National Parks Traveler

fronting for special interest, fear mongering, devisiveness, defamation..... Talk about the kettle calling the pot black!

One thing that hasn't changed, though, is the quality of the people who wear the uniforms of the National Park Service -- whether they be maintenance workers, rangers, or volunteers. There is no finer bunch of folks anywhere on this dizzy old planet! Lee Dalton, retired NPS official.

Yep, Smokiesbackpacker, those park entrance fees go directly to fund retired NPS employees' pensions. What a crock! 80% of entrance fees are retained in the park that collects the fees. The other 20% is divided among parks that cannot, for one reason or another, collect fees. I understand that you are not in favor of the new backcountry camping fee in the Smokies.

We pay $80 a year for our annual parks pass. My husband laughs every time he gets to use it - he thinks its the greatest thing since sliced bread. It expired today so we have to go to Shenandoah NP to get it renewed next weekend. I'm not going to complain...

As we pointed out in March, there are many avenues that should be explored to improve the Park Service's fiscal health, and tinkering with the senior pass is just on

Of course they do. It's not as if they actually want people to visit or enjoy our national parks unless they have money. Keep poor people out because they're, well, poor, and might trash these places. Yup.

WOW. Your headline just does not accurately reflect our proposal. Glad you at least included the full submission so that your readers can see that for themselves. Where is a reference to pricing designed to move visitation away from peak periods? Where is a reference to reducing fee collection costs -- now 20+% of revenues?

Lee, absolutely. It isn't just for teenagers anymore.

Does anyone else see the Great American Entitlement Mentality at work in some posts here?

Lee, so people had free reign of Yelowstone while O'bama was there?

No parks were "shut" for any presidential visit.

You are correct Kurt, Laura Bush did the trip while her husband was in office. The usual precautions were taken. I think Rick Smiths point is well taken, most of the employees and visitors support seeing their top leaders and or spouses in our parks and other lands. It is usually quite positive and results in increased support for these public treasures.

Laura did it right. She did it on her own dime, when she was no longer First Lady, quietly, and didn't shut down the park in the process.

So Rick, did your grandma take yoy there when you where 40? As I have said, no matter the party, Presidents should stay out of NP unless they have done something Park worthy to be there.

Oh, for pete's sake, partisan. On ALL issues. When he visited Yellowstone he was then chastised by partisans of your ilk for how few parks he had visited as President. That's the definition of partisan - blame him for a sunny day, blame him for a rainy day.

EC, your partisanship is showing. My guess is the president -- any president -- has more on his plate to deal with these days than traveling to and fawning over the parks.

"As the first family strolled the boardwalk around Old Faithful, Duffy and Superintendent Lewis chatted with the President about other topics such as Obama’s visit to Yellowstone with his mother and grandmother when he was eleven years old..."