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National Parks Contribute Holiday Ornaments to White House Christmas Tree

Dec 2nd - 18:49pm | Joan Hallowell

As the mother of one of the designers of a Christmas tree ball, I would like to see the ball and would like to be able to buy a copy for the benefit of that National Park,

Dec 1st - 20:02pm | Merryland

I'm just amazed at all the STUFF that the WhiteHouse puts out and probably needs to be stored for posterity somewhere in Oxon Hill or College Park in the mother of all warehouses. But wait! Where's the White House menorah made from Klondike Gold Rush ore? And how about the White House's Kwanzaa Mkeka made from the Tallgrass Prarie Nat'l Preserve??

Dec 1st - 12:10pm | Matt McGrath

Wow, that anti-ornament rant sure was a downer! I'm not particularly interested in the tree or the ornaments but some people really dig it so why not let them have their fun? Happy holidays!

Dec 1st - 11:07am | jsmacdonald

What is the big hubbub about the ornaments on the tree? I keep reading stories all over the internet about this. First of all, for me personally as a District resident (albeit one about to move to Montana in a few weeks) the only reason I've been to the Yellowstone Christmas tree was to protest the war in Iraq.

Dec 1st - 10:04am | Linda O'Neal

I think it's a wonderful homage to our National Parks, and I, personally, would love to see the vistas portrayed on the ornaments. At least, our National Parks have been brought to the front of everyone's mind and maybe in so doing, people will become more interested in their preservation.

Why Is Interior Dragging Feet On Keeping Glacier National Park from Being Shelled?

Dec 2nd - 16:48pm | p.scott rattermann

as usuall there are those that have and won't let go, even if it is for the common good and there is those that have not. if it's to get done it will have to be our tax dollars that do it. so the haves can keep what they have. are these not the same people that used are tax dollars to bail them out of bankruptcy not long ago ?

Former Park Service Director Mainella: Interior Department Called Yellowstone Snowmobile Decisions

Dec 2nd - 14:20pm | Lone Hiker

We should all aspire to a time when, as would make not only Frank but so many of the citizenry of our nation terrbily pleased, the NPS and other managers of national lands are turned back into the public stewardship organizations that they were meant to be, and not politically laden private interest groups who are subservient to no other than those signing their checks.

Dec 1st - 06:51am | MRC

Come on, the parks are funded by tax money. And decision and oversight on the use of tax money is the first and foremost task of politics. So unless you find a different form of finance for the park, they will always be and have to be a part of the political game. Stop whining over political influence and get your voice heard in a constructive way in the political debates.

Twenty-seven Years Ago, Eight National Parks Came to Be

Dec 2nd - 05:05am | MRC

It might be worth mentioning, that two National Monuments, Becharof National Monument and Yukon Flats National Monument, were downgraded to Wildlife Refuges in the same act of legislation. They are in the jurisdiction of the FWS.

Park Service's Top Investigator Pleads Guilty To Theft

Dec 1st - 11:56am | Roboranger

Pat was a peer, then - as the NPS attempted to create a 'line authority' special agent corps - she threw in (conspired) with a small group that had a plan to take control... (I and most others were excluded from the plan and dialogue). Not surprisingly, she and most of the group became the new power brokers/managers of the program. The culture of the NPS seems to breed this type of behaviour.

A Mammoth Cave National Park Christmas

Dec 1st - 00:22am | Merryland

I saw the White House.gov page with all the ornaments but I somehow missed this one. Isn't there an old Star Trek episode where the Enterprise gets trapped in something that looks a lot like this? :-)

Mammoth Cave National Park Adding Hiking, Biking Trail

Nov 29th - 11:46am | haunted hiker

This sounds wonderful. A great example of mountain biking as an appropriate activity in a National Park. Good job Mammoth Cave. And I love the photo Kurt. ;)

Alaska Regional Director Responds To Outrage Over Katmai Preserve Bear Hunt

Nov 28th - 10:04am | Anonymous

Alaska public radio ran a piece on the bear hunt on Katmai. There were a number of people giving their take including, bear biologists and even a trophy hunter who unanimously feel the bear hunt out on Katmai was very unethical and really was not hunting , but killing or harvesting.

Park Trips: Canyonlands National Park's Horseshoe Canyon

Nov 28th - 08:38am | Aron Ralston

And if you go, don't go alone and let people know your itinerary!

Park History: How the National Seashores Came to Be

Nov 27th - 20:49pm | Merryland

It should be noted that Mother Nature made the acquisition of Assateague Island possible. After the March 1962 nor'easter wiped out the development that had just recently started on Assateague Island, the Feds seized the opportunity to buy it up from the property owners who were pummeled in the storm. Opportunism? Sure. But stolen?

Nov 27th - 20:28pm | repanshek

Good question. That topic will be addressed in the coming weeks.

Nov 27th - 20:19pm | WEB

Where do the National Lakeshores fit into the history of the National Seashores? Such as "Pictured Rocks" and "Apostle Islands" on Lake Superior, "Indiana Dunes" and "Sleeping Bear" on Lake Michigan.

Nov 27th - 10:22am | Bob Janiskee

The sentence that reads “Private property development and related activities are a perennial thorn in the Park Service’s side.” refers to the Fire Island National Seashore in general, not the Otis Pike Wilderness in particular. Frank’s interpretation is understandable though, and we regret that we didn’t reverse the order of the two sentences he highlighted for comment.

Nov 27th - 06:20am | Lone Hiker

Interesting how the concentration of National Seashores is solely an eastern phenomenon, with th e notable exclusion of the Padre region. I personally I didn't see anything extraordinarily special in the south Texas coastline that would warrant inclusion into this group, but that's just one opinion.

Trekking to Dick Proenneke's Cabin in Lake Clark National Park

Nov 27th - 15:13pm | Michael Bird

Hello friends, My name is Michael, and I'm going to the wilderness on May 1,2009,I will be leaving by my self to see Dick Proenneke cabin.Wish me luck on my new journey.Like to hear from you,please email me at [email protected]. I also have read his book and seen his film.

Conservation Groups Will Head to Court Over Yellowstone Snowmobile Decision

Nov 26th - 15:22pm | Lone Hiker

First, I ain't no "huggie". Second, I don't worry about perosnla contact with these chemicals due to my extensive education and training in the proper methodology of handling corrosive, toxic, and otherwise harmful subtance. You don't do my type of work if your a careless intellectual midget.

Nov 26th - 14:33pm | Jen

Anon - I hate to tell you this, but only one of my four grandparents lived that long. The one grandfather who smoked (none of the rest smoked or drank) died in his early 60's.

Nov 25th - 23:07pm | Anonymous

I wonder how our grandparents lived so long (into their 90s) without the EPA and FDA around to cry that the sky is falling? They smoked, drank, ate lotsa fatty food.... ...and were around a LOT of chemicals! I think Ziggy is right, you huggies WORRY yourselves to death.

Nov 25th - 20:52pm | Lone Hiker

Excuse my not completing the story. Other issues needed more immediate attention.

Nov 25th - 18:38pm | Anonymous

Lone Hiker, your absolutely right it's called dermal exposure: skin, eyes, nose and mouth. Maybe in time, Yellowstone will qualify as a toxic dump after the snowmobile fiasco is over.

Nov 25th - 17:49pm | Lone Hiker

Besides all that stuff ya mentioned is natural anyway, since it does come from the earth

Nov 25th - 11:52am | Anonymous

Hey Anon...yes there are places...millions of acres of designated wilderness when the sleds can't go.

Nov 25th - 09:36am | Anonymous

At a time when it seems like we are trying too fill every available piece of land with another strip mall or garbage sub-division.Can there not be places where we are not intruding with our noisy engines,noxious fumes and pollution.

Nov 24th - 23:14pm | Ziggy

Man, FRank...that's heavy man! You are so gonna live a short life worryin about all that toulene, benzene, napthalene...your worryin about all that stuff is probably more hazardous to your health than all that stuff!

Nov 24th - 21:26pm | Lone Hiker

One of the major concerns in establishing "no-fly" zones in certain regions of the Grand Canyon was "to preserve a wilderness experience for visitors by reducing noice pollution in areas of major tourist activity", so that those wishing to experience the canyon's environment could do so without the feeling of standing at the end of an airport tarmack.

Nov 24th - 17:07pm | Ziggy

Do y'all ever enjoy the parks, or just worry yourselves to death over 'em?

Nov 24th - 12:45pm | Ziggy

Y'all need to chill and live happy. Snowmobiles are fun, cross country skiing is fun, snowcoaches are fun. Live and let live and de-stress, people! The sun will come up in the east in the morning, life is too short.

Park Trips: Paddling Into Yellowstone National Park

Nov 26th - 14:38pm | repanshek

Richard, I mentioned the Shoshone Geyser Basin down in the 12th paragraph, although there are no hot springs there that you can bathe in. To find those, you have to head down to "Cascade Corner" in the southwestern corner of the park. There you'll find some stretches of river where hot springs discharge into the river waters, allowing for bathing.

Nov 26th - 14:28pm | Richard Smith

The 1st paragraph mentions hot springs, but never mentions them further. Are there hot springs you can bathe in? Why mention them and fail to describe them?

Nov 23rd - 19:00pm | repanshek

Yogi, it actually was pretty easy. A good stout rope, some pulleys, and the ever-present bear bars made hoisting the coolers out of reach a cinch.

Nov 23rd - 18:55pm | Yogi Bear

I'd be interested in hearing how you hung up your cooler with steaks, pasta and salmon to keep away from the bears.

National Park Service Lacks the Funds to Purchase Critical Inholdings

Nov 26th - 11:25am | Gerry

I thought about "would retailers come to an area as remote as some of these very popular locations." If these areas were not under the purview of the National Park Service and under private hands, IMO I think these areas would have been well developed by now.

Nov 26th - 09:27am | Lone Hiker

An interesting notion would be viewing map coordinates of the private holdings in relationship to the placement of current park facilities.

Nov 25th - 19:59pm | Gerry

Eminent Domain -- has been used before and will be used again for the common public good in this case for us and for future generations -- I'd hate to see these areas not protected decades ago and see a big box retail store on the edge of the Grand Canyon. What would you think about that now?

Nov 25th - 11:50am | Anonymous

Good. They can't take care of what they have already!

Nov 25th - 08:50am | Kath

We can't have the federal government evicting people from land that's been in their family for generations (on the one hand) but allow a native tribe back into Death Valley National Park (by special Congressional Act) to build a subdivision near Furnace Creek, the central area of the park

Review: Wild Soundscapes, Discovering the Voice of the Natural World

Nov 26th - 09:40am | Steve Sergeant

The recording and processing end of the audio technology certainly has changed rapidly. But what hasn't changed nearly as fast are microphones, and those are the most important tools. Just as lenses didn't make much if any technological change between film and digital cameras, microphones have made little if any changes in the transition from analog tape to digital flash card.

Everglades National Park Asked to Give Manatees Protection From Boaters

Nov 25th - 21:08pm | Lone Hiker

Kinda the same thing as buying a piece of property, then discovering that somebody else already owns the mining and mineral rights. "You get the surface layer, but just in case anything of real value lies within your property lines but below the surface........YOU LOSE!"

Letter from Congress Urges Director Bomar To Ban Snowmobiles from Yellowstone National Park

Nov 25th - 18:20pm | Jim

If Congress is involved, you can be sure that any kind of "management" will make the situation worse. "Regulation" is another bureaucratic term for "more expensive" as it expands government worker pools that must be paid for with our money.

Grand Canyon Officials Release EA on Bright Angel Trailhead Improvements

Nov 25th - 09:05am | Lone Hiker

Nothing better than a poignant metaphor! Now, as Paul Harvey would say, for the rest of the story.......

Nov 24th - 22:25pm | Merryland

"Steepest price"... I like that.

Nov 23rd - 17:04pm | ClaireWalter

Re "Not that anyone would heed the advice." Some people DO heed advice, but some don't -- ever. Your know-it-all "running buddies" and their ilk are the kind who don't -- and sometimes, they pay the steepest price for not doing so. Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com

Nov 23rd - 16:25pm | Lone Hiker

If dehydration were the ONLY obstacle......

Nov 23rd - 11:24am | Kath

How about: Bright Angel Trail Access: Free Stupendous Views of Grand Canyon: Free Bottled Water: $1.00 Helicopter Rescue Off Bright Angel Trail: $5,000 Not dying a slow parched death from dehydration: Priceless

Crater Lake, On Average, Is Deepest Lake in North America

Nov 23rd - 15:56pm | pkrnger

After checking my data and performing some additional online research, I have concluded that Crater Lake, based on a comparison of average depths, is not only the deepest in North America, but also the deepest among lakes in the entire Western Hemisphere! Based on average depth, Lake Tahoe is second in the US and second in North America.

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