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Brady Campaign Sues Interior Department over Concealed Carry in National Parks

Dec 31st - 08:50am | Warren Z

How sad and cynical to feel that the only way one can be "safe" in the world is to carry the ability to harm or kill another person.

Dec 31st - 08:46am | Warren Z

I applaud the Brady Campaign for leading the opposition to another unnecessary ruling that was so obviously created to politically placate the gun owners lobby.

Dec 31st - 07:06am | Brandon P.

As I have posted before on this topic, guns are not the one's to blame for crimes. It is the illegal type people that will carry and use them that makes crimes with guns a problem. I have been in law enforcement and do not have a problem with people carrying a firearm to protect themselves.

Dec 31st - 02:13am | Ralph F

You should notice that the Chief factotum of the Brady Bunch, Paul Helmke, specifically says "allowing concealed semiautomatic weapons in national parks". There is absolutely nothing in the regulation change that says anything about "semiautomatic" but it's a key buzz word around the anti-gun set designed to strike fear in the general populace.

Dec 30th - 22:28pm | Frank N

Park rangers are law enforcement professionals who, as a part of their job, are required to put themselves into possibly confrontational situations. Hopefully, as a park visitor, you are not doing that.

Dec 30th - 20:02pm | Ted Clayton

Frank N. said:

Dec 30th - 17:16pm | Frank N

Hopefully this lawsuit means a return to sanity. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, in that guns have not been allowed at least since 1936 and parks have consistently had extremely low violent crime rates. Regarding protecting oneself and family from attacking animals, you have a far greater chance of being struck by lightening or being injured in a car accident while visiting the park.

Dec 30th - 14:57pm | Lynn Berk

I'm torn. I hate to see the serenity of our national parks disturbed by violence but the fact is people who should not bring weapons into those parks or anywhere else will continue to do so. As the victim of an extremely violent home burglary while my husband was having heart surgery, I don't really feel safe anywhere anymore. I want the right to protect myself.

Dec 30th - 13:56pm | Ted Clayton

Frank C., Nice catch & point, Frank. If what we do in the Park had to be "safe", lotta folks just have to pack it up 'n go somplace else, huh?! How big an inventory of harebrained 'recreations' can we compile? ... in a single breath, just to make it interesting.

Dec 30th - 13:35pm | Ted Clayton

The basic (legally fatal) weakness of arguments by gun-opponents that we do not "need" weapons in Parks, that Parks are "safe", etc, is that the Constitution does not qualify the Second Amendment with the requirement that a threat be present before the right to be armed kicks in.

Dec 30th - 12:34pm | Anonymous

This lawsuit is good news for sane, law-abiding, tax-paying, nature-loving citizens who prefer to keep our national parks among the safest places on the planet. Maybe we can create a new park, preferably fenced in like one of those hunting preserves, where gun-lovers can carry their semi-automatic weapons and posture, threaten and shoot at each other all they want.

Dec 30th - 12:12pm | lee

I think this says it all: “While proponents of the rule change have maintained park visitors' safety is at stake, statistics would seem to indicate otherwise, as crime data show the park system to be one of the safest places in the nation.”

Happy New Year from the Traveler!

Dec 31st - 08:14am | tahoma

Kurt, Bob, Jim, et al- Thanks for all your hard work! I'm in awe of the steady stream of well-written articles on this site. Thanks also to those readers who take time to comment. Whether I agree or not, the various posts are usually informative & sometimes challenging. Happy New Year to all!

Wanted: Expert on Lassen Volcanic National Park

Dec 31st - 06:52am | MRC

On pages 4 and 5 of the winter 2008/2009 park newspaper there are a number of snowshoe and cross country ski tour suggestions on beginners, intermediate and advanced level in both parts of the park. Those who never have been to Lassen in winter should know that the center part of the park road is closed, so there are essentially two separate parts of the park.

Pruning the Parks: The $100 Million National Visitor Center Fiasco

Dec 31st - 06:42am | Bob Janiskee

Kurt, it seems only reasonable to expect a little ambiance at Union Station.

Dec 30th - 22:58pm | Kurt Repanshek

During a recent, temporary, two-year stint my wife spent in Washington, with an apartment a few blocks from Union Station, I got to know this structure well enough to get through it.

Update: Will a “Chop and Drop” Strategy Rescue the Presidio’s Contemporary Art Museum Project?

Dec 31st - 00:08am | Tia Lombardi

Mr Janiskee, The Fisher proposal for the Contemporary Art Museum at the Presidio (CAMP) includes rehabilitation of a 48,000 sf historic baracks building, one of the iconic "Montgomery Street Barracks." It would accommodate both "back of house" museum functions and public art programs. Tia Lombardi Director of Public Affairs The Presidio Trust

Dec 30th - 13:10pm | Bob Janiskee

The Presidio Trust is given far more latitude than your typical national park management entity -- perhaps not least because it is under Congressional orders to be financially self supporting by 2013.

Dec 30th - 11:35am | parkpal

The Park Traveler omits a very important fact: the Presidio of San Francisco is part of a national park. NPS Management Policies permit construction of new "cultural facilities" in a national park only when five strictly defined standards are met. A contemporary art museum in the Presidio fails four of the five tests.

Dec 30th - 10:35am | Bob Janiskee

As far as I know, repurposing existing buildings has never been considered a viable alternative to new construction, which is what the Fishers have wanted from the beginning. Judging from the CAMP proposals, the Fishers have no particular commitment to historic preservation per se, but simply believe that the historic Presidio provides the right context for their museum.

Dec 30th - 09:23am | Barky

Why can't they simply turn 6-8 of the existing buildings into museum space, and scatter the galleries throughout the Presidio?

What's Driving All The Shaking At Yellowstone National Park?

Dec 30th - 20:36pm | Ted Clayton

Lynn Berk quotes Wilder (?): "I realize everybody has to die. I just didn't think I was going to be one of them..." Yeah - what he said!

Dec 30th - 20:20pm | Ted Clayton

Kurt admires the line: "We are all going to die..." Hey, wait a minute! Isn't that anthropogenic global warming?! Death by run-away CO[sup]2[/sup] greenhousing ... "To hell with the dilithium crystals, gimme all you got, Scotty! - we're heading over the TIPPING POINT!!!"

Dec 30th - 17:32pm | Lynn Berk

Well, Kurt, that part at least is true. We ARE all going to die. I THINK it was Thornton Wilder (I could be wrong) who has (roughly translated) on his tombstone: "I realize everybody has to die. I just didn't think I was going to be one of them..." And I wonder how long it will be before that television special runs again. Maybe tonight? You KNOW they're going to capitalize on this big one.

Dec 30th - 16:26pm | Kurt Repanshek

Jim, Thanks for pointing to your newspaper. There definitely are some bizarre posts out there in cyberspace. I particularly liked the one titled, "We are all going to die..." I wonder if there's going to be a run on DVDs of Supervolcano?

Dec 30th - 15:54pm | jsmacdonald

There are a lot of apocalyptic blog posts appearing at this news, and my newspaper (link below my name) has had an incredible spike in unique visitors since this story broke. I haven't had this many since the peak of tourist and fire season. Pretty amazing -- a lot of the blog posts are extremely amusing to me, and so I've posted a lot of them.

Dec 30th - 12:27pm | Ted Clayton

The Yellowstone Caldera's "three supereruptions occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago", but "Over 20 large craters have been produced [by hydrothermal (steam) explosions] in the past 14,000 years since the glaciers retreated from Yellowstone, resulting in suc

Senators Pushing To Allow Concealed Weapons in National Parks

Dec 30th - 15:37pm | Anonymous

Your statistic "crimes of passion by pissed off drunks and other bodily injuries directly attributable to the card carrying (and other) gun owners of our land. " is simply not true. Those types of crimes are commited by people not legally carrying a weapon. Please get your facts straight before you start spouting that off.

Mount Rainier National Park Offers a Snowplay Area and Guided Snowshoe Walks

Dec 30th - 12:27pm | MRC

Have you ever used a sturdy trash bag? It's fun to have one in your pack and use it when you encounter a snowfield on a suitable slope. A number of years ago I got to use it on Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park. It was in June and technically the summit trail was still closed for the season, but we wanted to hike it anyway and did so. On the way down we used our bags on every slope.

Dec 30th - 08:22am | Bob Janiskee

Tahoma, I'm going to skip the normal vetting process and unilaterally present you with Traveler's Obfuscatespeak Award for 2008. That musteline thing was very clever! And thanks for alerting me to that website with all the fascinating cold and snow info.

Dec 30th - 07:12am | Donna Hull

This snow lover doesn't care who holds the record. She just wants to play in it. Thanks, Bob, for reminding me about the snowplay area at Paradise. I've added it to my travel list.

Dec 29th - 22:45pm | tahoma

Thanks for the clarification, Bob, and apologies for misinterpreting your original post. You're certainly not a talking musteline! I thought you might be interested in the following snippets from: http://www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSnow.html The brackets are mine for clarity.

Dec 28th - 09:31am | Bob Janiskee

You're right about Mount Baker's record snowfall, Tahoma, and that sure is a LOT of snowfall! But this is what I said in the article (italics added):

Dec 28th - 07:04am | tahoma

An old joke maintains that there are only two seasons at Paradise, winter and the Fourth of July. However, it's no longer 'the world's snowiest place'. Mt.

Going to Denali Next Summer? It's Not Too Soon to Make Some Essential Reservations

Dec 30th - 02:08am | MRC

A happy new year to all the team and the readers. Thanks Pete, that is what I hoped to hear. That it is possible to experience the park without planning several months ahead. Probably one will not be able to do exactly what one prefers on a weekend in August but from all I know the park is so spectacular that pretty much everywhere you can experience something special.

Dec 27th - 20:27pm | Pete

So many years ago I was there I cannot give you a certain answer, but I do believe that there is room for someone who has the spontaneity you desire.

Glen Canyon Marina Fire Damage Estimate: $3-$5 Million

Dec 29th - 13:29pm | Greg KVF853 Bul...

I know the lay of the land very well. No dobt NPS Rangers are the best first responders in the world. I might suggest the story did not give enough credit to the conssesonaire staff who were no dobt part of the first responce efforts if not "the" first. One can safely asume a great deal of assistance came from Bullfrog Habor Maintenance as well, not that I have any regard for ARAMARK.

National Park Service Agrees, Conditionally, to Keep Yellowstone's Sylvan Pass Open For Snowmobiling

Dec 29th - 10:12am | jsmacdonald

By the way, following up on Cheney's involvement, Cheney admits himself that he was involved. See this interview from this weekend: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/12/28/news/wyoming/bbaf7b...

Sky-High Ginseng Prices Boost Illegal Harvest in Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Dec 28th - 17:15pm | Anonymous

for sure you can find older root where others do not look it does not have to be a large hill or wooded area the ginseng only has to be there

Power Outages Lead to Closures in Sequoia National Park

Dec 28th - 13:27pm | Chad

I work at the Lodge and Im in Three Rivers CA for a few days. It is not safe to travel in the Park at this time, however the town of Three Rivers is a nice option with many lodging choices. It is really beautiful here this time of year but if you're looking for snow, maybe try Yosemite or somewhere in the Tahoe area.

With Winter Hitting Much of the Country Hard, There Are Many Ski Opportunities in the National Parks

Dec 27th - 22:50pm | ClaireWalter

I dont have a real recollection of unbearable train noise. It might depend whether you are on the "track side" or the other side, in the lodge, the cabooses or the new cabins. Perhaps the deep snow in the Izaak Walton Inn area muffles the sound somewhat, while in Belton, which I remember as being more of a valley, the train sounds are confined and seem louder. Just conjecture, but why not?

Dec 27th - 09:08am | Kurt Repanshek

Good addition, Claire. But can you tell me how noisy it is with the train tracks so close? I've thought a stay in the Belton Inn in West Glacier would be nice, but I've heard the trains running all hours of the day and night can take some getting used to.

Dec 27th - 09:01am | ClaireWalter

Arguably the most unique national park ski/snowshoe opportunities, are Glacier National Park's winter trails accessed directly from the Izaak Walton Inn. Set in a snow-rich valley between the park and the Great Bear Wilderness, the inn grooms and tracksets more thean 30 km of x-c trails and also has a permit to lead ski/snowshoe tours into the park.

Cascade Pass, North Cascades National Park

Dec 27th - 13:17pm | John Hunter

I have posted several photos from my hike of Cascade Pass. It is a great hike.

Improving Paradise: Mount Rainier National Park Gets a Fine New Visitor Center

Dec 27th - 13:09pm | John Hunter

I visited last year and the old visitor center really did need to be replaced. The park is amazing. Here are some photos of my visit to Mt. Rainer

Have You Ever Sneaked Into Shiloh National Military Park?

Dec 27th - 09:19am | Bob Janiskee

I'd still be careful with that "exactly at dawn" thing, MRC. Though the first shots were fired in twilight, firsthand accounts make it clear that the initial contact took place during full dark ( official records have it at 4:55 a.m.).

Dec 27th - 09:13am | JimB

Very impressive, MRC! In the spirit of fun, I can't resist noting it's a good thing Daylight Savings Time wasn't in effect at the time of the battle, or this subject could be even more interesting. Was that 5:15 a.m. Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time?

Dec 27th - 08:52am | MRC

I thought it would be fun to be there in the morning of April 6. Your description was lively and I liked it a lot. So I looked for the time of sunrise at that time and location and was thrilled that calsky offered to calculate it even for the 19th century. The coincidence that 5:15 was exactly the beginning of dawn was too good not to mention here. Thanks for the post and the reply.

Dec 27th - 08:14am | Bob Janiskee

Cripes, MRC, you are really a stickler for detail. I can see that I had better be more careful if I want to keep you off my back! First, let me say that you are not wrong. As to whether you are exactly right, well, I've still got some room for weaselspeak, so here it is.

Dec 27th - 07:28am | MRC

5:15 on April 6, 1862 was not pre-dawn in southern Tennessee, it was to the minute the beginning of dawn, defined as the sun standing 6 degrees below the horizon. This is enough light to read a newspaper. Calculation made by http://www.calsky.com/.

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