| National Parks Traveler

Rick Smith: I would hate to think that some future generation of Americans would remove the parks that my generation added such as Guadalupe Mountains, Martin Luther King Jr., Kings Canyon, etc. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? I checked, and Kings Canyon was added in 1940. Maybe you meant Canyonlands?

Jun 9th - 19:31pm | Rick Smith

There's another little thing about the Backpacker list that makes me uncomfortable. Since 1872, with the establishment of Yellowstone, each generation of Americans, speaking through their congressional representatives, gets to add places to the National Park System that they believe deserve protection in perpetuity. It is a matter, it seems of me, of generational equity that we g

Jun 9th - 15:35pm | MVS

Their selection is made entirely on the value of a park in terms of its potential for backpacking, whereas there are more criteria for any park. A place like Wind Cave, which I enjoyed, doesn't have the extensive back country of, say, Yellowstone or Canyonlands, but is preserved largely because of its caves, a worthy thing to do.

Jun 9th - 10:50am | justinh

Not sure about Wind Cave. Its backcountry is pretty spectacular--prairie mixed with ponderosa pine forest, limestone cliffs, rushing streams; bison, prairie dogs, pronghorns--and I didn't run into another soul out there. Is the backcountry not officially designated wilderness? Is that the case for swapping it out?

Fire Danger Leads To Partial Closure of Saguaro National Park

Jun 10th - 08:14am | Kurt Repanshek

Don't misunderstand, MRC, I agree that fire is a very necessary landscape tool in forests. There are many positives, from the opening up of meadows that attract wildlife to even spurring regrowth of coniferous species with serontinus cones.

Jun 10th - 04:31am | MRC

Kurt, I was in Yellowstone in early June of 1990. And it was spectacular. New life, dead logs, the brand new visitor center at the south entrance telling the story of the fires and the recovery. Fire is a force of nature, and the NPS has learned over the last three to four decades to allow fires to burn, unless life or limb are in danger.

Jun 9th - 18:39pm | Kurt Repanshek

Some might say the NPS wants to save the taxpayer dollars by preventing forest fires... I was in Yellowstone in '88. It wasn't pretty. And at least one of those fires was started by humans...just outside the park boundary. I see nothing wrong with a little prudence and caution.

Jun 9th - 18:17pm | ChrisM-FtWorthTX

Now the federal government wants to regulate what days of the month you can visit the National Park we all pay taxes to support. Won't be long until they tell us we cannot visit NP's at all unless we are in some kind of elitist group.

Jun 9th - 13:02pm | Anonymous

Now if only we can keep the moronic smokers from throwing their lit cigarettes out of their car windows! I live outside of Phoenix and the other day I was behind a truck with Michigan plates that did just that - threw their lit cigarette out the window. A week ago south of Tucson in the middle of nowhere, there was a large brush fire on both sides of I-10 that slowed traffic to a crawl. Are

Jun 9th - 12:00pm | tomp2

An update on the Horseshoe 2 fire in the Chiricahuas: it has crossed Pinery Canyon Rd and is burning into Chiricahua National Monument. The incident team are going to set burnouts inside the Monument to protect structures and developed areas.

Grizzly Bear Shot and Killed By Hikers In Denali National Park and Preserve

Jun 9th - 23:56pm | Skip

Well, I'm back and thought I'd reply on my trip to Alaska. Yes, I am alive and didn't need the knive or bear spray. My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Alaska, which brought us from Denali National Park to the Kenai Pennensula. We hiked on many trails, took bus tours into Denali NP, two seperate cruises one from Seward and one from Wittier, and took close to a thousand pictures and videos.

Yosemite National Park Officials Instituting Reservation Program Changes To Stop Campsite Scalping

Jun 9th - 23:39pm | Bruce Hildreth

I hope that they will be able to bring a program like this to the Half Dome reservations soon. It really hurts to see the reservations being sold on eBay and Craig's list for shamful amounts. The Mount Whitney lottery system still appears to be fair, but I understand that it may go to a Internet reservation system soon. I hope this doesn't become a Ticket Scalping event also.

Jun 9th - 18:15pm | Glenn Scofield ...

I was writing to the NPS and various groups about this three or four years ago when I found blocks of Yosemite campsites being sold on eBay. It was infuriating to me how impossible it was to fairly acquire reservations because of the level of scalping going on. I'm so glad they finally instituted these changes. I hope it helps.

Jun 9th - 12:12pm | Bill

I had no idea this was going on, but it makes sense. Anything that is an in demand commodity can be and will be bartered whether legally or illegally. Glad to see the park service taking a pro-active approach. I wonder how many other parks see this. We have noticed many sites can be hard to get particually on busy weekends like around holidays.

Reader Participation Day: What Do You Do When You See A Visitor Doing Something Inappropriate In A National Park?

Jun 9th - 22:44pm | Mike Painter

I was at the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands a few weeks ago, when a German-speaking tourist dropped his cigarette butt and kicked some dirt over it. While I was pondering what to say to him "auf Deutsch," the problem solved itself when he turned around and asked if I'd take a picture of him and his family (all adults).

Jun 9th - 07:39am | Anonymous

As long as they are not my kids....I try to encourage that type of behavior

Jun 8th - 22:15pm | Megaera

I was at the Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone a few years ago when this young Asian couple decided that she needed to step off of the boardwalk so that he could take her photo. I got after them (with lots of gestures -- they obviously did not speak English) until she got back up on the boardwalk, without him having taken her picture.

Jun 8th - 18:41pm | Anonymous

Hey, I sleep with my dog! She's better behaved than my grandkids. Than most kids, for that matter. However, I don't need "mountain lion bait" when I'm on the trails. She stays home!

Jun 8th - 15:31pm | Anonymous

The problem is many people in this country don't have any manners. They consider their dogs "people" and family and don't understand why you don't love Fido as they do.For God's sake most of them sleep with the dog!!!LOL

Jun 8th - 14:32pm | Anonymous

I'm more inclined to speak up if someone is annoying animals, littering, harming plants, etc. Less so if they are simply risking their own life and limb. Once saw a pilgrim edge closer and closer to a cow & calf moose trying to get a photo while wife & kid hollered for him to come back. Moose was getting really fed up!

Jun 8th - 14:29pm | Bruce W. Bytnar

Making the decision as to whether or not to intercede when one observes violations in National Parks is a personal decision that should be made after fully assessing your situation. Ask yourself some of these questions; · Is correcting the person worth placing yourself in possible danger?

Jun 8th - 12:02pm | John

If I encounter a person with a dog I expalin to them it is against National Park rules then I go on explain why the rule is there. Dogs are non natural animals, to other natural animals they smell like wolves and the natural animals will stay away from the trails. If they ask where they can take their dogs in to forests I tell them BLM and the forest service allow dogs.

Jun 8th - 10:42am | Kurt Repanshek

What were the infractions, Dennis?

Jun 8th - 10:34am | dennis g.

As I spend most of my time in the backcountry, I've rarely run into this type of situation. However, I can recall two occasions - both in Yellowstone - where I spoke sternly, but as politely as I could to point out the offense to the rule breaker. And in both instances they complied with my request.

Jun 8th - 09:54am | RangerLady

Like Gaelyn, it doesn't matter what park I'm in, I'm still a ranger. When I see someone breaking the rules I always identify myself and explain the rules as politely as I can. Sometimes when I'm not in uniform I can get a little snippy when people are doing really stupid/dangerous/mean things.

Jun 8th - 09:44am | Brad

I yelled at some tourons to stop approaching a young male bear in Great Smoky Mountains this spring. They gave me a dirty look, but the noise ran the bear off and probably saved its life, if not theirs.

Trails I've Hiked: Anthony Creek Trail to Spence Field in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Jun 9th - 17:24pm | B

Great hike. Something of note is that Spence Field is the site of one of the more well known cases of a dissapeared person in the park. A young boy hiking with his family in 1969 at Spence Field ducked around some brush in an attempt to sneak up behind his parents and scare them. That was the last time he was ever seen. What followed was one of the largest manhunts ever to happen.

Congressman Asks If National Park Service Went Too Far to Accommodate Citizen Palin

Jun 9th - 13:49pm | justinh

This is pretty clearly politics all around: Palin using the parks to show off her "campaign" bus (and muffle Pawlenty's announcement). And Blumenauer scoring in the OR-3, which has a PVI of somewhere in the neighborhood of D+infinity.

Jun 9th - 13:23pm | Rick B.

An opinion from an Alaskan journalist who knows Palin well.

Jun 8th - 20:18pm | ChrisM-FtWorthTX

The last three short paragraphs tell it all.

Jun 8th - 19:57pm | ChrisM-FtWorthTX

What would have been the situation if Mrs. Palin just showed up with no official pre-visit notification to the NPS and why does the congressman even care? Because he'll ... do anything to try to make Palin look disfavorable. Sarah Palin has just as much right to access to any national park as does anyone else does.

Jun 8th - 16:39pm | Ameriken

I find it ridiculous that anyone in Washington, D.C.

Jun 8th - 16:04pm | Ron Saunders

OK, So now the Folks that like Sara Palin still like her and the ones that hate her still hate her.

Jun 8th - 15:50pm | Angela Bates

Palin should be treated exactly as any ordinary person would be, for that is what she is.

Jun 8th - 15:23pm | y_p_w

Jim Burnett: Perhaps the bigger concern here is that Rep. Earl Blumenauer apparently doesn't have a clue about which sites are even administered by the NPS.

Jun 8th - 14:40pm | Anonymous

So a Congressman is asking for an investigation about possibly unwise use of taxpayer dollars and the self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives are whining? (I'll even concede there's a political element--it's not say Senator Coburn who's pursuing this issue.) I'm not sure which is more nauseating, conservative hypocrisy or conservative ignorance. I need a week in Dinosaur to get away from their

Jun 8th - 13:28pm | Mellosy

She should have been treated like any private citizen that goes to a NP. Pay at the gate and explore. Millions of Americans do not get special treatment from the NPS, IE going into places early with a personal Ranger escort. That is ludacris. She does not hold public office, if anything she's trying to get more attention.

Jun 8th - 13:27pm | Jim Burnett

Perhaps the bigger concern here is that Rep. Earl Blumenauer apparently doesn't have a clue about which sites are even administered by the NPS. According to another news report, his letter to Director Jarvis complained about NPS special treatment for Palin at both Mount Vernon and the National Archives. The NPS has no role in the management of either of those locations.

Jun 8th - 13:02pm | AnonymousD

Let's rephrase the question to make it politically neutral: To what extent should the NPS spend its scant funds to provide extra support to a private citizen who does not currently hold public office? That is a question worthy of investigation.

Jun 8th - 12:03pm | y_p_w

I'm not a fan of Palin, but I would think that this kind of special treatment was actually prudent to avoid the inevitable zoo. I don't know if it was necessarily her political stature that got her the VIP treatment, but her celebrity.

Jun 8th - 09:47am | Anonymous

Much ado about zippo. As distasteful as this is to some, if not many, NPS routinely "accommodates" VIP visitors. When you've got a news media entourage and fans trailing behind you, you're a VIP. NPS was correct to reach out ahead of time, proactively, to accommodate the potential ruckus. As Olson said, standard treatment for celebs, no big deal.

Jun 8th - 09:41am | Brad

Sounds like plain old pure jealousy. I love that Sarah can push people's thin-skinned buttons so easily.

National Park Road Trip 2011: Lassen Volcanic National Park

Jun 8th - 22:27pm | y_p_w

I'm thinking Bumpass Hell would have been interesting with all the snow, although that's on the other end of the main park road. These cabins seem rather spartan - similar to KOA's "Kamper Kabins", but without electricity.

Jun 8th - 11:57am | Dang

Yikes! My wife and I have reservation at Manzanita Campground for the Fourth! Sure hope most of that snow is gone by then...

An Atonement at Fort Sumter

Jun 8th - 20:44pm | Anonymous

What a joyous occasion. It certainly calls for happy celebrations, and gig smiles of acknowledgement. The event is always bigger than man.

Busy Day On McKinley: Three Climbers Felled By Altitude Sickness Rescued in Denali National Park

Jun 8th - 18:38pm | Anonymous

Another good reason to charge climbers higher fees for their permits. All three of these climbers were from other countries. Why should the daily park visitors have to pay for the "enjoyment" of the few.

Yellowstone National Park's Wolf Population Down More than 25 Percent

Jun 8th - 16:40pm | WingedWolfPsion

No, we don't need to do anything about this. Drought, harsh winters, predation, and pressure from predators like wolves, and most CERTAINLY, high human harvest rates, lowered the elk population dramatically. The wolves in areas with lighter population densities were less affected, and that is as it should be. The severe reduction in wolves matches the severe reduction in elk. Nature has ALR

Adult Grizzly Struck and Killed By Motorist In Yellowstone National Park

Jun 8th - 11:53am | Dottie

"You have to wonder what someone was doing out at 2 am." Really? Why? What is wrong with being out at that hour of the morning? It certainly must be easier to navigate the busy roads without all the other visitors on the road. Its not breaking a law to be out at 2 in the morning, and heaven forbid they should make such a law. And what could you possibly care that someone was out at 2 in t

$10,000 Donation Will Help Students Get Involved In Citizen Science at Glacier National Park

Jun 8th - 09:23am | Merry Lynn

Very nice job on this story! Thanks for sharing this info with national park lovers.

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