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Lone Hiker, all this techical jargon that you sprew out isn't only confusing the general public, but is in part of the bogus science that you represent. When in general, most world climatologist will agree that global warming is man induced...can we agree on that!? If not, show we where I'm wrong. Please!

Sep 9th - 14:42pm | Lone Hiker

I do not represent ANY faction of government, thank you. I am most familiar with Dr. Hanson's interpretation of his data, and that is indeed all they are, his interpretations. My sources and opinions are based in the chemistry of the reduction process by while ozone is converted to O2 and O, or how the O3 molecule is split, which is the ONLY process that really matters.

Sep 9th - 11:09am | Anonymous

Lone Hiker, I assume you have not read any of Dr. Hanson's research work at NASA on global warming. If you did, perhaps you might think twice before blogging your complete distortion of the facts what causes global warming. Corporate America could use you as there poster child to enhace their agenda that rape and pillage is good for the atmosphere.

Sep 8th - 22:35pm | Lone Hiker

The aren't any scientists at ANY level, academic or governmental, who have a solid enough foundation regarding this topic that qualifies them to redirect environmental issues, that if incorrectly altered, could have the same effect on our species as the misguided mountain lion hunts of the early 20th C did on the mule deer population on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I guess only the Rev.

Sep 8th - 20:29pm | Tim B

This article is almost insane. The total amount of "could's", "might's" and "may's" in each paragraph tells me that conditions could or might not get serious. But the one thing I do know...almost every time humans try to control a natural environment, the effects are usually worse than if the condition was left alone.

Federal Real ID May (Not) Be Required For Park Visit

Sep 9th - 19:05pm | jsmacdonald

Jon, I definitely agree with you. And, I share your pessimism; I'm just not willing to give up. So, again, I'll ask what people are willing to do to organize. I put that out there not simply as a challenge I expect to fall on deaf ears, but one that's real. When I land in the Greater Yellowstone region, this is the kind of organizing I expect I'll be doing.

Sep 9th - 16:29pm | Merryland

Jim, I'm not in favor of any of it. It's just that each little piece of our identity that gets collected by this company and that government entity is faced with a pathetic wimper from the masses against it, and the march toward everyone knowing everything about everyone continues.

Sep 7th - 12:45pm | jsmacdonald

I do find this upsetting. So, the assumption that those upset with the government aren't also upset with private industry is not much of an argument. Do you think I like getting tons of junk mail, like having my name and information sold so that others can try to sell me stuff? It's all ridiculous.

Sep 7th - 12:08pm | haunted hiker

"private companies have been collecting more information about us than the government has for years, yet we keep signing the sheet or clicking the OK button that says we understand their privacy policy without reading it, we waive our rights on a regular basis just to get the goods or service we're standing in line for"

Sep 7th - 11:55am | Kath

You don't have a 'choice' as to whether or not to disclose your bank accounts, pay statements, dependents, etc. etc. to the IRS. And unless you want to travel to the National Parks by hitchhiking with cash only as your payment method, your movements are being tracked by somebody.

Sep 7th - 11:38am | jersu

Yes, we waive our rights on a regular basis, but, it is a choice we make. We have the choice to accept the privacy policy or not. If I choose to, in this country, I have the choice to have on official address that includes a P.O. Box (a no-no under the Real ID), I have a choice to own a driver's license, I have a choice to move about the country and not have anyone know where I am.

Sep 7th - 11:35am | Kath

The purpose of Real ID is to keep foreign terrorists who wouldn't be able to get a valid Real ID off airplanes and out of potential terrorist targets like federal buildings. Off hand, I don't think any of the National Parks would be prime targets for a terrorist attack, so I concur that the government is unlikely to have park visitor's show their Real ID.

Sep 7th - 11:34am | Merryland

This is all kinda silly, because private companies have been collecting more information about us than the government has for years, yet we keep signing the sheet or clicking the OK button that says we understand their privacy policy without reading it, we waive our rights on a regular basis just to get the goods or service we're standing in line for.

Sep 7th - 11:18am | Kath

I made reservations at White Wolf and Curry Village in Yosemite over the Labor Day weekend. In order to verify that I was the reservation holder, I had to show my driver's license. Delaware North, which runs the Yosemite accommodations has my name in its computers showing all my stays from previous years. Who cares?

Sep 7th - 10:44am | jersu

Anonymous, before you call me out for having got my facts wrong, would you mind doing your own fact check? In March of this year, DHS announced a 20 month delay, pushing the time of enforcement from May 11, 2008 to the end of December 2009.

Sep 6th - 22:20pm | Anonymous

The Real ID Act takes effect May 11, 2008, not "in just over a year," as this article states. At least get the date right!

Sep 6th - 19:19pm | jsmacdonald

I don't support privatizing the parks, but I find this onerous. It raises other issues in respect to the way laws are enforced in the parks and the general way that parks are managed.

Sep 6th - 18:17pm | Steve Sergeant

"A reliable source" in Lassen Volcanic National Park told me recently that it costs them close to 150% as much to staff the entry and exit gates as they take in admissions revenue. And they only staff those gates in the summer during office hours.

Sep 6th - 13:55pm | jsmacdonald

This is still a point that needs clarity. In some states and the District of Columbia, you are not required to show an ID to anyone for any reason when stopped by a law enforcement official (you do need IDs for verification for employment). In some places, even if you are arrested, you are still not required to show an ID. You will be processed in the system as a John Doe.

Sep 6th - 12:20pm | jersu

Wanted to let folks know, I've made an important update to the original story. We've heard from the National Park Service today. Upon further study, it appears as if revealing a Real ID to park rangers would not be a requirement of admittance into our national parks. More details are at the end of the original article above.

Sep 6th - 08:13am | jsmacdonald

It is whacko; are people serious about organizing a movement not to comply? Why do I get the sense that if this happens and a boycott is organized that people will still find themselves putting themselves through this absurdity? Just brand us now; that would save the government a lot of time and money.

Sep 6th - 02:37am | Dan

I sincerely doubt that anyone actually intends to require ID at all National Parks. All the other examples, federal buildings, courthouses, planes and trains, are secure environments, so we can expect that the ID might be required at similar sites. The Washington Monument, for example, has metal detectors and x-ray machines. The Liberty Bell requires some level of security check.

Sep 6th - 01:27am | Anonymous

Federal law enforcement already has the legal right to inspect your ID at any time while you are out on federal property -- regardless of what you are doing. If you do not have a passport or other federally-compliant ID, then when the so-called "Real ID Act" kicks in, they will also have the legal right to detain you until your identity can be verified.

Sep 5th - 20:48pm | Lone Hiker

Yosemite is not an unusual circumstance, in the staffing of "gated" entry points only during normal business hours, whatever that translates into. It seems as though the definition of normal varies widely across the system in actual practice, irrespective of the printed literature.

Judge Orders Cross Removed from Mojave National Preserve

Sep 9th - 14:34pm | Kath

There's a "Christ of the Abyss" on a coral reef in John Pennekamp State Park in Florida. It has been there since the early 60's and is a popular sight for snorkelers and scuba divers. The ACLU tried to get it removed also, but to remove it would have disturbed the reef and destroyed coral so it's still there.

Sep 9th - 14:11pm | Art Allen

Pardon me for sustaining this rather heated and emotional debate.... I don't understand the responses.. How can you relate to the cross on the missions to my argument? The crosses, and star of david and crescents on the gravestones aren't at issue either. Those arguments are just silly.

Sep 9th - 12:07pm | Art Allen

What if the erection on this hilltop were a Swastika, put there in 1939, well before the NPS was on the scene. What if some person in the dark of night decided that the Al Queda symbol should dominate the hilltop. What would the reaction be?

Sep 9th - 11:33am | repanshek

I neglected to mention in my initial post that the cross long pre-dates arrival of the Park Service, as the preserve wasn't created until 1994. Of course, prior to that year the land was managed by the BLM.

Sep 9th - 09:14am | Kath

The cross was put up as a war memorial to the fallen of WWI. It's a war memorial, not a call to Christian religious services. The cross is frequently used as a memorial to the fallen whether they were Christian or not. There is no question that if it were over 100 years old, the National Park Service would keep it as a historical monument.

Sep 9th - 08:59am | jsmacdonald

It's appropriate if the reaction is different (for the totem pole than for the cross) for many of the same reasons I give above. And, not just those, but more besides ... though all of them related.

Sep 9th - 00:10am | Anonymous

how long does something need to stand in a national park before it becomes part of the tapestry of the story of a park itself and protected by law? i seem to remember something about trash (not referring to the cross, have no interest in the can of worms here) becoming historical after a certain period of time.

Sep 8th - 23:55pm | Anonymous

THAT CROSS ISNT HURTING ANYONE, THE PERSON WHO SAID IT WAS OFFENSIVE ONLY WANTS TO BE A BIGSHOT SO HE CAN SAY SEE WHAT I DONE. HE PROBABLY LIKES PULLING THE WINGS OFF OF FLYS ALSO.

Sep 8th - 22:06pm | jsmacdonald

Don't you - Anonymous - answer your first question with your second question? It seems common sense that you don't have freedom of religion if you don't protect minority practice of religion. Whether this cross is or isn't, I have no idea.

Sep 8th - 21:53pm | Lone Hiker

You're right Kurt, you've definiately stepped in a pile with this article. First someone demands that the pledge of allegiance be removed from public schools. On the other hand, public school facilities and other public buildings are still allowed to be utilized for denominational religious services. Both positions are vehemently supported by the ACLU.

Sep 8th - 20:18pm | Anonymous

THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE EDUCATED IN SPITTING OUT WORDS AND NOT EDUCATED IN COMMON SENSE . WHERE HAS THE FREEDOM OF RELIGON GONE ?? WHY ARE WE BOWING TO MINORITY RULE ????? THIS ALL APPLIES TO MANY MANY EVENTS IN OUR COUNTRY.

Sep 8th - 17:56pm | Tom Bremer

You raise some very good questions. The answers are neither simple nor easy.

Mt St Helens as National Park?

Sep 9th - 11:37am | Darcy

As a former Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument employee, and a resident of Toutle who lived the eruption, I must first correct some inaccuracies in the article. #1 No land in the Monument will ever be logged. Monument designation permanently removes 110,000 acre-Monument from resource extraction, period. This is a non-issue.

Pot Farmers Tilling Ground in Yosemite

Sep 7th - 21:29pm | Sherry

There are ONLY 20 million daily pot smokers???? I have a feeling that is a count of the people who ADMIT to a daily habit and not a realistic number of all daily pot smokers. I am going to guess that the number is much higher, at least double that figure. The solution to the problem lies with us and we are the only ones who have any chance of coming up with a sloution.

Another Black Bear in Grand Teton Put Down

Sep 7th - 18:55pm | Anonymous

kurt- maybe i missed something in the previous posts, but how is the overall population of black bears doing in the area, at least before the drought hit, good or bad? all those people should be fined. in drought years, educational enforcement just isn't enough.

Sep 7th - 12:48pm | Mookie

Exactly correct about the citations. The reason these bears are being put down is directly related to the easy access of food due to carelessness of visitors, campers, and backpackers. The NPS needs to get serious with the fines. I'm talking $200 minimum for carelessness, $500 for outright feeding of bears.

The Secret Life of Drugs in Parks

Sep 7th - 15:39pm | jersu

Steve, Me? Tired of you sharing your stories here? No way! I'm so glad you have added the link. You are correct, it is very on-topic, and it really helps tell the story here. I didn't discover your program until about episode 50, so I wasn't aware of that particular audio program.

Sep 6th - 18:36pm | Steve Sergeant

We did a story in 2005 on what it took a volunteer group to clean up one relatively small marijuana garden in a California state park: The WildeBeat number 19: Restoring a Park Gone to Pot

Centennial Projects: Do They All Prepare the National Parks for the Next 100 Years?

Sep 7th - 09:53am | jsmacdonald

On the other hand, Mission 66 was quite the mess in Yellowstone in particular. I worked five summers in Grant Village - a Mission 66 debacle.

Sep 7th - 03:49am | mrc

@Anne Mitchell Whisnant: Thanks for your links and book recommendations. So everyone agrees, that the centennial initiative is nothing like Mission 66. That's sad.

Sep 5th - 21:03pm | Lone Hiker

Pardon my puritanical instincts, but I personally don't see the correlation between museum facilities and the NPS budget. On the other hand, if Yosemite is granted a disproportionate amount of the budget as suggested within the Centennial Initiative, all bets are off. I don't care WHO has the deepest pockets, and trust me, Grand Teton has about the deepest pockets you'll ever encounter.

Sep 5th - 19:27pm | repanshek

Now, Haunted Hiker, before you can fix something you have to know what's wrong with it, no? And I agree, the NPS seems to have more than enough bureaucracy in it. But how can you fix something if you don't have a blueprint or know exactly what's wrong with it?

When Nature Calls, It's Hard to Find a Restroom on the National Mall

Sep 5th - 23:17pm | Sabattis

The lack of restrooms is a definite problem on the National Mall - although I wonder how the NPS will deal with the situation without turning additional restrooms into de facto homeless shelters. The other major problem is that all of the Smithsonians and Federal Buildings surrounding the Mall effectively shut down around 5pm, creating an effective dead space in the heart of the City.

At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, The Facilities Seem Almost as Old as the Fossils

Sep 5th - 23:12pm | Sabattis

I too have been to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and have been appalled as well. Its really a shame, as this place has some of the most truly amazing fossils found anywhere in the world - insects so finely preserve in stone that you can even see the veins in the wings! Thanks for bringing this appalling situation to a wider audience!

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