Paying to Enjoy The Parks
How much would you pay to hike a trail in Shenandoah, or Great Smoky Mountains or Sequoia? What do you think is a reasonable fee to take a dip at Cape Cod or Cape Hatteras national seashores?
Hawaii Volcanoes Displaying its Geologic Might
Things are rockin' and rollin' at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where new vents have been spewing hot lava for much of the past week. While witnessing these geologic machinations in person would be pretty cool, park officials are urging visitors to take special care in some sections of the park.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 25th, 2007 1:38pm
Senate Appropriations Committee Backs Snowmobiles in Yellowstone
What do the National Park Service hierarchy and members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee know about snowmobiles and their impacts that Yellowstone's scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency, and seven former NPS directors don't know?
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 25th, 2007 12:14pm
Repairing Rainier: A Question of Values
While park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga wants to rebuild a section of the road, the storm redesigned the Carbon River, in some places sculpting deep pools valuable to bull trout, a species protected by the Endangered Species Act.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 25th, 2007 12:09am
A Modern History Of Public Lands Mismanagement
What's become of our public lands, you wonder? Why has there been so much pressure in recent years to drastically rewrite the National Park Service's Management Policies? What was the point behind a congressional committee's review of the National Park Service Organic Act?
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 23rd, 2007 9:03pm
Mammoth Cave Ferries Docked Due to Low Water
Rainfall at Mammoth Cave National Park this year has been so low -- 10 inches below normal since the start of the year -- that the Green River is too low for the Green River Ferry and Houchins Ferry to operate.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 21st, 2007 6:03pm
Yosemite Fee Hike Spiked
Under pressure from the gateway towns surrounding Yosemite, Director Bomar agreed to spike the proposed increase in the park's entrance fee, from $20 to $25.
EPA Takes Issue With Yellowstone's Winter Use DEIS
The EPA in its formal comments to the Yellowstone snomobile DEIS says the parks' preference to allow as many as 720 snowmobiles in Yellowstone on a daily basis in winter "may not ensure adequate resource protection" and would result in much more pollution than the snowcoach-only alternative.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 20th, 2007 8:05pm
Judge Allows Groups to Intervene In Death Valley Case
At issue is whether Inyo County, California, should be allowed to bulldoze roads in a portion of Death Valley that is designated wilderness. In agreeing to let the conservation groups intervene in the matter on behalf of the National Park Service, Judge Anthony Ishii wrote that the groups have a "significant protectable interest" in how the legal battle plays out.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 20th, 2007 1:15pm
C&O Canal Hopes to Land Some Centennial Funding
As the National Park Centennial Initiative moves forward, it definitely will be interesting to see how many projects arise and how decisions are made to fund them.
- By Kurt Repanshek - June 20th, 2007 1:10pm
