Parks in the News

Find Me, Spot. Staying Found in The National Parks

Backcountry rangers in some Alaska national parks routinely signal their position with "Spot," a personal locater beacon that can be used to summon help or to simply let friends know you're OK. Recently, Spot helped rangers find two backcountry travelers in Sequoia National Park who found themselves in trouble.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 19th, 2008 7:56pm

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North Cascades National Park Officials Over a Barrel With Stocking Trout

Yellowstone has its snowmobiles, Cape Hatteras has its piping plovers, and North Cascades National Park has its trout. Or maybe it doesn't, and that's the problem.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 21st, 2008 9:59am

2 comments

Another Look at Those GPS Rangers in the National Parks

It was just about a year ago that I wrote about the invasion of "GPS Rangers" into the national parks. Back then I wasn't so keen on this hand-held electronic tour gizmo, but there does seem to be a hidden blessing in it.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 20th, 2008 8:18pm

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A Century of National Parks in Utah To be Celebrated Labor Day Weekend

A little more than century after President Theodore Roosevelt designated Natural Bridges National Monument, making it the first National Park System unit in Utah, the monument will serve as the backdrop for a celebration of 100 years of national parks in the state.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 16th, 2008 11:14am

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"Designing the Parks"

For three years National Parks Traveler has served as a forum not just to inform the general public about issues concerning the National Park Service and its system, but to encourage debate and discussion over how the agency and its parks can become stronger. Now there's another forum with that goal in mind.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 20th, 2008 4:57pm

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National Park Service Admits Mistakes With Proposed Little Bighorn Visitor Center Expansion

In an about-face, National Park Service officials have admitted they erred in pushing an expansion of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument visitor center and are reversing course. "Sometimes you just have to admit that you didn't do your homework as well as you might have thought," says Intermountain Regional Director Mike Snyder.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 19th, 2008 4:14pm

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Grand Canyon National Park "Short Haul" Operations

The thrills didn't end for a group of 16 Colorado River rafters when high water stranded them at the bottom of Grand Canyon National Park. As the accompanying picture shows, their rescue was just as, if not more, thrilling as bucking the river's rapids.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 18th, 2008 10:07am

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Grand Canyon National Park Rangers Working to Rescue Stranded Colorado River Rafters

Efforts were under way Sunday evening to rescue 16 Colorado River rafters who apparently were stranded by high water flows in Grand Canyon National Park. Rangers planned to use a helicopter to "short haul" the 16 one-by-one to safety.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 17th, 2008 6:04pm

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Will Second Century Commission Succeed With Its National Parks Assessment and Recommendations?

Call it a $1 million question. Will the National Parks Second Century Commission make a difference in the future of the National Park System, or will its findings and suggestions simply collect dust on a back-room shelf as some other studies have done?

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 15th, 2008 4:13pm

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That Booming You Hear in the Skies Over Yellowstone National Park? It Soon Could be the Sound of Artillery

Ahh, the sounds of winter in Yellowstone National Park. The raspy rustle in the wind of dried leaves that forgot to fall from aspens. The trickling of a creek beneath its sheath of ice. The eruption of a geyser, the gurgling of mudpots. The explosion of a howitzer round as it smacks into a mountainside.

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By Kurt Repanshek - August 16th, 2008 11:47am

1 comment

INN Member

The easiest way to explore RV-friendly National Park campgrounds.

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.

Our app is packed with RVing- specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 national parks.

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