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Limiting Visitation

Feb 5th - 09:28am | Glenn Scofield...

The real elephant in the room when we talk about visitor capacity in the parks (and I'm really thinking about Yosemite now, since it's on the frontlines of the legal battle) is day-users.

Climate Change and the Parks

Feb 3rd - 11:06am | Ranger X

"Alternative fuels, outside of solar power (and there are a whole host of issues with solar) are ultimately energy inefficient or require too much use of other resources."

Feb 3rd - 06:41am | Jim Macdonald

One thing that concerns me is the belief that some have that alternative fuels are the answer to this problem. I don't know if anyone here has studied the issues related to peak oil. Anyhow, a lot of discussions about this concept are pushing the envelope on thinking about energy.

Feb 2nd - 20:57pm | Ranger X

During seasonal training at Sequoia, Tweed discussed how climate change would affect old-growth sequoias. More precip falling as rain in the winter equals less snow melt. Less snow melt equals less water for trees in the spring and summer, peak growing season. Less water for trees means old growth sequoias are in trouble.

Shuttling to Acadia

Feb 2nd - 17:43pm | jr_ranger

It's true that the parks face rampant overcrowding issues - which only breed trouble.

Feb 2nd - 13:25pm | repanshek

A reservation system would be a good tool, though I don't think the agencies have the stomach for it just yet. But keeping in mind what's going on with the climate, a combination of reservations and shuttles I think would be even better.

Feb 2nd - 13:18pm | kath

Having shuttle transportation in the park, doesn't really address the issue of overcrowding at some popular parks. It addresses some issues with traffic and parking only. Can't you foresee the day when the line for the shuttle to go to the South Rim has a sign that says, "The wait from this point is 60 minutes".

Feb 2nd - 12:33pm | jersu

I think we're on the same page here Kurt. When I said "most", I was thinking of the visitor you describe, hopping from overlook to overlook in their car. The time spent at that overlook might be less than 5 minutes, but if the shuttle only comes every 15 minutes, the nature of that "quick stop for a photo" fundamentally changes.

Feb 2nd - 12:05pm | repanshek

>>...shuttles will fundamentally change the way *most* people will interact with their parks.<< I'm not sure I'd go that far, Jeremy. No doubt about it, Americans love their cars. I know I do. But in a park, that love affair can be parked (yes, pun intended.) without leading to divorce.

Feb 2nd - 11:36am | jersu

I'm going to defend Kath here. First of all, she is right, the YARTS in Yosemite are totally different from a intrapark shuttle system. If you missed a YART, you'd be pissed. It would be worth running down the trail to catch.

Feb 2nd - 11:12am | Ranger X

"We had the viewpoints, the quiet, the majesty of the Canyon to ourselves. The poor folks who had to take the shuttle bus didn't get to enjoy that experience."

Feb 2nd - 08:31am | kath

There are two types of bus systems. There's YARTS in Yosemite and the proposed Visalia to Sequoia 50 some mile trek and on the other hand there are shuttle systems that go short distances and come by frequently. A shuttle system can work, such as the Yosemite Valley shuttle. Long distance slogs with long delays between bus arrivals won't.

Feb 2nd - 04:58am | Jim Macdonald

Or, you can bike, not wait, feel great, and generally get a campsite even when they are full...on the other hand, you have to watch out for those RVs...

Feb 1st - 21:38pm | Ranger X

Kath, The shuttles at Zion come by every 10 to 15 minutes on average. Hurrying to "make a bus" and being ruled by a bus schedule is a choice. If you miss a bus, oh my god, you might have to sit still for an entire 10 to 15 minutes and actually enjoy the non-moving scenery. The last thing I want to do when visiting a national park is circle for half an hour trying to find parking.

Feb 1st - 16:46pm | kath

Last time I was in the Tuolumne area of Yosemite, I was leisurely hiking a high country trail, when I was passed at breakneck speed by a woman asking me what time it was. I told her and she said "Oh I have to hurry to make the YARTs bus at the trailhead". The last thing I want to do when visiting a National Park is be ruled by a g. d. bus schedule.

Coronado Memorial And Drug Runners

Feb 1st - 08:27am | jr_ranger

Protecting the border = more American jobs, more money for the park system, less crime, less drugs. All-in-all, it's a pretty sweet deal. Why is it that a high school kid can see it, but Congress and the President can't?

Jan 31st - 09:58am | kath

But it's not just marijuana being smuggled. It's also meth. The over border smuggling of meth has increased since the ban on buying large amounts of Sudafed. And heroin. The drug smugglers aren't going to quit and get legal desk jobs if marijuana were legalized.

Jan 31st - 09:18am | Ranger X

kath, "...would only encourage the continued growing of cheaper 'untaxed' marijuana."

Jan 31st - 08:51am | kath

Or maybe a shaming campaign directed at those who like to smoke a little weed in their backcountry tents. "This is your National Park on drugs".

Jan 31st - 07:59am | kath

Ranger X, placing high taxes on 'legal' marijuana, while legalizing the product would only encourage the continued growing of cheaper 'untaxed' marijuana.

Jan 30th - 18:58pm | Ranger X

U.S. growers produce nearly $35 billion worth of marijuana annually, making the illegal drug the country's largest cash crop, bigger than corn and wheat combined.

Jan 30th - 18:08pm | Rick Smith

Kurt--

How Will the Yosemite Case Affect the NPS?

Feb 1st - 08:03am | Ron Tipton

I don't think there is anything ominous or even new about the concept of limiting use or access to a specific park or place within a park. And we should not be hesitant to propose systems for managing visitors that are necessary to preserve park resources.

Poll Results: "Grand Canyon: A Different View"

Jan 31st - 20:59pm | Scholar

I have explored the National Park Service website extensively. The age of the Grand Canyon is clevery hidden out of sight. In order to get to age of the canyon, one needs to navigate through 3 links. Thus, the casual user would not encounter the "scientific" data. Even then, the numbers are *stealthily* presented in the form as "4 thousand million years old".

Have National Parks Become Passe?

Jan 31st - 04:45am | Jim Macdonald

Sorry, I meant Carol... I have been a bit disoriented -

Jan 30th - 11:29am | Jim Macdonald

Ranger X,

Jan 26th - 14:53pm | Snowbird

Ranger X, I agree with your concept of thinking here. However, there some whom graze the land far more than others and far more than their fair share...and needs. The question is how much is enough? I wish we all could (which I endorse) live like you in spartan simplicity...less of everything but the bare necessities for a reasonable comfortable living.

Jan 26th - 12:13pm | Ranger X

The "I'm better than you because..." attitude serves only to isolate the real issues. We are all to blame when it comes to environmental degradation, no matter what, or if, we drive.

Jan 26th - 10:40am | Snowbird

Dear Carol, so beautifully put and eloquently expressed. I'm waiting for Kurt's profound wisdom on the subject and Jim McDonalds comments. Should be interesting! Carol, I agree whole heartedly with your comments pertaining to the selfish subject who drives the SUV. My closes buddy, his dear son is in Iraq (marine corp) so that she can drive her 10 gallon per mile SUV...with pig selfishness.

Jan 26th - 08:50am | Carol

About John Locke: it seems to me, if you read Locke in his entirety, you see his focus is on a belief that it is better for everything should be held in commons, not private property, that then CONCEDES that's impractical in the selfish culture in which he lived, so adopted more of a "if you can't stop this cultural path you can at least try to minimize its damages"--but still advocated that every

Jan 25th - 19:28pm | Snowbird

Kurt, looking forward to your follow up blog on Jim's critique pertaining to your article: Have National Parks Become Passe. Should be interesting!...and can you dear Mustang Sally, learn to finish a sentence without interjecting some kind of malicious hate towards someone who disagrees with you. Peace to you baby!!

Jan 25th - 18:21pm | Sally

Uh...Snowbirdie...that's SIERRA not Sierra's...buy yourself a Harbrace!*snicker*

Jan 25th - 16:56pm | repanshek

Jim, good as always to hear from you. Thanks for the sneak peek of your thinking. Enjoy Miami and then get back to us. Be sure to read my next post on relevancy before you finish your response, though, as I'm sure it'll give you more fodder to respond to! Kurt

Jan 25th - 16:34pm | Jim Macdonald

Kurt, I think when it comes to Mather's vision, which is derived from the very foundational act of Yellowstone and the National Park Service, the reason I for one don't emphasize it is that I don't believe in it.

Jan 25th - 14:15pm | Snowbird

Rick, my lost soul brother. Yap! back in those day's Rick, I wore Jesus boots and had long hair while suantering through the mighty Sierra's. Damn, I miss those day's! Oh, yes Sally, and I wasn't on dope either...didn't have to be with all that clean mountain air.

Jan 25th - 12:52pm | Rick Smith

Hey Kurt--

Jan 24th - 20:16pm | Snowbird

Dear Mustang Sally: Not angry! I just have alot of fire in the belly and compassion to save a few precious things that your grandchildren can enjoy, like a National Park system that can fulfill it's responsibilties to it's visitors which has been mandated by Congress...not to be run on chicken feed. Sally, I really feel sorry for you. You know why?

Jan 24th - 18:41pm | Sally

Hey Snowbird...what's an "OVR vehicle"??? Dontcha mean ORV...Off Road Vehicle?? Get your terms straight if you're gonna trash talk. ...and why are you so angry?? All your posts are so angry! Have some peace and tolerance!

Jan 24th - 18:37pm | Sally

Hey Snowbird...I bet you eat your share of Big Macs!! LOL!!!

Who Is the "Fringe Group" Behind the Yosemite Suit?

Jan 30th - 10:08am | Alan

And just who in the hell decides what constitutes a "fring" group?" The night shift copy editor? A guy in the composing room?

Jan 29th - 16:36pm | Ranger X

In 1892, John Muir founded a "fringe" group movement with only 182 members. The group was called the Sierra Club and pushed for the creation of the National Park Service and establishment and preservation of many iconic parks. Real change often seems to come from the so-called fringe.

Relevancy in the Parks Today

Jan 27th - 13:11pm | kath

It is a dilemma isn't it. Because as parks become more and more overrun and transportation in the parks becomes more and more regimented, I'm less likely to go. It's the 'nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded' conundrum.

Jan 26th - 15:49pm | repanshek

Kath, hot spots such as the South Rim during the summer months, Old Faithful, the Yosemite Valley, etc, are always going to be crowded, even if visitation were halved. And places such as Tokopah Falls, while perhaps too crowded for your comfort, I think are valuable in how they can quickly expose park newcomers and young families to the beauty that lies within the parks.

Jan 26th - 13:48pm | Snowbird

Ranger X: So, your a Bill Tweed fan, I've met him several times through the Sequoia Natural History Association. Yes indeed, he's a good prolific writer. I read one of his masterpieces (in my view) "Challenge Of The Big Trees"...very well researched and written.

Jan 26th - 13:10pm | kath

Good issue. But as National Parks become more crowded the experience there becomes more and more like a theme park. For instance, when I was there two years ago, the Grand Canyon had built a new visitor's center staging area for park visitors. From there you get on a tram to go the the rim. There are tram tours in Yosemite Valley.

Jan 26th - 12:18pm | Ranger X

"If we have to resort to games, gizmos and gasoline to make our national parks relevant, to get children interested in stepping into nature, to enjoy spotting a herd of elk in the soft evening light or giggle as the mud squishes between their toes when they step barefoot into a stream, then we surely will have made the national park concept irrelevant."

Jan 26th - 11:59am | jersu

Quite right, there is a big difference in the way the term "relevant" is being applied to the park experience. ARC seems to be using it in a macro sense, willing to transform parks to match consumer expectations, while park traditionalist use it in a micro sense, applying the term on a per-person basis.

A Rocky Mountain Birthday

Jan 26th - 16:48pm | Alan

I flew out to Estes Park in the late 90s for a rendezvous there of wildlands conservationists. And I couldn't escape the gut feeling that there was a community that should never have happened. I'd be interested in knowing just how many compromises, if any, were made when the park's boundaries were established.

Groups Fighting Road Building In Death Valley

Jan 24th - 23:31pm | Ranger X

BGreen, First, "public oversight and exposure" can be done on foot. Second, if you're going to invent numbers, I'm not going to continue this conversation. 46,632,000 acres of wilderness in California? You'd have me believe that HALF the state is wilderness? Start giving me some sources or put down the crack pipe. Here are some facts/sources for you:

Jan 24th - 19:13pm | BGreen

"Listen (by Ranger X). My main point is this: There are already 785 miles of developed roads in Death Valley. How much is enough?"

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