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Yellowstone National Park Bison Agreement: How Big A Step Forward Is It?

Apr 27th - 12:27pm | jsmacdonald

There is a hunting season in Montana for buffalo, but there is no wild buffalo population in Montana. One step toward there being a viable hunting season is expanding the range of the buffalo so that they have a permanent presence in Montana. Right now, for a large licensing fee, people can line up at the border and wait for them to cross over.

Apr 26th - 21:15pm | Samuel L. Davidson

You make it sound as if they are trying to kill all the bison. Would you rather they starved to death? Why is there not a hunting season to help keep the herd to a sustainable level? As for this notion of a "wild and free roaming bison herd," it is not the old west anymore, it is 2008 and we are not leaving.

Apr 23rd - 18:14pm | Anonymous

I love the bison and want them protected but this is the most ridiculous waste of taxpayers money ever. $2.8 million to save only 25 bison !! Do these people expect the bison to stand inside Yellowstone and starve to death ? Is that nonsense how they have managed to survive all these years ? Rubish, they are wild animals who must migrate to find food during all seasons.

Apr 21st - 01:40am | jsmacdonald

I know I seem to be the only one commenting here, but I wanted to point you to an essay I just wrote, which is in part a criticism of the CUT deal and the rationale cited here by those mainstream environmental groups who support it.

Snared Wolves At Denali National Park and Preserve Cast Ugly Shadow on Trappers

Apr 26th - 10:13am | Anonymous

What kind of credentials are required to be a trapper in Denali, and how close do the trappers work with the State Wildlife Services and the NPS? I hope these trappers are well educated in all aspects of wildlife sciences....and are not just bunch of renegade cowboys on the prowl for another trophy (on the wall).

Apr 26th - 05:13am | Peter Dunn

It is so wrong to do this and then not put them out of their misery. I wish the trappers had this on their heads. If they can take a picture of this then they could just as well stopped the torture futher.

Apr 25th - 19:47pm | Anonymous

This should not be happening at all. Park wolves should be protected both in and outside of Denali. Trapping is barbaric and unnecessary. All trappers around Denali are recreational -- one even works for the National Park Service. Disgusting.

Traveler's Top 10 Picks For Movies Involving National Parks

Apr 26th - 05:17am | Bob Janiskee

Susan, you are absolutely right about Brighty of the Grand Canyon. Though produced over 40 years ago, this film still resonates with youngsters and the young at heart. How could you not love that little burro? :o) There is a Brighty of the Grand Canyon children's book available in paperback, and you can order a copy online for about five bucks.

Apr 26th - 01:09am | ReBecca

Forrest Gump also runs past Glacier National Park when he is on his long jog back and forth across the USA - a beautiful moment! What Dreams May Come also has scenes filmed in 'heaven' - although it was actually Glacier NP. One in the same for me ;)

Apr 25th - 20:11pm | Susan

My favorite National Park Movie is Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1967). I was even down at Phantom Ranch when the movie crews were filming it back in (1965?). I saw "Brighty" in the corral there and the movie crews on a sandbar near the north side of the Kaibab Suspension Bridge!

Apr 25th - 13:42pm | Bob Janiskee

Hey, CivilWarBuff, when are you going to get around to pointing out that the horse Robert E. Lee is riding in the photo accompanying this article is named "Traveler"? :o)

Apr 24th - 21:43pm | griz

I happened to be visiting Harper's Ferry during the filming of Gods and Generals, unfortunately it is probably one of the worst movies ever filmed in a NPS area. I've tried watching it, but it is incredibly boring.

Apr 24th - 19:24pm | John B

My gosh....all this talk about great movies filmed in National Parks and no mention of the Western classic Shane (1953) filmed in Grand Teton National Park! "SHANE....Come Back Shane!" Of lesser note, the Russian tundra scenes from Rocky IV (1985) were also filmed there.

Apr 24th - 17:57pm | Maltodextrin

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Devils Tower National Monument Grizzly Man - Katmai National Park Both these movies are highly entertaining.

Apr 24th - 17:42pm | jersu

Actually, I think you've got a really great list. Don't worry that you don't remember Remo Williams, nobody does (except me, for reasons I can't figure out). The Remo Williams movie is forgettable, and anything but classic, I was just teasing. Although, the finale does take place on the scaffolding of the Statue of Liberty, that part is true.

Apr 24th - 16:34pm | Bob Janiskee

Jeremy, where have you been?! While you were gone, Repanshek conned me into writing this Top Ten Park Movies thing, and now my life has turned to crap. Not one single person, not even my wife, agrees with my list. And the feedback we're getting has been unrelentingly brutal.

Apr 24th - 15:35pm | jersu

What?? No mention of the 1985 classic "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins". Who could forget the exciting final fight sequence which takes place on the scaffolding built up around the Statue of Liberty?

Apr 24th - 11:52am | Bob Janiskee

Good Grief; did I really call The New World an "over-hyped chick flick"?! I must have forgotten to take my lithium again. I should have said "masterpiece," of course. Thank you for setting me straight.

Apr 24th - 10:53am | RangerTyler

Dismissing Mallick's impressionistic masterpiece, The New World, as merely an "over-hyped chick flick" is not only sexist, it's insulting. If you didn't like the movie, perhaps you could provide concrete reasons and serious examinations rather than writing in cliches and soundbytes.

Apr 24th - 09:36am | CivilWarBuff

The Pickett's Charge scene in "Gettysburg" is made all the more powerful by the fact that it happened on the actual hallowed ground of the battlefield.

Apr 24th - 09:27am | Tracey

Don't forget "The River Wild" (1994) with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon--filmed in Glacier National Park, with Meryl learning to negotiate the rapids without a stunt double!

Apr 24th - 07:13am | Bob Janiskee

Because Traveler readers are among the brightest and best, I was mildly surprised to learn that I was the only person able to spot Laura Linney in Dances with Wolves.

Apr 24th - 03:35am | MRC

There are of course many more, just search IMDB.com for national park in the field for filming location (http://www.imdb.com/Search/locations). There was Vertigo (1958) by Hitchcock, with the famous scene under the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point National Historic Site.

Apr 23rd - 16:45pm | Kath

"Maverick" has some lovely scenes shot in Yosemite National Park; one in Leidig Meadows. And one scene from "The Caine Mutiny" was shot in the Ahwahnee Hotel, which was used as a hospital during World War II. And you forgot "Grand Canyon" in which Kevin Kline, Mary McDonnell and Danny Glover have a 'come together' moment at the movie's namesake.

Apr 23rd - 15:57pm | Norm

All good selections but my favorite is The Long, Long Trailer [1954] with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. [Yosemite National Park was one of the filming locations.]

Apr 23rd - 15:53pm | pkrnger

I'm surprised you haven't listed my personal favorite: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), with Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katharine Ross. Much footage was filmed in and near Zion National Park, UT. The famous Rendevous House was located in the present ghost town of Grafton, UT, on the south-side of the Virgin River from Rockville, UT a few miles outside of the park boundary.

Apr 23rd - 15:35pm | Rangerone

Instead of movies that pretended to be in national parks (Thelma and Loiuse) there are more and better examples of actual national park locations. Some examples: Journey to the Center of the Earth (James Mason version) filmed in Carlsbad Caverns. Close Encounters filmed at Devils Tower. Splash, filmed at Statue of Liberty. Rocky II - Independence NHP.

Apr 23rd - 15:23pm | Kurt Repanshek

Good catch, Kraig. I always liked Mary better, anyway!

Apr 23rd - 15:13pm | Kraig

Wait! Laura Linney is in Dances With Wolves? Where? And how could you select her over the wonderful Mary McDonnel?

Apr 23rd - 14:20pm | MRC

Star Wars Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi (1983): Remember the Ewoks? Living on the forest moon of Endor? Those small, bear like creatures hunt and live in one of the most spectacular forests ever seen on the big screen.

Critics: Changing Gun Laws in National Parks Would Open a "Pandora's Box" of Problems

Apr 25th - 13:47pm | Fred Miller

Thank you Mr. Taylor. I couldn't have said it better myself. Actually, I wish I COULD say it as well as you. I too would be right there to back up a Park Ranger if the need ever arose. Don't forget to repeat these viewpoints next week when the NRPM for changing the rules about concealed-carry in the Parks is released.

Apr 25th - 09:03am | J. Taylor

“In 2006, there were 384 violent crimes, including 11 killings and 35 rapes, reported in the more than 272 million visits to the nation's 390 national parks,”

Are Blue Ridge Parkway's Historic Guardrails At Risk?

Apr 25th - 12:49pm | jr_ranger

I think it's worth to point out that this isn't just about guardrails. The FHWA wanted a 12 foot clear zone, which would have meant that NPS would have been responsible for removing anything in that 12 foot zone. Trees, rocks, rock walls built by the CCC, etc would have had to been bulldozed.

Apr 23rd - 11:49am | Rob

The look and feel of the parkway will be at risk once the modifications are made. Replacing and adding new railing will change the look, especially for those that frequent the parkway. It seems pretty straight forward to me.

Apr 22nd - 10:03am | RangerTyler

Guardrails at risk? A parkway remaining unmarred? Hmm.

Apr 21st - 15:53pm | MMH

Title of this article is a bit misleading, as the issue has already been settled. I expect better from NPT.

Battle Mounts Over Off-Road Vehicles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Apr 24th - 12:33pm | marga

I have gone to the island for the last 13 years(sometimes twice a year)and the thing that alters the ecology is the big amount of people and new developments (a lot in comparison with 13 years ago). I remember the old Chicomacomico station. There wasn't anything there, but look now. The development of new houses brings trash, sewage and obviously the appropriation of a piece of beach!!!

Apr 24th - 08:57am | Anonymous

After your comments it is obvious you have not been to the beaches your are so strongly trying to protect. I have been going to the Outer Banks for over 40 years. Do you drive a car? do you fly commercially? I am sure you do and by doing so you do more to ruin the environment that the vehicles on the beach.

Former National Park Service Directors Urge Interior Secretary To Keep Guns Out of Parks

Apr 24th - 08:48am | RangerTyler

Distorting my comments is one thing, but at least please quote me correctly: "equating an individual right to arms [not tyranny] with mob justice" is my exact phrase. And that's exactly what you did when you asked the rhetorical question, "Or are you suggesting we return to the days when the lynch mob and the posse were the lawkeepers in this country?"

Apr 23rd - 23:05pm | Lone Hiker

Another brief history lesson. The Nazi Party was in existence prior to Adolf Hitler being elected Chairman. One tends to equate the Nazis with Hitler, but in actuality, he was nothing more than a catalyst, giving the people what they wanted, and in many cases, what they needed after suffering though their own trials and tribulations post-WWI.

GYC Explains Value of Latest Agreement for Yellowstone National Park Bison

Apr 23rd - 15:36pm | be

the deal marks yet another illustration of the bankruptcy of the collaborative model for species advocacy in the west - as it relates to the livestock industry. When will GYC be willing to fight for what it alleges to believe in ?

Apr 23rd - 13:40pm | jsmacdonald

I cannot agree that there is any value to the latest agreement and argued as much in a recent essay on my blog (see link for Jim's Eclectic World) below. Let's look at Amy's response more closely: She writes

Lake Powell Expected to Rise 50 Feet This Summer

Apr 23rd - 14:35pm | Fred Miller

Nicely said Mr. Anonymous. I'm not convinced that there is a "climate crisis". I also doubt that there is very little, probably nothing, that we could do about it anyway. Here's an interesting piece you might enjoy reading:

Apr 23rd - 08:51am | Anonymous

What a bunch of baloney! Science has not spoken! There is not a scientific consensus on "Global Warming." Many legitimate scientists disagree with the idea that Global Warming is caused by man or that Global Warming is even occurring. So what happens if we have this same kind of winter for about 3 years in a row? Will the alarmists start shouting that man is causing a new ice age?

NPCA: Health of Everglades National Park Requires a Longer Bridge Along the Tamiami Trail

Apr 22nd - 19:36pm | Sabattis

The opening of this blog post reads as if the Tamiani Trail was built "through Big Cypress National Preserve." Of course, Big Cypress Naitonal Preserve was not established until 1974 - some 44 years after the construction of the Tamiani Trail.

Proposed Settlement Filed in Cape Hatteras National Seashore ORV Case

Apr 21st - 22:41pm | Bernie McCants

Respectfully, to suggest that "(t)he settlement, in effect, does what the National Park Service hasn't done -- provide some guidelines for off-road driving along the seashore" is to believe the distortion of the facts by the plaintiffs.

Groups Sue Park Service Over ORV Use in Big Cypress National Preserve

Apr 21st - 17:18pm | Duckabush Traveler

Preserve Superintendent Karen Gustin has just been transferred to my park: The Olympic National Park in Washington state. Please help me understand the kind of changes this person might implement. I feel like we need to get ahead of her on the information front. We don't want ORVs or even bicycles in our Olympic NP Mountains or anywhere near its beaches.

Should Canyon de Chelly Be Given to the Navajo Nation?

Apr 21st - 14:40pm | Anonymous

None of the land is owned by the National Park Service. The land is still owned by the Navajo Nation, while the monument is administered by the National Park Service. It's a very interesting arrangement for everyone involved!

Apr 21st - 10:38am | RangerTyler

I find the word choice in the article's title interesting and revealing, especially the choice of "given". Given implies original ownership. I think "returned" would be a better word choice, especially in light of the history of America's original inhabitants their treatment by the federal government.

Strange Bedfellows: The National Park Service and the American Recreation Coalition

Apr 20th - 20:08pm | Anonymous

Laverty would be a nightmare for the NPS and he should be opposed at all cost. http://www.denverpost.com/sportscolumnists/ci_5630828

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