| Page 1466 | National Parks Traveler

I love trains, this one included! I am all for adding another train to the schedule. I've personally ridden this train numerous times and have always had a great trip. I'd highly recommend this train ride to anyone and with a 3rd train it will provide more access for people to enjoy it! I hope they approve the proposal.

Sep 27th - 21:08pm | Merryland

We did this trip a few years ago with the kids in the month of March... the kids loved it, and you definitely don't need a vehicle once you get to the South Rim. When I worked at Grand Canyon there were trees growing up through the rotting RR ties. Glad to see it brought back to life, especially if it cuts down on the number of zanies looking for a parking spot.

Sep 27th - 19:03pm | Steve Rugg

Sharon and myself had a chance this summer to ride the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon, it was a memorable trip. I just hope the new owners are aware of the treasure that they have in it's people especially one.

Appellate Court Upholds Lower Court Ruling on Development at Gateway National Recreation Area

Sep 28th - 11:13am | Anonymous

We need some context here. We are mixing apples and oranges, and there ARE some scary issues presented by the various cases Kurt has raised:

Sep 27th - 22:00pm | Barky

Kurt, I hear what you're saying, but your dream of a Congress that fully funds the NPS, or of taxpayers willing to pay more in taxes to fully fund government projects in general, is a dead one. The NPS has no choice but to allow commercial use of these facilities whenever prudent.

Sep 27th - 11:55am | Rangertoo

With all due respect to MRC, the NPS has a lot more than 2 decomissioned military bases. Cape Cod and Acadia have substantial military bases. Santa Monica Mountains, Indiana Dunes, Gateway, Golden Gate, and a host of other parks have old Nike missile bases, heck, the entire park of Minute Man Missile is a former military base. And that doesn't count all the historic forts.

Sep 27th - 11:15am | MRC

Let not confuse one time events (Alcatraz and Boston) with long term commercial use of historic buildings. Two times now, decommissioned military complexes were handed over to the NPS: Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook and the Presidio of San Francisco.

Sep 27th - 09:57am | Kurt Repanshek

Barky,

Sep 27th - 08:10am | Anonymous

I can tell you that as a national park superintendent I am planning on a similar project in my park. It is either that, or watch the historic buildings collapse. We cannot afford to maintain them and they will soon reach a condition where they will have to be torn down for safety reasons alone. Park managers are doing the best they can with what they have.

Sep 26th - 22:25pm | Barky

Setting aside the funding questions, which are troubling to say the least (but pale in comparison to all the other waste & graft existing in the federal government today), I actually don't have a problem with commercial development in Fort Hancock.

Floods Washing Across Big Bend National Park

Sep 27th - 21:36pm | Merryland

Once again, mother nature wins. Yet, we'll continue to rebuild and sandbag and rebuild again. We're like little ants with littler brains. Looking forward to visiting Galveston Island National Memorial and Seashore someday too.

Backcountry Volunteer Survives 100 Foot Fall While Canyoneering at Zion National Park

Sep 27th - 21:26pm | Merryland

I'm curious as to what other canyoneering experiences anywhere else in the western hemisphere are comparable (or better) than Utah. Strange you chose to single out the "lower 48" but didn't expand that further. If it's a secret, I'll understand. For a long time I didn't tell many (if any) people about the hidden spots at Escalante.

Sep 26th - 22:55pm | Canyon Rob

This is a great reminder now how many times you have gone down a canyon you always have to be paying attention.

At Statue of Liberty National Monument, Save Ellis Island, Inc., Works to Restore Ellis Island’s Time-Ravaged Buildings

Sep 27th - 21:20pm | Merryland

I think the key to these sorts of renovations succeeding is when the final product is actually put to good use, rather than having a giant shell of a building that people come to simply gawk at. And the use of the building(s) should be a good fit with the history of the place. It seems like both those things are at least being attempted here, so kudos to all involved.

Sep 27th - 09:10am | Sabattis

I'm also very interested in the new plans for the "Peopling of America Museum" at Ellis Island. This seems to be a rare instance in which the National Park Service is getting it exactly right. The story of Ellis Island is important enough that I think that few people would blink if the National Park Service just stuck to that story at Ellis Island.

Sep 26th - 10:22am | Bob Janiskee

My eyebrows went up too, d-2, when I saw that SEI had, on their official website, alluded to a 10-15 year time frame for completing the renovations.

Sep 26th - 09:46am | d-2

Thank you, Bob, for this important piece. It will be interesting to see if the NPS and Save Ellis Island, Inc., will be able to restore all the structures on the south side of Ellis Island.

Pruning the Parks: Shoshone Cavern National Monument (1909-1954) Would Have Cost Too Much to Develop

Sep 27th - 09:16am | Sabattis

Poverty Point presents a particularly interesting case in the parlor game of "delisting." Without Federal management, it would certainly be a prime candidate. On the other hand, the US has recently put Poverty Point on its "Tentative List" - which is the first step towards being promoted to UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

A Section of the Appalachian Trail Designed for Wheelchair Access Opens in Vermont

Sep 26th - 18:43pm | Merryland

It's not an anti-disabled perspective that I'm attempting (albeit poorly) to express, it's a "stop trying to improve nature and stop spending money on something we'll just have to spend more maintenance money on later" perspective. Believe me, when I see people parking in handicap spots that have no right being there, I'm in their face (politely of course).

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore: It's Really About the Islands

Sep 26th - 09:34am | JimB

I'd second this recommendation as a park to put on a list of great visits. My wife and I had the chance to spend several days at Apostle Islands last summer, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

Big Cypress National Preserve: Is More ORV Access In Bear Island Unit Wise?

Sep 26th - 09:01am | Ken

Well as a camping enthusiast I value the natural spectacle that is the great outdoors in all her beauty. But I don't think ORV users are to blame entirely for the condition of the trails. Even the smallest rut in the mud turns into a disaster when a terrential downpour is thrown into the mix. Personally, I feel the ORV trails should only be available during dry conditions.

Heavy Rains and Flooding from Hurricane Ike Remnants Left a Mess at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Sep 26th - 08:28am | Bob Janiskee

How true, and how sad. Congress' failure to seize the initiative at Indiana Dunes back in 1916 is all the more frustrating -- and ironic -- when you consider that, in that very same year of 1916, a national park was established on Maui and the Big Island in the faraway territory of Hawaii.

Sep 26th - 08:03am | Hoosier

Bob - When Stephen Mather first proposed this site for inclusion in the National Park System in 1916 he called it Sand Dunes National Park. That name would be too confusing now because of Great Sand Dunes NP. But, other names such as Lake Michigan Dunes NP, Marquette NP, or Calumet NP would work. And yes, I think it should be a national park.

Sep 25th - 14:28pm | Bob Janiskee

It's hard for this national park to establish a clear identity, being as fragmented and urban-entwined as it is. And I agree that lakeshore is not a conceptually tidy term, Anon. Can you suggest another, more appropriate descriptor? I can't........

Sep 25th - 14:09pm | Anonymous

I accede to your point on the National Captcal Parks. I have followed discussions on this site and am familiar with Indiana Dunes. I think the fact that local papers do not recognize a national park here is a critical point. The name lakeshore is too confusing. The park is in the city limits of more than a dozen cities and towns, but has no single identity. Hence.

Sep 25th - 11:41am | Bob Janiskee

Thanks. I made the correction. [***Weaselspeak alert!!***] Newspapers -- including the Post-Tribune right there in NW Indiana -- referred to the new facility as a "park". This, plus the fact that the facility is within the city limits of Portage, contributed to the confusion. As for your park-within-a-park comment, well, that's a loose caveat at best.

Sep 25th - 11:09am | Anonymous

Just a correction - Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is not a "park." Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a park. The Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is a section of the lakeshore - not a park in itself any more than Mammoth Hot Springs is a "park" within Yellowstone.

Update: At Grand Canyon National Park, an Abandoned Uranium Mine Must be Cleaned Up

Sep 26th - 05:33am | Bob Janiskee

The yellowcake that the Orphan Mine produced was indeed intended for America's Cold War nuclear weapons program, not nuclear power production. I revised the article and removed the reference to nuclear power production. If you'd like to dig deeper into this subject, see Michael A.

Sep 25th - 20:49pm | Bob Janiskee

You're right, Frank. Triuranium octoxide (U308) is a naturally occurring -- and unusually stable -- form of yellowcake. PM is partly correct. Some kinds of yellowcake are products of milling. Not this one, though.

Sep 25th - 19:19pm | PM

I would second what MLG said. Also, the article said "During the period 1956-1969 this underground mine produced, among other things, 2,130 tons of U3O8, a naturally occurring uranium compound called yellowcake." Yellowcake is not naturally occurring. It occurs during the processing of the uranium ore.

Sep 25th - 16:34pm | MLG

A few comments on this article seem to be in order. During at least the early operating period for this mine, much of the uranium that was produced in this country and in Canada was for use by the US Government in producing nuclear weapons for the Cold War. This is also true for much of the milling capacity that was in existence at the same time. Most of these historic mills are now reclaimed.

Sep 25th - 11:11am | Marylander

That is an interesting point about the contaminated well water that I hadn't considered. Is there any hope of cleaning up the wells or has the damage already been done beyond repair? Most people do not understand the true imapct that mining has, and really I think we are still learning the far reaching effects of it. The dollars and cents of it is just one little aspect of it.

Sep 25th - 06:59am | MRC

The costs are one side, but outside of the National Park is the land of the Navajo Nation. People and livestock there use water that is contaminated by abandoned uranium mines that are all over the tribal land. In a study of the Ojato Chapter of the Navajo's land done by EPA every well on the Arizona side was contaminated and all but one on the adjacent Utah part.

How Far Should National Park Rangers Go To Safeguard Your Life?

Sep 25th - 21:28pm | d-2

Thanks, Sebattis, for such a good answer. I, too, worry what will happen when the public realizes it is not paying for what it thinks it is. And thanks, also, for identifying the multiple threads we need to look at to properly understand, and respond to, these complex issues.

Sep 25th - 21:03pm | Sabattis

In response to d-2, the fact that "user fees" are being diverted from user services to other purposes, like maintenance, is exactly part of the problem.

Sep 25th - 18:04pm | Rick Smith

The dangers that park visitors often find themselves in are described in a fascinating way in the book, Off the Wall, coauthored by long-time ranger Butch Farabee. The book chronicles all the deaths that have occured in Yosemite since it became a park.

Sep 25th - 16:40pm | JimB

Rick Smith had an excellent take on this question in his post above. This issue has been around as long as there have been parks. Finding a balance between protecting visitors while allowing them to experience a park will always be a challenge, and budget limits are a big factor.

Sep 25th - 13:21pm | MarkK

While I appreciate information provided to help me make an informed decision, I don't want the government to protect me from myself, whether the "danger" is what I read/watch, what I smoke, or where I swim. This includes the NPS. Mark

Sep 25th - 09:13am | d-2

Well, I assume Sebattis and most other readers know many NPS beaches do have fees, where collecting fees is practical. The larger issue Mr. Smith and Kurt cites is the real issue, and the blithe way the fee issue is discussed in the Sebattis contribution seems to be the real red herring here.

Sep 25th - 06:57am | George Sanders

I've always considered the role of park rangers to protect the environment from the visitors, not the reverse. Despite all the warnings and instructional material about the dangers in the parks, we still have visitors recklessly approaching wildlife, climbing over barriers to the edge of cliffs and bluffs, and ignoring other danger signs.

Sep 24th - 22:28pm | Sabattis

Its quite the red herring to suggest the possibility of the National Park Service with the responsibility "to have lifeguards overseeing each inch of beach, lake shoreline, or stretch of river?" I can just imagine lifeguards on the Alagnak Wild River.... Har!

Archaeological Survey At Big South Fork River National River and Recreation Area

Sep 25th - 16:46pm | JimB

Your comment about the challenges posed to such surveys by the thick vegetation reminded me of a comment by a ranger who worked for me at Lake Mead. He was a geologist by training, and had spent his entire life in the West. He was sent "back East" for some training, and sent us a post card with the following observation:

Sep 25th - 15:58pm | Bugsyshallfall

Chance is right, Because the people who would pay for the study at my park are NPS (In fact they don't own any land). The Boston Harbor Islands ais really a park that should be owned and operated by BLM, for a lot of reasons, but the owners of the park's land being the City of Boston (mostly Boston's Fault) and State of MASS didn't like (not hate) the idea.

Sep 25th - 12:34pm | jr_ranger

Mr. Mutch,

Sep 25th - 10:31am | Rob Mutch

One of the main obstacles to inventorying and monitoring archy (federal term for archaeology/archaeological) sites/land on federal lands is that funding is based on mitigating for other projects. So, archaeology is funded by other management branches and has VERY little money of it's own.

National Park Quiz 21: Railroads

Sep 25th - 05:47am | Bob Janiskee

Nice catch, Sabattis. I revised the quiz item.

Climber Dies In Accident In Grand Teton National Park

Sep 25th - 01:37am | A. Felder

Well said, Bob, Beamis, and fhasti.

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