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The World's Top Ten National Parks

Feb 10th - 18:39pm | Rick Smith

Have any of NPT's readers visited parks in Central America? Asia? The South Pacific? I have a couple favorites in Honduras--Copan, in Mexico--Montes Azules, El Triunfo and the Biosphere Reserve Mariposa Monarca, the end of one of the most incredible migrations in all of nature.

Feb 9th - 13:37pm | Rick Smith

Ashley--

Feb 9th - 10:00am | Ashley

I have to second Iquazu, it's just a stunning place on both sides of the border (http://tinyurl.com/bnx5xd)

Feb 7th - 09:11am | Rick Smith

I have one more international park that is among my favorites. IGUAZU N. P., Argentina

Rangers Catch Snowmobilers Riding Illegally in Yellowstone National Park's Backcountry

Feb 10th - 16:17pm | Ray Bane

I do not question that you obey the rules when riding your snowmobile, or that you are sensitive regarding resource impacts. However, snowmobile use does result in environmental impacts. They vary based on the type and weight of the machine, speed, driving patterns, snow depth, affected wildlife, vegetation, etc.

Feb 10th - 08:27am | Anonymous

Are you kidding me. The amount of snow in that park is so massive and the depth. A snowmobile's only damage to the area is to the people that protect it from the industrial age.

Are We Properly Caring for Our Ocean-Based National Parks?

Feb 10th - 08:37am | Kirby Adams

I think it’s quite telling, and affirmative of Mr. Davis’ thoughts, that after a couple days there are no comments here. The natural world below the surface of the water is truly out-of-sight, out-of-mind, even to many otherwise enlightened defenders of the environment.

Return of the Beach – A Once Popular Site Set for a Comeback at Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Feb 10th - 00:18am | Nick Mojave

The Las Vegas area has a serious deficiency in public campgrounds within a short distance. While it's blessed with Zion, Death Valley and Joshua Tree all a 2-3 hour drive away, it's also stuck with a few Lake Mead campgrounds and often-frigid Mt. Charleston in close range.

What's Driving Rep. Issa's Opposition to Tackling the National Park System's Backlog?

Feb 9th - 18:53pm | Sarah

Frank C, There are rumblings in congress as we speak to sell off some of our parks to bring down the debt, especially the rising cost of illegal immigration.

Feb 7th - 09:02am | Hobblefoot

While I agree with Frank C. that the national park system is "Broke", it seems to me it's only broke in a financial way due to the lack of funding from the politicians. The public doesn't really seem to have a problem with funding it. It's only politicans who hold up putting the money where it's supposed to go.

Feb 6th - 18:29pm | Rick Smith

I have known Craig Obey for years. He does outstanding work for NPCA. Both he and his father are professionals and I doubt their relatiionship affects the work they do either as a US Representative or as an employee of NPCA. It seems strange that Issa never thought this relationship was suspect previously.

Feb 6th - 18:08pm | Bugsyshallfall

"Merit"? wow thats so over rated :(

Feb 6th - 15:52pm | Kath

There needs to be a rule prohibiting any organization that lobbies Congress from hiring a close relative of the Congressman or Senator. Does anyone really think that these kids and wives of our elected officials got those lobbying jobs on merit alone?

Feb 6th - 13:54pm | Betty H

Great points, Kurt.

Feb 6th - 13:19pm | Dan

Daily Show clips? You're parodying yourself, Kurt.

Maine-based Groups Join Fight to Overturn Gun Rule for National Parks

Feb 9th - 18:34pm | Lee R

Facts and reality don't actually demonstrate otherwise. The application of the results, of the cited studies, argue that parks would not likely see in increase in poaching. That is an extrapolation of data between some very different types of sites. But this should not even be an discussion about poaching.

Feb 9th - 14:31pm | MarkK

Kurt,

Feb 9th - 12:32pm | Volpe

If a person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in X state and visits a park in X state what is the problem? No laws have been broken and there is no more of a danger inside the park nor less danger outside the park. I can't figure out the amount of ignorance or narrowmindedness in these "concealed" arguments.

Feb 8th - 20:38pm | Lee R

I disagree that the EIS argument is a slippery slope. Furthermore, I disagree with the response to issue 8. The demographic differences between NPS visitors and other site's visitors makes extrapolation of those study results unreliable.

How Can Yosemite National Park's Magnificent Vistas Be Preserved?

Feb 9th - 09:56am | Lynn

Regarding the comment on trees and blocking views. I have been to Yosemite 2 times and plan on another visit this coming June. I lived only about a hour from the park for over 20 years and never visited. It wasn't until I moved to Montana/Idaho and now Oregon that I have wanted to visit all the parks here in the West. Sorry, got distracted.

Yellowstone Geologist Worries About What Goes "Bump" At Night

Feb 8th - 23:57pm | Al Piecka

I plan on spending a couple weeks at the end of the Feb. in Yellowstone doing some photo work. Maybe mother nature will provide a Pulitzer Prize opportunity. Hope you all know I'm kidding. Yellowstone is a grand piece of natures work and no matter how often I visit it never ceases to amaze me of the potential power nature has. Somewhat humbling when compared to what we think we can do.

Collapse of "Wall Arch" Proves Gravity Does Work at Arches National Park

Feb 8th - 18:46pm | Anonymous

You can look at them, but you can't WALK OVER any of them!!

This Coke's For You, Grand Teton National Park!

Feb 8th - 18:14pm | Kurt Repanshek

Good point, anonymous. Can't say where the park got that number from. I do recall an Associated Press story from about a year ago that said tractor trailers often run above the legal weight limit, but more than double the usual weight does seem just a bit excessive.

Feb 8th - 16:45pm | Anonymous

There is no way that truck could weigh 93 tons or 186,000 lbs. The legal limit for non-permitted loads in the US is 40 tons, or 80,000 lbs. This weight would require approximately 37,000 two litre bottles.

Traveler's View: Concealed Weapons Have No Place In Our National Park System

Feb 8th - 15:22pm | Had Robinson

Good for you Paula. No kidding! El Paso, TX is one of the safest big cities in the U.S. Why is that? We are armed. Criminals know one thing: Go to some leftist city where feel-good politicians ban law-abiding citizens from concealed carry or having a shotgun in their home -- that's the place to commit crime.

Possible Wolf Spotted in Rocky Mountain National Park

Feb 8th - 11:02am | Kathy Doisy

Regarding the possible wolf sighting in RMNP in 2007--

Mount Rainier National Park Officials Mulling Future of Carbon River Road

Feb 8th - 10:33am | Anonymous

I must concur with the majority of the comments that are posted with a slight modification. With the establishment of an official Sno-Park parking lot just prior to the closed gate would open up a tremendous opportunity for winter recreation and the revenue generated for Sno-Park Passes could pay for kepping that portion plowed to the parking area.

On Stimulus Packages, Lobbyists, and Congressfolk

Feb 8th - 09:45am | Lone Hiker

Hey Frank, why not?

Feb 5th - 10:12am | Kath

This all begs this question: Other than being the Congressman's son, what qualifications did Craig Obey have to be hired as a senior vice-president of NPCA? And the NPCA's comment that no one talks to Obey on behalf of the parks? Yes, I believe that the son doesn't talk to his father about his job. (Sarcasm)

"Inland Tsunami" at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area Wasn't the First of Its Kind

Feb 8th - 09:31am | Lone Hiker

The seiche phenomenon is also a relatively common occurrence on the Great Lakes, and is tied to a unique combination of wind direction and tightly packed isobars (specific to the geography of the lake), rapidly changing atmospheric pressure, storm speed and, just as also effects the height of the ocean tsunami, the topography of the local shoreline in the region where the wave makes landfall.

Feb 5th - 21:49pm | Tina Wynecoop

We spend a lot of time on the nearby Sandbar and just upstream from the slide on the Reservation side. We wonder if the recent irrigation projects by the Hutterites on rented land on benches above the sandslide might have affected the area...there are layers of clay interspersed with the sand and water could have reached those layers and triggered some action.

The Monkey Wrench Gang: Coming to a Theater Near You?

Feb 8th - 06:12am | Panama Red

We have been thinking about this for years, casting and recasting the movie. The cast that was announced just isn't right for such an important movie. Hayduke and Seldom Seen aren't living in a retirement home and unless Nicholson and Dreyfus are playing their fathers, the movie's going to be another

2008 Visitation to the National Parks Up and Down, But Essentially Flat

Feb 8th - 01:59am | Ray Bane

Interesting report. More definitive trends in visitation should become clearer this coming summer as the recession becomes firmly entrenched. Discretionary spending on nonessentials is usually one of the first victims of a major economic downturn. The more remote parks seem most likely to experience drops in visitor numbers.

Feb 7th - 11:56am | Dan

"Sixty-three percent of all 391 park units reported declines in RV overnight stays."

Feb 7th - 10:59am | RJ Spaulding

Hey, what do you know, there can be good outcomes of a bad economy. Glad to see a decrease in the number of RVs, and an increase in back country use. I do believe Edward Abbey said it best:

Feb 7th - 08:52am | hobblefoot

While I believe the increase of visitors to Cuyahoga Valley N.P., I have to wonder how they know. There is no entrance station to the park and there are no user fees. I hike there 3 or 4 times a week and yes, it was much more crowded than it has been in the past, although I think it's part of a longer term trend for the area. So many people!

Climate Change Doomed the Historic Settlements at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Feb 7th - 14:16pm | Jerry Willis

Your observations about climate change in the time of the Abo, Quarai and Gran Quivria are important in today's atmosphere of "Climate Change". The climate of North America has been warming since the last Ice Age. Ancestral Puebloan peoples used to farm in wetter areas of the 4 Corners area in places like Chaco Canyon and Abo.

Volcanics in the National Parks: They Ain't All Tied to "Redoubt"

Feb 7th - 00:30am | Ray Bane

Don't forget Katmai. When it comes to volcanism it is hard to beat the Valley of 10k Smokes and the several other volcanic features found in the park. A far less visited park is Aniakchak Nat. Monument. A never-to-be forgotten experience was landing on Surprise Lake with a NPS float plane in the caldera.

Feb 6th - 18:20pm | Barky

You missed two in New Mexico: El Malpais, which preserves lava flows from 10,000 to 2,000 years old. It's not quite as impressive as Craters of the Moon, but it's close.

Feb 5th - 13:32pm | Kurt Repanshek

Ah, that one's too obvious;-) Also not mentioned initially was Death Valley -- Ubehebe Crater is volcanic in nature.

Feb 5th - 13:21pm | tahoma

What about Crater Lake, Kurt? The catastrophic eruption of prehistoric 12,000' Mt. Mazama around 6,850 years ago is the largest known in the Cascades, at least ten times as large as St. Helens in 1980. It left the deepest lake in North America and deposits of ash in eight western States and three Canadian Provinces.

Feb 5th - 09:21am | Kurt Repanshek

Thanks for the suggestion, MRC. The list was not intended to be comprehensive, but merely to show some examples. That said, if others mention sites to add we can build a new list for the next volcanic occasion;-)

Discounted Lodging Available in Glacier National Park this June

Feb 6th - 22:23pm | JimB

These are some nice discounts if you want to stay in the park. Early June lets you miss some of the crowds, but as late in June as possible gives you more options in the high country.

That's Cold, Doubly So When You Realize the Temperature Was In Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Feb 6th - 18:54pm | Anonymous

Global warming (or cooling for that matter) deals with the overall climate of the planet, not with the weather at one particular place on one particular night.

Feb 5th - 23:06pm | chris m

Obviously a "global warming" thing. Yeah right...

Feb 5th - 12:37pm | rattsrd

lets hope we dont see the penguin from cut bank montana on u.s. 441.

Olympic National Park Proposing to Erase the Old Boulder Creek Road

Feb 6th - 12:33pm | Fred Miller

Thanks for this good information. The trail restoration sounds like a good thing to me in several ways. First, I suspect that it would be grossly expensive to turn this trail back in to a road. Secondly, it would much better for the environmental conditions of this area to have all this deteriorating asphalt removed.

Four "Natural Landmarks" Added to National Natural Landmarks Program

Feb 5th - 14:44pm | Bugsyshallfall

REALLY!!!! Someone did the right thing for once and decided not to make it a national park but a NNL like more places should be

If Science in Lake Clark National Park Is Good, Is It Also Good in Yellowstone National Park?

Feb 5th - 10:24am | robmutch

Let's hope the bar (for science) hasn't been set so low (by Bush) that anything Secretary Salizar does (or says) is viewed as good enough. We need concrete actions taken and we need to keep in mind that just because it's more than President Bush did, doesn't necessarily make it enough. Nice write-up Kurt.

Secretary Salazar Scuttles Oil and Gas Leases Near National Parks in Utah

Feb 5th - 10:06am | ScottG.

That's good news. I petitioned against this through IMBA, so I am also very pleased that the new administration is taking a closer look at this proposal.

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