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God, Geology, and the Grand Canyon

Jan 5th - 19:50pm | Snowbird

Dear Kath: I believe that the NPS should be commended for it's sensitivity and respect for are first Americans and their religious ceremonial sacraments. At least their not holy-rolling in the White House like some politicians I know. I definitely believe science and education go hand in hand with the NPS, but the scared bufflo has a place too with NPS.

Jan 5th - 16:22pm | waldteufel

Allen, how old do YOU think the Grand Canyon is?

Jan 5th - 16:21pm | kath

When I was a young girl I visited Mesa Verde National Park. My most vivid recollection was of a mummified Anasazi girl on display. She even had a name "Esther". Seeing "Esther" with her hair and some clothing still intact taught me more about the Anasazi than all the other displays.

Jan 5th - 09:49am | Allen Roy

I’d just like to point out that in the year 2000 all the scientists who have been studying Grand Canyon got together for a symposium [Grand Canyon Symposium] to determine the age of Grand Canyon. Scientist after scientist presented his evidence. About 10 different ages were proposed ranging from 65 Ma to 1 Ma. There was NO consensus and there remains NO consensus.

Jan 5th - 07:04am | Michael Balter

Nice job of reporting on this issue, more proof that the blogosphere can give the main stream media a run for its money. I came up with similar conclusions in reporting my short news item for Science, which will appear in our Random Samples section in the Jan 12 issue. best wishes, Michael Balter, Science http://www.michaelbalter.com

Jan 4th - 07:32am | repanshek

Well, Scholar, I'm certainly no hawk, but right on the park's home page, in the lefthand column, is a link slugged "Nature and Science." Click on that and it takes you directly to a page that discusses the park's geology, including a boxed item that reads: Did You Know?

Jan 4th - 07:18am | Scholar

I went to the National Park Service Website. They ARE INDEED disguising the age of the Canyon. One has to search the NPS website like a hawk to find ANY mention of Geologic time. It just skirts around the issues of earth science. A TRAVESTY TO SCIENCE IS THE NATIONAL PARK WEBSITE OF THE GRAND CANYON.

Jan 3rd - 12:45pm | Ranger X

Your investigation turned out very similarly to mine. http://parkrangerx.blogspot.com/2007/01/dont-believe-everything-you-read.html

Jan 3rd - 10:24am | Jim Macdonald

Kurt, Good job on this and getting to the bottom of this. I thought the whole story smelled and paid almost no attention to it. I think the actual story is the story behind PEER's release. Why did they do this? It's almost too ridiculous to believe that they thought that the bad press this would generate would be worth the shoddy look at the truth because it's such a crazy story.

Jan 3rd - 10:24am | jersu

Thanks for tracking this issue Kurt. The statement that park interpreters were not able to discuss geologic time at the Grand Canyon seemed too far fetched. I appreciate you making the necessary phone calls and emails to resolve this issue.

Looking Back on 2006 and the National Park System

Jan 3rd - 19:44pm | Pronghorn

11. Yellowstone Park itself captured for slaughter over 900 wild bison within park boundaries, making Yellowstone the only park to mass kill its own wildlife to prevent it from leaving the park. In Yellowstone, it seems to be "never let science get in the way of the Montana livestock industry." Visit www.buffalofieldcampaign for details.

Entrance Fee Trivia

Jan 3rd - 17:46pm | Claire Walter

Most people who visit Glacier Bay Natl Park do so by cruise ship and never go ashore. I wonder whether the cruise lines pay some kind of fee to the Park Service for all that traffic.

Dec 26th - 15:43pm | repanshek

Thanks, Tom. Same to you. I'm sure you can find some trails to your liking in the national parks.

Dec 25th - 08:49am | tom

Kurt: Just sending along some Christmas greetings ... keep the excellent commentary coming; with any luck I'll actually get to visit some National Parks this year.

Dec 24th - 18:33pm | Alan

I used to visit Colonial National Historic Park's Yorktown unit while on Air Force Reserve duty in Hampton, Va. The park has long charged $5 a day to get in. But I always wondered just how many park visitors really paid. After all, it's an honor system (or was when I last stopped by).

Dec 23rd - 14:29pm | Ben East

Of course, some of these parks are charging user fees. Isle Royale, in fact, is charging a daily use fee of $4 per person that is blatantly illegal under the current fee legislation. -- Ben East

Dec 23rd - 13:32pm | parkaholic

Thank you Kurt for shedding some light and provoking some critical thoughts. My question is what really happens to the money that is charged by the other parks? And what did they do for funding prior to charging for access?

Dec 23rd - 07:26am | Mookie

Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Trans-Canada Highway goes right through Banff National Park in Canada, and travelers who are simply driving through still need to pay a park fee, even if they're not stopping their car.

Dec 23rd - 06:15am | kath

Mammoth Cave charges a fee to tour the cave. Redwoods has a major north south highway running right through it. Highway 101. You can't have an entrance station on a major route on which most people are just passing through to California or Oregon.

Congressman Opposes Parks Fee Hike

Jan 2nd - 16:21pm | Franklin Clark

As an Oregonian and a former seasonal interpretive ranger at Crater Lake, I am unhappy with the fee hike at Crater Lake. The 1916 Organic Act, the NPS's charter legislation, stated that parks are for all the people, not just those with $20.

Mesa Verde Birthday Bash Opens Remote Dwellings...Temporarily

Dec 31st - 13:21pm | Curt

Kurt: I like your blog a lot (I'm a CLNP parkie my own self) but a word of criticism and take it how you would: Your post text shows up in bold. It's hard to read and in my reader (I use Netvibes these days), it's even harder than on the page itself. A minor thing, but I thought I'd mention it.

Time to Book Next Summer's Vacation?

Dec 31st - 10:58am | Harry Solas

The Furnace Creek Inn is closed during the summer. The Furnace Creek Ranch is open. Please call 760-786-2345 for more information.

Gale Norton Winds Up at Shell Oil

Dec 31st - 07:27am | Snowbird

Dear Heather: Give me a break! Anybody that disagrees with you and your ultra radical right wing policies is "vile and hateful". I agree we have a wonderful and free country that gives me the right to dissent and criticizes those who abuse there power...such as Gale Norton.

Dec 30th - 22:13pm | Heather

You certainly are a piece of work, Snowbird. Hmm...I wonder if you buy anything at all from those "evil corporations"...buy any gasoline lately?? You must grow all your own food and live in a cave....

Dec 30th - 19:53pm | Snowbird

Gale Norton, now is a piece of corporate garbage! A pimp would know better!

Gerald Ford Remembered

Dec 30th - 09:35am | Mangwiro

I find this tid bit very interesting. It may have very well contributed to his "green" policies. I posted a short review of his landmark strides in environmental conservation on my blog. I link it to this site so visitors can see this rare picture. Enjoy!

Dec 29th - 10:39am | Jim Macdonald

During my years working in Yellowstone, both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton visited (and Clinton several times). One of my co-workers actually met Clinton. Jimmy Carter was escorted up Mt. Washburn (which he didn't hike much of; they drove him up most of the way). I remember the hoopla over presidential or ex-presidential visits and remember feeling underwhelmed by it all.

Dec 28th - 21:11pm | Heather

Yeah...you're right...Carter didn't lie like Clinton did!

Dec 28th - 16:25pm | Snowbird

Dear Heather, what misson accomplished? That's not how the American voters felt in the last election. Right? Why brag about a republican President that has done very, very little for the middle class...or for the National Parks...or for the environment...except rape and pillage! At least Carter doesn't lie!!

Dec 28th - 15:31pm | Alan

I find it amusing that everyone has an unabashed opinion on how each of the 43 presidents ranks when it comes to greatness. What should matter is what each, particulary those of the 20th century and early 21st, have done for conservation. Conservation isn't about popularity. It's about doing the right thing for fish and wildlife and wild places.

Dec 28th - 14:19pm | Heather

Excuse me, Snowbird...but why do you bring up President Bush? Shirley never mentioned him..it's funny how you liberals are SO fixated on him..you all just can't get over him whipping Algore and Flip-flop Kerry can ya?? LOL!!! Mission Accomplished - 4 more years!!

Dec 28th - 10:25am | Snowbird

Well,well Shirley! Maybe if Bush II had a job with the National Parks (instead of screwing around as a Texas playboy) perhaps he just might of had a little more compassion for the environment...instead he chose the philosophy of rape and pillage. I'll choose Carter any day!

Dec 27th - 15:58pm | Shirley

A truly good man who America came to regret not electing in 1976...instead we got the disaster that was Jimmy Carter. Israel has suffered greatly since as a result of Carter's appeasement of the murderer Arafat. RIP Mr. President!

Fee Creep In the Parks

Dec 28th - 20:04pm | Public

The parks belong to the US people. They are mine - I should not need to pay anything more to visit what is mine. User fees only real purpose is to create a barrier to keep out the non rich. It is a means to create more country clubs and golf courses for the rich. Either way so called user fees are obscene and should be repugnant to all Americans.

Cape Cod National Seashore Considering ORV Options

Dec 28th - 15:27pm | Alan

Where is it written that humans must be able to go everywhere all at once? Where's the compassion for the future of a tiny, unassuming shorebird species? Look no further than the pix of the SUV on the beach for the answer.

The Masterpieces of Chiura Obata

Dec 28th - 11:23am | Snowbird

The young man definitely has good taste. Good choice Sean!

Back at it!

Dec 26th - 15:42pm | repanshek

Hey Mookie, same to you! Sixteen national parks in one year is pretty impressive. Can't wait to see how many you visit in the coming year.

Dec 26th - 10:51am | Mookie

Happy Holidays Kurt...keep up the great work in 2007. My wife and I visited 16 National Parks in 2006, plus numerous Nat'l Monuments, Recreation Areas and Wildlife Refuges. We hope to do better in 2007!

Rep. Rahall Plans Oversight for Park Service

Dec 22nd - 13:49pm | Jim Macdonald

I have seen a lot of the mass movement stuff from within the anti-war movement over the past few years. If you want a primer on anti-war movement politics, I sure could give it to you. And, frankly, I'm disgusted by it.

Dec 22nd - 10:40am | Snowbird

Jim don't despair, long as we have Kurts blog and your solid impute (and others) the battle to keep the National Parks in sovereign hands for the American public...there's always hope!!

Dec 22nd - 09:56am | Anonymous

Jim et al, I fear we as a society are too self-centered and distracted to muster any type of uprising, mass or otherwise, in defense of the national parks. We can't even manage much visible protest over the Iraq conflict.

Dec 22nd - 09:53am | Snowbird

Jim, very good commentary! What are you advocating...in a nut shell? Sounds to me your ready to light a fuse somewhere. In regards to the Hoover Dam and like environments, maybe John Wesley Powell would of thought messing with the Hoover Dam. I think Edward Abbey had it right..."The pen is mightier than the sword" in theory! Stick to your pen Jim!!

Dec 22nd - 08:11am | Jim Macdonald

Snowbird, I know some people in Earth First! I know some people who have been involved or have been alleged to have been involved in much more militant groups than that (need I say more?)

Dec 22nd - 07:03am | Snowbird

Uprising!? I think Earth First with Dave Foreman (at the helm in the 1980's ?) tried to bring attention for some source of public out cry over the rape and pillage by are run amuck capitalistic out of control goverment.

Dec 22nd - 05:39am | Jim Macdonald

No Radical New Wind in Yellowstone http://jsmacdonald.blogspot.com/2006/11/no-radical-new-wind-in-yellowstone.html rather...

Dec 22nd - 04:38am | Jim Macdonald

So, Alan, I'm intrigued. What would the public uprising look like? Depending on what such an uprising would look like, count me as interested.

Dec 21st - 18:31pm | Alan

It will, I dare say, take more than one or even a dozen members of Congress championing the Park Service's cause to reverse the terrible trends of the past half-dozen years. A public uprising is called for -- on this as in so many other parts of the public trust.

The Last Season

Dec 21st - 12:10pm | DSD

Great listing of interesting books. Many I have never heard of! Lots here I will have a look at. Thanks. DSD "Summit Stones & Adventure Musings"

ATVs Blamed for Damage at Acadia

Dec 20th - 10:01am | Snowbird

Another example, why we need to educate the public and teach are children the value that Aldo Leopold advocated...a reverence for the land called: land ethics!

Parks Vs. Mining

Dec 20th - 07:51am | Montana Tom

Thank you, a great explanation of this proposed mining operation. I posted comments on this at: http://glaciernationalpark.blogspot.com/2006/12/flathead-lake-threatened.html

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

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You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.