| National Parks Traveler

Funny, how would GYC know? They are not in the field with the buffalo. They get their information from Buffalo Field Campaign. It's calving season for buffalo, so there's always pregnant mothers, newborn calves, or mothers in the throes of giving birth that get caught up in hazing operations. Injuries occur all the time, but none were reported last week.

May 7th - 22:22pm | Anonymous

Montana Ranchers...the Mafia of the west. First they want to shoot the wolves, now they want to chase the Bison away. You know what fellas you run a business and there are no guarantees in business. Learn to adapt to the changing market conditions like every other private business owner does. Besides your product has contributed to the wide spread obesity in this country.

May 7th - 15:28pm | Anonymous

How much of the land in question is private land and how much of it is leased by the ranchers from the federal government? I've read that much of the ranchland in the west is actually leased for a relatively small amount of money. If this is true, it seems to me that the bison should remain there. Can anyone shed any light on this situation?

May 7th - 14:23pm | Anonymous

The brucellosis problem has been in Yellowstone for almost 100 years. When you have a program that is ruled by committee, nothing ever is solved. Millions of dollars are being spent, each year on "fun" projects to provide papers for graduate students and doctoral candidates. You should take the time to read some of the data and papers. Real tax dollars at work.

May 7th - 14:01pm | Barky

People just like to torment "lesser" creatures. It's in our nature. Only through selective culling of our own herd will this scourge be eliminated. [Before people freak out, I'm just trying to make a sardonic point.]

Which National Park Is Home to the World's Largest Beaver Dam?

May 11th - 20:55pm | Tim Donohoe

I keep hearing people say things like, "this is the biggest beaver dam ever", but we don't really know that. Who's to say what gigantic dams have been built since (or even during) the last ice age? Which makes me wonder if there are any geographic features in North America that may actually have been created by these marvelous creatures.

Dining At The Parks: National Park Restaurants Striving To Raise the Culinary Bar

May 11th - 17:32pm | jessstryker

Was just at Shenandoah's Skyland two weeks ago. Just had the standard menu dinners and the food was excellent!

The Way We Used To Describe And Enjoy National Parks

May 11th - 15:19pm | Camp Host US

This is like poetry..I think handwriting was neat and readable and we were closer to the earth in a number of ways, and I think this condition existed until just recently in time. Say right around the time of computers and tv. Go camping today and relive this time..leave your cell phone at home and don't bring a tv or laptop.

May 11th - 13:42pm | Rangertoo

I find it instructional that in both the Organic Act in 1916, and now in this language in 1931, the term "wild life" is used. Not wildlife. I think this speaks to the purpose of the parks: to protect life in its wild state.

May 10th - 20:43pm | Kurt Repanshek

Lynn, I can't imagine anyone not being taken by Acadia. It was, I believe, the very first national park I visited, and remains one of my top two today!

May 10th - 20:39pm | Lynn Fantom

Thank you for this charming and most interesting post. As someone who's enchanted by Acadia today, I love reading about how others viewed Mount Desert Island in the past. For example, I was delighted to learn that the first guidebook about Mount Desert was written by a woman, Mrs. Clara Barnes Martin, in 1867.

May 10th - 09:12am | Lee Dalton

There was a time once when English was a flourishing language and even fairly common people were well educated. Probably won't be long until our park pamphlets are written in texting code. Cya ltr - don't B l8

Republicans, Democrats Differ Over Whether National Park Designations Should Block Energy Projects

May 11th - 14:27pm | Lee Dalton

Correction -- that was the Navajo station near Page, Az. The Four Corners plant was responsible for not being able to land at the Farmington airport a year or two earlier.

May 11th - 08:39am | Lee Dalton

I'm ashamed to admit that I live in Rob Bishop's district here in Utah. (But I've NEVER voted for him . . . . never will.) While we do need to take careful consideration of our need for energy, the paramount requirement is to be sure whatever we do is done wisely. Mr. Bishop left his wisdom behind a long time ago.

Is There A Need to Have the Government Promote National Parks?

May 11th - 11:05am | Anonymous

While I think everyone agrees that the visitation levels at NPS sites vary dramatically, we also need to keep in mind that the place our National Parks have in our collective hearts was due to heavy promotion back when the system was being started If that had occurred for our National Forests, they would be viewed the same way.

May 10th - 17:39pm | Anonymous

As usual, when people talk about national parks they only seem to concentrate on the crown jewel parks, which do get plenty of visitation. Meanwhile at many of the smaller NPS units visitation has been plunging steadily since the early 1990s. Many of the small western parks, particularly historic sites, have seen drops of 25% to 50% percent in the last 15 years.

May 10th - 15:04pm | Anonymous

I agree with the sentiments of NPS not spending money on advertising or promoting, but allowing others to do so.

May 10th - 12:14pm | Anonymous

Until we get adequate staffing to take care of the people already coming, we should not be spending money on advertising to get more visitors to come. Ranger numbers continue to drop-many visitors complain about never seeing a ranger in the parkon their visit. We have been mandated to increase education and youth programming-but with no extra staff to do it-something has to give.

May 10th - 09:15am | Lee Dalton

In a time of seriously serious budget deficits, every dollar should be spent not on advertising, but on maintaining and operating our parks. Local chambers of commerce already do a fine job of free advertising.

May 9th - 17:47pm | Volpe

Let each person discover the park system on their own, don't promote it because more people mean more problems. Keep the parks maintained and make them as available as they always were and let the natural flow of visitors prevail.

May 9th - 16:27pm | Meg

Please, if they're going to do publicity, keep it confined to the lesser-known parks. Many of them do not get the attention they deserve, and everyone already knows the big parks.

May 9th - 12:52pm | Random Walker

IMHO it is not the job of the Federal Government to promote Our National Parks. It is ours, to share Our National Parks with our children and our neighbors children, with the future.

May 9th - 12:39pm | criznach

Chris testing too.

May 9th - 11:09am | Kurt Repanshek

Testing, testing.

Considering a Hike up Half Dome?

May 11th - 01:02am | MRC

My 2 ct: Get to know the park first. Don't hike Half Dome because you expect an iconic view from there. Actually, never climb the most iconic landmark to expect a great view. That is because the very landmark will not be visible from its own top. The most iconic views of Half Dome and surroundings are from Glacier Point and even better from Sentinel Dome.

May 10th - 17:38pm | Kurt Repanshek

Tom, Some factors you should consider: Where do you live, in terms of elevation? Folks coming from sea level or near that can sometimes require a couple of days to acclimate to the High Sierra, and the top of Half Dome is just about 9,000 feet. Then, too, there's the arid climate, which can quickly dehydrate you if you don't carry enough water.

May 10th - 17:23pm | Tom

I am 66 years old and in good shape. I play adult baseball and take long walks every day. I'm planning to climb the cables in July and I'm wondering if somebody could advise if I'm biting off more than I can chew. The comments posted here are decidedly mixed between "too dangerous" and "worth the risk." Also, what is the slope of the cable climb in degrees??

Fans of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Being Asked to Contribute Ideas to Lakeshore's Future

May 10th - 19:10pm | Anonymous

The metropolis of the midwest needs a "back to nature" venue for the many city and suburban dwellers who seek the naturist experience to unwind on the weekends. Once it becomes established your surrounding community businesses would only reap the rewards from the no. of tourists and locals it would attract. Naturists are generally polite and very quiet and tidy.

May 9th - 12:44pm | Nick

An official clothes optional beach on Lake Michigan definitely has my vote! It would draw a large and respectful crowd to the area. That may not come to mind naturally to park administrators not into the nudist or naturist lifestyle but I'm sure it would create a financially profitable niche they would not regret.

May 8th - 19:10pm | ken

I live in Michigan and I agree with every comment and point favoring a clothing optional beach.I definately would vacation a town that had a C/O beach

Parks Are Well-Represented in the Latest National Register of Big Trees

May 10th - 15:11pm | Anonymous

Jim-- So which NPS unit has the most champion trees? Is it your beloved Congaree, as I would naively suspect? I know it has many state champions, but I thought it had at least half a dozen national champions, starting with Pinus taeda (loblolly).

Is the Old Faithful Area At Yellowstone National Park Visitor-Friendly?

May 10th - 15:06pm | Anonymous

oops, them were "bears", not "ebars", that cause closures at Yellowstone.

May 10th - 14:14pm | Anonymous

Mike-- Do you know how many roads, campgrounds, and other facilities at Yellowstone NP have seasonal closures for grizzly ebars and other endangered/protected wildlife?

May 10th - 10:50am | Anonymous

There's an old adage: If it ain't broke, don't fix it! That should apply here also.

May 10th - 09:07am | Lee Dalton

It's a lot more visitor friendly than the old days (prior to 1970) when the main park road ran through the geyser basin just about where people now sit on benches to watch Old Faithful erupt.

May 10th - 06:27am | Mike Metzgar

I hope a protected or other non-endangered bird decides to build a nest between Old Faithful and the Old Faithful Inn. Perhaps a 1000 meter closure around the nest will show the absurdity of the NPS attempts to protect the bird and turtle species at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. I can't wait to see a closure of that magnitude at the Statue of Liberty, Mt.

Native Plant Sale to Benefit Santa Monica Mountains Fund

May 10th - 12:10pm | R L Miller

Thanks for the heads up! Rancho Sierra Vista has a nice little demonstration garden.

Environmental Groups Ask Feds to Require Reduced Pollution from Four Corners Power Plant

May 10th - 08:46am | Harris

I live in the McElmo area near Cortez and the amount of pollution and smog here "when the wind is right" is unbelievable. Most of the Native Americans on the reservations do not profit from these plants and do not want them there. I never had respiratory distress until I moved here. I had no idea it was so bad.

Plague Kills Many Prairie Dogs and Black-Footed Ferrets in Grasslands Near Badlands National Park

May 10th - 04:30am | Jered P.

What makes this a biologically significant issue today is that for over 80 years, the prairie dog has been viewed as the enemy of domestic cattle in the West, and this was based on a notion that the prairie dog would compete with domestic cattle for available forage in a fixed (fenced) area.

8-Mile-Long Multi-use Path Opens in Grand Teton National Park On Saturday

May 9th - 14:42pm | Adrienne W.

I've been riding the trail from Windy Point pullout to Bradley-Taggart parking lot and back for a week now. I love it! I ride a trike, slowly (I'm 70) and wear bright colors. I would ride farther but the trail still is snow-covered a bit north of the B/T lot. The Park swept the winter gravel off the trail last week.

Ever Try Cycling Your Way Through Denali National Park And Preserve?

May 9th - 14:19pm | haunted hiker

I biked part of it in 2001. After cycling the 414-mile Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay I didn't have it in me to do the entire 93 miles but we did ride out to Wonder Lake. I'd encourage a bike-packer to do this route. I'm glad to see the NPS encouraging thru-biking that road.

Updated: Drilling Rig Disaster Could Send Oil Spill Into Gulf Islands National Seashore

May 8th - 22:35pm | the Bat

Well, BP's containment box scheme failed. Big tar balls are now washing up on Alabama beaches, and the oil is spreading east to Florida. The danger to the ecosystem is imminent. All this political bloviating is childish in the face of such a colossal disaster. It's nothing compared to the lickin we're about to get from Mother Earth. And she won't care whose fault it is.

May 8th - 07:49am | AnonymousJ

I know there are a lot of Republicans out there who are slow-thinkers and the thought of high speed rail is just too much for them to get their minds around, but isn't it time to at least THINK about railways for freight and commuting without the attempt to consider it getting shouted down by the party of NO?

May 8th - 07:40am | AnonymousJ

n an attempt to move the stalled climate change bill - stalled by Republicans - Obama signaled (which isn't anywhere near an incessant "drill baby drill" mantra) that he would allow drilling 50 miles off Virginia PROVIDED coastlines are protected which would include conducting studies of the mid-atlantic outer continental shelf and determining not only the quantity of potential oil and gas reso

May 8th - 07:25am | AnonymousJ

That wouldn't be a bad idea for you to do. (1) In 2003, Bush wants to "fast-track" drilling in Alaska and the West Coast and eases regulations in addition to allowing the oil industry to monitor itself. (2) In 2008, he makes a proposal to congress to lift the OCS drilling ban & when they vote his proposal down, he lifts the drilling ban by executive order.

Tamarisk, aka "Salt Cedar," A Thirsty Scourge Of Western National Parks

May 7th - 14:49pm | MRC

Obviously not everyone takes tamarisks so lightly. Even if they don't take as much water as previously thought, they still are choking out native species. And very few birds nest in tamarisks, their leafs seem to compose slower than willows and cottonwood, and so on.

May 7th - 09:24am | haunted hiker

"Plant removal techniques range from use of herbicides and bulldozers to biological controls such as insects. Once the invasive plants are killed or removed, effective restoration depends on replacing them with plant species that meet the specific goals of the planned restoration..." This is playing God. And sounds like the log line for a horror/scify movie.

Reader Participation Day: Has Arizona's Approach To Controlling Illegal Immigrants Led You To Cancel a Grand Canyon Trip?

May 7th - 13:45pm | y_p_w

AZ Lisa: y_p_w, I don't understand your point.

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