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Glen Canyon NRA Releases EA on Castle Rock Cut Deepening

Feb 20th - 18:09pm | Anonymous

This decsion-so called seems apparent of another politcal ploy to waste more money to meet the needs of the so called recerationists and their power vehicles to ruin the natural habitat which is the over all concern and goal of the natl park service not some uncontrolled snut noseed recerationist who want to have their own way and destroy the envioriment ion the process.

Feb 20th - 12:07pm | Mookie

Marylander -- I personally think that Glen Canyon should be on the list of everyone's list of 100 places to see before you die. Oh that's right, no one can see Glen Canyon because it's under hundreds of feet of water. I say make Glen Canyon as accessible as possible -- bring back Hayduke and take down that dam!

Feb 20th - 11:35am | Marylander

Normally I am dead set against big projects in the parks for the purposes of recreation... but Lake Powell is different. It is unlike anything I've ever seen, it is spectacular, and it should be on everyones list of 100 places to go before you die. I am for this project 100% - make the lake as accessable as possible!

Feb 19th - 18:31pm | Nick Mojave

This is the problem with going back to the NPS mandate. Glen Canyon is a national *recreation* area. Perhaps the recreation areas should be evaluated as to whether they belong under the park service's purview at all, so that recreational users can enjoy them uninhibited.

Grand Canyon National Park Officials Release Transportation Plan EA

Feb 20th - 17:08pm | Merryland

"Along with the proposed parking plan, the preferred alternative calls for improvements to Mather Point to open up some of the vistas that have been obscured by vegetation, to make trails more accessible, and provide more interpretive exhibits at the information plaza."

Feb 19th - 12:47pm | Anonymous

The shuttle busses will not work. No one will voluntarily give up their car for the bus. They will only work if mandatory like Zion.

Dinosaur National Monument Superintendent Favors Law Enforcement, Maintenance, Interpretation Over Paleontology

Feb 20th - 16:45pm | Merryland

This is nutso -- now we potentially have the influence of a young-earth-believing state government in charge of a national paleo resource? Just what we need... local "control" of what the public sees, doesn't see, and is told about the resources of Dinosaur National Monument. Why don't we just move all the stuff to the Creationist Museum in Kentucky and save a few steps?

Feb 18th - 17:12pm | Anonymous

This is typically what is happening in all parks. Outsourcing and finding other agencies and volunteers to do the jobs employees used to do. Look at Corp of Engineer parks at lakes to see how well it has turned out. This could soon happen in our National Park areas also.

Feb 18th - 17:02pm | D365gt

As someone who has visited Dinosaur numerous times to see the granduer of what was the wall of bones I was deeply saddened to find the building closed that housed this magnificent display. Now the Superintendent is letting the only 2 people who maintained the wall go? How can that be outsourced to the state of Utah and to University students? Why not the research paleontologist?

Feb 18th - 14:50pm | Dale

I agree with Kurt's reading of the situation at Dinosaur. I have worked with the paleo staff as a volunteer for many years. This program actually moved out of the Carnegie Quarry significantly in 1985. The discoveries, excavations, assistance to researchers, cooperation with other agencies and assistance to other NPS units is impressive.

A Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom Ranch

Feb 20th - 16:25pm | pkrnger

Ken, Here are some additional pictures to wet your appetite for your upcoming trip and hike into the Grand Canyon. http://www.parksonline.org/parks/owenhoffman/grandcanyon2007/index2.html

Feb 20th - 14:20pm | Ken

Owen--My wife and I are 75. We plan to do the GC on April 5-7, 08. Going down S.Kaibab and returning via BA trail. We have duffel service both ways for us and our son(46) and his wife. Will be staying at the BA campground for two nites. Eating our meals at Phantom. Any advice for us "oldies"? Any suggestions? Thanks

Shenandoah National Park Announces Opening Dates

Feb 20th - 16:12pm | Gary

Visitor Center openings are evidence of the erosion of purchasing power of NPS's operating funds-- in the 70's when I worked at SNP, the Harry Byrd VC was open year around. with steady visitation.

Wolf Advocates Plan to Sue Rocky Mountain Park Officials Over Elk Plan

Feb 20th - 16:08pm | Fred Miller

These are all good comments. I'm no expert so I read them to learn more about the situation. An excess of ANYTHING is not good. I wonder if we bring in wolves because there are too many elk, what will happen when we have too many wolves? We have to approach this intelligently, with the best interests of our wildlife heritage at the top of our priority list.

Feb 20th - 13:58pm | Anonymous

Wow! I've looked at alot of different sites about the Wolves and Elk in Colorado, Idaho,Wyoming and Montana. I can admit when I'm wrong. Elk populations are not being decimated by wolves, depending on who you talk to. There are many reasons such as fire, disease etc... I guess what I would like to know is... what happened to the wolves in Rocky Mountain Nat. Park before? Were they hunted out?

Feb 20th - 12:40pm | Mookie

Following up on wolf deaths, there is a (partial, I'm sure) list of confirmed deaths by wolves on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans

Feb 20th - 12:12pm | Mookie

I don't understand the problem with bringing back the natural order of things and having the wolves come back? The elk need to be culled because their natural predators have been decimated. Are wolves threatening to humans? How many deaths have wolves caused since they've been reintroduced?

Feb 20th - 10:39am | Anonymous

Just an update to my previous comment. In 1995 66 gray wolves were reintroduced to central Idaho and Yellowstone Nat. Park. Today those wolves number more than 1200! More than 700 in Idaho. I'm sure if you checked the Elk population it would be down dramatically.

Feb 20th - 09:54am | Anonymous

I agree with JoeSF, why add to the existing problem? Why move wolves in? Why not move some Elk out? I lived in a remote part of Idaho for a few years and the Elk population was quite large. I personally had a herd of more than 100 that would winter in my front yard.

Feb 19th - 16:32pm | JoeSF

The wolf solution will just cause the Parks to face the task of culling the wolves later on. I dont think thats going to make anyone happy. Having some wolves is ok but you cannot create a balanced eco sysytem in a bottle. Suing the Parks is a waste of Parks resources. If people are suing over the elk they will be suing over the wolves next. The numbers will build up.

Does the National Park Service Need a Quota System for Peak Seasons?

Feb 20th - 15:46pm | Bob Janiskee

There have been lots of suggestions for increasing carrying capacity, but most of them are unacceptable for obvious reasons. For example, some people advocate installing elevated monorail systems in our big nature-based national parks so that more visitors can be conveyed around and through the parks without unduly damaging the resources.

Feb 20th - 13:23pm | Erik

If you wish to use a "scientific method" to determine "...how much access and use can be permitted without seriously reducing recreational quality or causing unacceptable damage to physical and cultural resources in the parks." It seems that we would need to answer a few questions.

Feb 20th - 12:34pm | Bob Janiskee

Anon has a good point about unfair advantages that internationals might enjoy if they were to book their peak-season park visits through tour operators who get a permit allocations without being subject to the lottery.

Feb 20th - 11:07am | Anonymous

Here's an idea. Any lottery should be open only to American citizens whose taxes pay for the parks. Seriously, if American citizens have difficulty getting access to the popular national parks that they pay for while tour operators catering to foreign visitors get preference, how much support will there be for funding for the parks?

Feb 19th - 21:27pm | JoeSF

No, the parks should have the news stations broadcast overbooked conditions often during peak season. The information can steer people to underused parks so they can enjoy their holiday or at least alert them to the overcrowed conditon. I think many would opt to do something else if they knew in advance.

Feb 19th - 14:15pm | Random Walker

My trust of the NPS's ability to use the "best available scientific methods" as the basis of any decision is non existent.

Feb 19th - 12:58pm | Marylander

I hate the idea of the permits, first and foremost. However, they aren't really necessary by the very design of the parks. Take Yellowstone, for example. Yellowstone is one of my favorite parks in the world, but I know if I want to visit it I need to make camping reservations WAY in advance. There are only so many camping spaces and hotel rooms available, hence only so many people can visit.

Arches and Canyonlands In the Fall: Rock Architecture and Dwindling Crowds

Feb 20th - 08:24am | Luxury home design

I see you can do a lot of thinks in this beautiful place. To bad it's so far away from my country.

Dinosaur National Monument Cutting Paleontology Staff

Feb 19th - 19:33pm | PaleoPeace

Monument or Park, the key word here is "Dinosaur".

Feb 19th - 16:04pm | repanshek

Ouch. Shoot the messenger why don't you? The fact of the matter is that in the monument's past there have been efforts to see it renamed Dinosaur National Park, so that was an accurate statement. Would such a change have an overall impact on management of Dinosaur? Maybe, maybe not.

Feb 19th - 15:23pm | Arizonaman

What the heck is a "full-fledged national park.? You should know better. There is no difference in management by law or policy of a unit of the National Park System based on its nomenclature. When places like Cayuhoga and Congaree changed to national "parks" nothing changed but their names.

Bison Slaughter In Yellowstone National Park Draws Protest Against Park Service

Feb 19th - 11:16am | Anonymous

Jim, how about the word massacre instead of slaughter...sounds more effective! Good input but much like a "term paper"!

Feb 19th - 10:05am | jsmacdonald

The reason for the slaughter of bison officially has nothing to do with carrying capacity, though the IBMP sets an arbitrary number of 3,000 bison for the park, and rules regarding testing and slaughter change at that point.

Feb 19th - 10:00am | repanshek

Anon,

Feb 19th - 08:24am | Anonymous

Good Lord. Is NPT now an advocacy rag? Jim, regardless of your semantic take on the word "slaughter" it still smacks of not only a breach of the shaky objectivity achieved on NPT, it's also sensationalistic and I feel strongly this is like something i might see on FOX or CNN.

Feb 18th - 23:27pm | jsmacdonald

I want to take a shot at answering the last couple of comments, particularly eric's, since he raises some very important ethical questions. eric asked about the proper size of the buffalo herd, and he asked whether it was better for a buffalo to be killed by wolves than by man.

Feb 18th - 11:27am | Anonymous

A few of you have mentioned the real issue here. The Montana beef industry spends millions of dollars lobbying their industry as they should. However they have made themselves so powerful that they can influence what a federal organization (the Yellowstone NPS) does or doesn't do with their management practices.

Feb 18th - 09:45am | eric

My question is, How big of a herd do we want? 4500, 45,000, 45,000,000? If you think we kill alot of buffalo now, wait till we are managing a herd of 1,000,000 or so. Also, I want to know why it is better for a buffalo to be killed by wolves than to be killed by man?

Feb 18th - 09:36am | jsmacdonald

According to any press release you read when a bison is sent to be killed, they ship it "to slaughter." You can find that language in the government's own words on the press release I linked to in the article. They prefer to use the sanitized phrase "Management Operations" to describe what they are doing.

Feb 18th - 08:40am | Bill Roberts

I have a big problem with the use of the word "slaughter". You have already made your point. To use brucellosis as a reason to harvest American bison is absolutly ludicrous. Don't think I'd like to vacinate one though! Sure did lots of cows.

Feb 18th - 02:01am | jsmacdonald

I want to let you all know that in addition to this article, I've also posted an introspective essay that looks not so much at the rally but rather the context of my meeting Buffalo Field Campaign again after so many years. I attended a rally in Washington, DC, in April 2002 (and actually again in 2003, but it was raining so hard, and I barely felt as though I was there).

University Shooting Doesn't Bring A Halt to Interior Department's Review of Weapons Ban in Parks

Feb 19th - 09:22am | repanshek

Joe, Reporting 101: Get your facts right.

Feb 19th - 01:50am | JoeSF

Kurt,

Bear Grass in Glacier National Park

Feb 19th - 02:03am | MRC

This image is from 2003 near iceberg lake: http://www.nps.gov/archive/glac/images/070503e.jpg

Feb 18th - 15:23pm | feralhiker

I've seen comparable amounts of bear grass flowering in Glacier NP at one point in the last 12 years. Bear grass takes year to flower and so an area may have few flowers for several years and then a mass flowering in one year.

Feb 18th - 07:20am | Anonymous

Is it possible that Bear Grass still grows in the park with the same abundance as shown in the 1920's photograph?? One(ME) has desirable wish that it still does!

‘Study Group’ Meets to Determine fate of Yellowstone National Park’s East Entrance

Feb 18th - 12:11pm | repanshek

Hmmm, let's see. The Park Service decides through the NEPA process that it's not in its best interest to keep Sylvan Pass open for a relatively few snowmobilers coming in from Cody. They're ready to state that in their preferred winter use alternative, but then Cody and Wyoming officials raise a ruckus over that decision.

Feb 18th - 12:01pm | Anonymous

Ok maybe I'm missing the point here, but didn't you say "portions of the meetings" would be closed to the public? I understand that to mean there were "portions of the meetings" that were also open to the public. I don't think you've really identified what exactly is wrong in this circumstance.

Fall Into Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Kills California Woman

Feb 18th - 08:04am | wine country tours

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone seems to be amazing but I heard the park is not considered to be a good destination for mountaineering because of the instability of volcanic rock.

National Park Visitation Debate -- Here We Go Again

Feb 17th - 23:41pm | Anonymous

Steve, That is one problem they could have. There's also issues like a declining middle class, changing family structures, etc... I don't know about any specific reports on adapting park management to the changing US population off the top of my head but I'm writing a dissertation that deals with the question of an aging population's effects on visitor experiences. E.

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