24th - 07:52am | MRC

And while I am at it:

Mar 24th - 07:37am | MRC

The National Park System evolved over time. All those units were seen as of national relevance at one time. And the scope of the National Park Service changed: The very first National Park was founded as a playground or park for the enjoyment and benefit of the people. Since the Organic Act conservation moved into the fore ground.

Encyclopedia of Life Debuts

Mar 27th - 21:10pm | Anonymous

I consider this new website another important tool in the endless struggle to conserve and protect our slowly dwindling natural heritage. A definite must for all college resource majors, professionals in the field of wildlife sciences and those who cherish our natural history.

Group's Lawsuit Says Wolves, Not Bullets, Should Control Elk at Rocky Mountain National Park

Mar 27th - 15:37pm | repanshek

Well, wolves have been roaming the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and central Idaho since the mid-1990s, and the Glacier NP region as well as Isle Royale NP for much longer, and I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a single incident of a wolf attacking a hiker -- or any human, for that matter -- in those areas.

Mar 27th - 15:34pm | Anonymous

Before restoring wolves to the American west I would recommend allowing us "Westerners" to carry a loaded fire-arm for protection. Wolves are very efficient predators and will naturally attack the easiest of prey, hikers.

Mar 27th - 11:30am | Autoversicherung

Great comment and my favorit Blog. Thanks and Best Regards

Battle Mounts Over Off-Road Vehicles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Mar 27th - 11:16am | Dave

clearly NON of you treehugers have ever been to this beach or you would know that the people that cause the issues are the bird watchers, we fisherman stay on the surf area thats REGURALY underwater, thus any bird eggs in the driving area would be either destroyed by the currents or carried out to sea.

Mar 24th - 19:42pm | eringale

As a lifelong North Carolinian, I have worked on the outer banks and members of my family have been going to Hatteras and Ocracoke for over 50 years. Being able to drive on the outer banks is one of the things that makes it special. However, we do need to take steps to preserve this precious resource.

Virgin Islands National Park: Another Park Threatened By Inbounds Development

Mar 27th - 10:20am | Kath

Either the government or private conservation groups should buy the private land and donate it to the park. But if the landowners bought the land before the national park was created with zoning that permitted building homes, they have to be compensated or be permitted to build.

National Parks Conservation Association: Interior Buckled to NRA Over Park Gun Laws

Mar 26th - 20:24pm | Anonymous

Fred, feel free to use any of my comments.

Mar 26th - 15:46pm | Fred Miller

Mr Anonymous - I only wish I could make a point as well as you do. Your statements here are right on the dot. May I use some of your stuff in my own arguments? If I do, I will be honest enough to say, "I didn't say that, but I wish I had!"

Mar 26th - 14:52pm | Anonymous

"We believe that enabling individuals to carry loaded guns in national parks will alarm families visiting the parks, and heighten the possibility for deadly visitor conflicts." You believe or you have empirical evidence to support this statement? The presence of a firearm does not imply a greater level of danger.

Studies Show Bear Spray More Effective Than Guns Against Grizzlies

Mar 26th - 19:17pm | fhasti

So here's a few questions to throw out for everyone to chew on...if this proposal passes should something be done to change current laws to deter careless citizens from discharging their firearms whenever they feel threatend by wildlife within the park?

Should Anything Be Done With Angel's Landing?

Mar 25th - 18:28pm | Anonymous

I just hiked Angels Landing for the first time on Easter last week and I was more afraid watching the confusion of people not being able to get around each other on the last part than the fact its a long way down. It felt like 'any moment now' something bad is going to happen. And like Lea said about the audio recording on the shuttle, inviting everyone!

Critics: Changing Gun Laws in National Parks Would Open a "Pandora's Box" of Problems

Mar 25th - 10:56am | Lone Hiker

With 90 registered firearms per 100 people in this country, I'd say we pretty well qualify as an "armed society".

Mar 24th - 09:04am | Anonymous

Excuse me Dave! What church do you preach from? I hope these comments of yours aren't coming from the sermon at the mount...if they are I'm aghast!

Mar 24th - 07:09am | Dave

Take this from a retired lawman and current minister:

Missing Cavers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park Ill-Prepared

Mar 24th - 20:48pm | Anonymous

Hey guys...I have been caving and cave diving all of my life. Caving is like climbing a mountain...Most of the careless misstakes happen on the way out or down. In this case "Out and Up!"

Mar 23rd - 22:49pm | S. White

This story reminds me of a preacher from small town Ohio who took a group of people from his church on a wilderness trip to Alaska, TWICE! Both times they had to be rescued. Kids trying to negotiate glaciers in tennis shoes, wearing cotton, and peeing orange from dehydration. Of course he had all the proper gear. These guys are lucky anybody found them, let alone alive still!

Mar 22nd - 11:31am | Anonymous

adventures are fun, but rule of thumb always be prepared for the unseeable, waterproof matches,dry packaged food or drink, blanket, proper clothing. When will people learn? So many deaths could have been prevented in mountains caves and other places if only a little time spent studying and preparing.These kids were lucky this time.

Missing Cavers Found At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Mar 24th - 10:20am | NoBrainer

Incidents like this just amuse me. These fools should be fined and should be liable for the payrolls of all involved searching for them because these rescue workers could be off doing their normal jobs instead of saving morons with last minute whims!

Mar 22nd - 07:14am | James

That is why I could not be a park ranger, to risk my life and the lives of other park rangers and rescue personnel to search for a group of nimrods like this. Yet the national park rangers do it every year, throughout our national park system. My hat's off to the brave park rangers, which is more than I can say for the stupid "hikers" that take unnecessary risks and chances.

Should Uranium Mining Be Allowed Outside Grand Canyon National Park?

Mar 22nd - 09:49am | amy

Nuclear energy proponents never bring up the waste issue, that's true. Nor do they ever mention the the vulnerability-to-terrorist-attack issue. But what no one EVER brings up about nuclear is the carbon intensity it actually requires.

Mar 21st - 18:15pm | dennis

If there isn't any visual polution, damage to the landscape, a threat to the wildlife, and finally if there isn't an increase to the air polution, then I don't see any problem with the mining. It might help put some people back to work.

Mar 21st - 18:08pm | Glenn Scofield ...

Those who advocate nuclear power as an excellent alternative to oil never seem to recall the issue of nuclear waste. The words "long-term storage" is entirely inadequate to explain what is needed for the used waste any increase of nuclear energy will produce. What are we talking about leaving to the seventh generation?

Mar 21st - 12:02pm | Anonymous

Yes...we need more nuclear!!

Mar 21st - 09:15am | Joesf

Marylander,

Mar 21st - 01:03am | cheflovesbeer

No

National Park Service Revenues Down $1.3 Million On Transition to America The Beautiful Pass

Mar 21st - 10:11am | Anonymous

This headline of this post seems to be VERY misleading. When I do the math it looks like the NPS ended up with increased revenue for the year. (Almost $8 million dollars) The only thing that was down was the ATB annual pass, all other revenue categories were UP, park pass sales, entrance fees and senior passes.

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring

Mar 21st - 02:17am | M. D. Vaden of ...

It is a fine book, and I've read it twice. As you wrote, I did decide to find the Grove of Titans: http://www.mdvaden.com/grove_of_titans.shtml All the images are cropped, stitched and taken from angles that provide no clues aside from anything published already.

Parks and Tribe Establish Plan to Fight Fish Disease in Lake Superior

Mar 20th - 21:31pm | Anonymous

These Great Lakes national parks are some of the hidden gems of the NPS. It's too bad more Traveler readers don't know about them, otherwise I'm sure there would be more comments. Kudos to the NPS for standing up and being leaders to protect these parks, something rare in these times.

Man Drowns During Rafting Trip Through Grand Canyon National Park

Mar 20th - 16:33pm | Chris & Amy

Thanks for the call, Jessica. We've heard lots of info since I first posted this note, which I'm sure you have as well. Chris doesn't have Kellogg's number any more, so if you want to give us a call at the house or on the number I left on your answering machine, we'd love to give him a shout (anyway, not just because of this situation). I'm sure he's bummed, as we all are...

Crews Remove Garbage From Marijuana Farms in Sequoia National Park

Mar 20th - 16:30pm | RangerTyler

"Ah, what the liberalism of the 60's has wrought...."

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