| National Parks Traveler

That Joshua tree was not dead! That appears to be pure vandalism. Just because you have been here once doesn't mean that you know what you are talking about. I can't believe you are even trying to defend the perpetrators of this destruction. No benefit of the doubt here. Seems to be a very unkind thing to do just because no one is looking. Shameful!

Jan 9th - 09:24am | Li Rose

Just because a tree looks dead does not excuse or justify this behavior.

Jan 9th - 09:00am | Dave Bishop

Looks like that tree was dead already. I have been to this park and area before, and a few trees do appear to be dead. Vandals might have thought it would be good firewood.

Jan 8th - 13:49pm | RP

In this fast paced, high-tech, hurry up and go nowhere wierld there are no humans in sight just blood-thirsty animules. I was going to say I hear Noah's hammer but I hear a match striking.

Searching For History In Biscayne Bay

Jan 9th - 16:48pm | Sharon Conlin

Thanks for sharing this information. What a shameful history our country is built on. We can do better!

Traveler's View: Interior Department Makes Rules Up On The Fly

Jan 9th - 16:38pm | tomp2

I live 12 miles from the border, and I've done a lot of (non-NPS) research in CA AZ & TX between 20 miles north of the border and half a mile south of the border (mistakes were made, but that was pre-GPS pre-fence and I wasn't along on the first trip that established that site in Pinto Wash). There's already 1 - 3 layers of barricade where it makes sense to have barricade: look at San Dieg

Jan 8th - 22:47pm | BrianP

Kurt, it's time to build a wall. Not a concrete wall. Just an anti-troll wall. ECBuck will pay for it.

Jan 8th - 21:05pm | ecbuck

Sorry Kurt, the Senate vote on HR 695 which would have sent a bill to fund the government to the President: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cf...

Jan 8th - 20:33pm | Kurt Repanshek

There is no Senate 695.

Jan 8th - 20:22pm | y_p_w

ecbuck: Kurt, the bill didn't get to his desk. He never had a chance to vote yea or nay. As you are well aware, and often bemoaned, he doesn't always do what he says he will do. It's part of his art of the deal. The fact is there was a bill to keep the government open, the Dems voted it down.

Jan 8th - 20:22pm | ecbuck

Senate 695 - 47 Republicans Yes, 47 Democroats No. The bill never got to the President. 60 votes are needed so holding the majority is not enough to make things happen. And no I don't condone vandalism. But Trump isn't being the vandel and vandalism occurs whether the government is being funded or not.

Jan 8th - 20:16pm | Kurt Repanshek

I guess you'll have to point out the bill, EC. The House at the time was controlled by the GOP, and it passed their version of funding legislation. The Senate at the time, and today, was/is controlled by the GOP, and both the GOP and the Dems in the chamber voted unanimously to keep the government open.

Jan 8th - 19:47pm | ecbuck

Kurt, the bill didn't get to his desk. He never had a chance to vote yea or nay. As you are well aware, and often bemoaned, he doesn't always do what he says he will do. It's part of his art of the deal. The fact is there was a bill to keep the government open, the Dems voted it down.

Jan 8th - 19:17pm | Kurt Repanshek

To borrow a well-worn political phrase that seems apt, "he was for it before he was against it." The bill never got to his desk because conservative commentators berated him until he quickly changed his mind, no? Even the WSJ reported that the president didn't want a shutdown and wasn't going to insist on the $5 billion.

Jan 8th - 19:00pm | ecbuck

Once again you go to polling which has been demonstrated to be very unreliable. It's no wonder the "polls" would reflect that given the overwhelming liberal bias of the mainstream media that so many of these sheep rely upon. I don't care about polls, I care about facts. Fact is, no bill ever got to the President's desk.

Jan 8th - 18:27pm | Kurt Repanshek

Latest polling shows the majority of American's believe it was the president's doing, EC, that he shouldn't have shut down the government to achieve a policy goal. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/08/poll-voters-blame-trump-gop-fo...

Jan 8th - 18:18pm | ecbuck

That's not Trump's doing, Kurt, it was the Dems that failed to approve government funding. And this is not only "not entirely" it's not even close to barely. 12 months from the end of the shutdown, you will never know it happened.

Jan 8th - 17:26pm | Kurt Repanshek

Not entirely destroyed, EC, but.... https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2019/01/joshua-tree-national-park-...

Jan 8th - 17:24pm | ecbuck

So another little dance. What National Park is being destroyed and how? And yes, I do hope the NPS & Parks come out in good health. Perhaps cutting the visitation will even do them some good.

Jan 8th - 16:42pm | Rick B.

I have a young nephew, recent USMC enlistee, who has similar problems in his writing. Rather than accuse me of "twisting" what he himself writes, he graciously welcomed our holiday gifts of a book of Strunk and White and another similar book on writing. He, of course, is very mature for his age.

Jan 8th - 16:32pm | ecbuck

Well Rick, if you are in the process of destroying, something must have been destroyed or does it just go from pristine to destroyed over night? Speaking of trolls. Can't substantiate the argument, turn to twisting the language or calling names, whatever your daily preference.

Jan 8th - 15:07pm | Rick B.

Rules of English, often ignored by internet trolls. One comment mentions "destroyING". An ongoing process. Troll queries, inaccurately, "what ... HAS BEEN DESTROYED?" Logical fallacies are often the playground of the trolls.

Jan 8th - 11:40am | ecbuck

CC - Could you please identify what National Park has been destroyed and how.

Jan 8th - 10:47am | CC

The parks should have been closed to protect the environment, animals, and visitors. This has nothing to do with "liberal nanny state" policies. The current president is destroying our national parks just as he is doing to all American institutions. Hopefully, this shutdown will end soon and qualified professional Rangers will be back on the job of protecting our parks.

UPDATED | Traveler's View: Keeping Parks Open During Government Shutdown Is Bad Idea

Jan 9th - 15:18pm | Rick B.

Again, WP, down here in the field at the individual park level that is an absurd thought. Most management that I know is anxious to get back to work fighting their way through the HR bottleneck to hire their summer seasonals. Period.

Jan 9th - 11:30am | wild places

Who actually determined who is an "essential employee"? Call me a skeptic but given the likes of the "altparks" gang and some other things I've seen surrounding this shut down I can't help but wonder if there aren't those purposely trying to make this a bigger problem than it needed to be.

Jan 9th - 08:28am | Joanna from Mis...

I agree. Drain the swamp! Use Clorox! I want to ennen americasA Nat parks. I will even help clean up what others so rudly leave behind. These Parks are OUR parks. We all need to pitch in!

State Of Alaska Wants Greater Control Over Wildlife, Including That In National Parks

Jan 9th - 08:39am | Daniel O'Brien

I will help support to keep Alaska's national parks as well as the Arctic safe because nobody wants oil drilling in that area anyways because it is dangerous and we need to protect the wildlife no matter what and Trump is a big fat liar when it comes to him asking to oil drilling in areas we don't want to happen.

UPDATED: Yosemite National Park Closes Hetch Hetchy Area, People Entering Closed Areas Being Cited

Jan 8th - 22:32pm | Park visitor

I am currently visiting Death Valley. All campgrounds are closed in Death Valley at this point due to sanitation issues. Other sites are closing one by one for the same reason. Artist's Drive closed as of Monday morning due to human waste. The are many areas where people have driven off road through the desert and left deep tire tracks.

National Park Gold: Official Park Handbooks

Jan 8th - 20:03pm | Sarah

There's several available for download on Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=national+park

Traveler's View | Things We'd Like To See In 2019 For The National Park System

Jan 8th - 19:55pm | Sarah

agree!

Jan 8th - 15:23pm | Michael Rees

Good list. Another priority should be to implement the 2017 NPS System Plan, which provided a vision, goals, and actions to better preserve the system, add new units to the system, embrace new conservation roles, and bring parks to people.

Unease Hangs Over National Parks As Partial Shutdown Continues

Jan 8th - 17:44pm | Danny Bernstein

Malaise is a mild word. This is Day 18. Have you all contacted your elected officials and told them to open up our government, and our parks? What about our president? Does he know where you stand on the government shutdown? Are you letting them know that our national parks should be funded properly? Danny Bernstein

Would You Love Zion National Park As Much If It Were Called Mukuntuweap National Park?

Jan 8th - 17:18pm | Ted Kirchberg

Great article. Just one thing Stephen Mather's middle name wss Tyng.(I attended the high school named after him in Chicago)

New Executive Order Could Open Forests In National Parks To Logging

Jan 8th - 15:19pm | Rick B.

Declaring land to be Parks or USFS or such is a conscious decison to remove the land from the profit-driven forestry industry. Where I live I can view NPS, USFS, and private acreage. The clear-cut acres are conspicuous in their absence from the federally protected lands. The hills around me with clear-cut swathes are ugly and unnatural appearing, and never fail to leave me unsettled.

Jan 8th - 13:03pm | Bill Baehr

Great news. Let more logging begin in the Forests as well as the National Forests.

Jan 8th - 12:07pm | Michael Kellett

I agree that public lands management should be based on the best available science. Unfortunately, this EO -- and most "multiple-use" forest management by the U.S. Forest Service -- is not based on current science. Here are a few examples of what current science is actually telling us -- that logging is not the answer to promote forest "health."

Jan 8th - 09:44am | Renee Hegberg

Science based forest management is possible. When we let the forest service use science facts and experts make the decisions, we will not see profiteering companies destroying forest and lands indiscriminately.

Jan 8th - 09:15am | ecbuck

Lee, what is your evidence that our forest are in worse shape now than before? How are you defining "shape'?

Jan 8th - 08:10am | Lee Dalton

Travis, go back and look at the history of our national forests and the concept of "mulitple use." The problem, however, is that due to Congress caving in to various pressure groups that were usually seeking greater profits, "multiple use" turned into "multiple ABuse."

Jan 8th - 05:13am | Kelly Loyd

This is a travesty. National Parks are a treasure we should be guarding zealously, not using to provide opportunities for logging companies to make more money.

A Tough Week for Hikers and Mule Riders at Grand Canyon National Park

Jan 8th - 12:41pm | Cecil O. Perkins

I have hiked the Grand Canyon many times -- the first in 1962. I envied the mules and their riders for the nest fifty plus years. Finially, in 2006, I experienced the a wonderful time of my life. I experienced the Grand Canyon via a mule ride. Shelby was the mule. I will always be grateful to him/her/it...whatever. I will also forever be grateful to the God above for the Grand Canyon, the

UPDATED: No Movement On National Park Issues As Government Heads Toward Shutdown

Jan 8th - 12:18pm | ecbuck

Like I said, there is no legitimate reason not to build the wall - physical or virtual and Obama's head of the Border Patrol agrees: https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1082503830992896000

UPDATED | Interior Department Tests Legal Boundaries In Redirecting Fee Monies To National Park Garbage Collection

Jan 8th - 08:17am | Lee Dalton

6: Does anybody know what happens to park staff living in park housing during a shutdown? I assume those in long-term leases aren't evicted? ==== Don't know about what's happening now, but back during Reagan's shutdowns, we remained in our housing, and because our housing payment was deducted from our paychecks, we really didn't have to worry about that detail.

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