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Help Ken Burns Chronicle the Parks

Apr 11th - 16:08pm | Linda Schmidt

My grandpartents camped in Yosemite with their children for a month every year back in the 30's. When Yosemite had the Firefalls a ranger started calling out to my Uncle and the Ranger's son at dusk to bring them to the Firefalls because the ranger thought my Uncle's name was funny. He would call "Elmer"!

The Final Listening Session?

Apr 11th - 10:34am | MS Kennedy

Wouldn't it be great if the US Government would do something like this Virtual Town Hall Meeting recently on YouTube http://pol.moveon.org/townhall/iraq/report_back.html

Cold Waters Kill Canoeist in Olympic

Apr 11th - 01:36am | Vincent Limon

I knew this kid, he was an old buddy of mine. We went to high school together at the Liberal Arts and Science Academies at LBJ in Austin, Texas. The guy was the all american who you could depend on for anything. He played some of the best trumpet that I had ever heard, whether it was Mozart or Duke Ellington. He will be missed.

Returning to Mount Rainier

Apr 10th - 11:08am | Random Walker

" Floods destroyed bridges in many places -- on roads and trails -- and more damage is expected to be found when the snow melts from the high country. Large landslides block roads and trails, and blown-down trees are scattered across many trails,.." I know this mountain well having grown up in her shadow. The last time I wandered her was the summer of 1983.

Lyle Laverty: A Threat to the Parks?

Apr 10th - 08:25am | Matt

Hmmm... seems like he'll get along well with Mark Rey. Perhaps they can compare their resumes to see who has done more damage to public lands in the past ten years. Ah, why bother? Rey is in a league of his own.

U.S. Park Police Running On Low

Apr 9th - 17:58pm | Alan Gregory

On this issue, I've gotta believe PEER and the data it published.

Apr 7th - 22:08pm | Jim Macdonald

Sally, I am the bad guy. Ciao, (A) P.S. and your little dog, too!

Apr 7th - 21:46pm | Sally

Sounds like that feller Jim above doesn't like the law...musta been arrested a few times.... Hey we don't need police do we? Liberals thay we can just "talk" to the bad guyth and they'll just leave uth alone! lol...

Apr 7th - 11:42am | Jim Macdonald

Are you kidding? There are way too many park police in Washington. There are way too many police period; I can't even enumerate how many law enforcement jurisdictions overlap in this city. And, the robberies on the Mall have been highly sensationalized. It's not an excuse to call for even more police, who are used mostly to ward off DC's growing homeless population.

Quietly Raising Fees at Yosemite

Apr 6th - 08:15am | kath

When you consider what you shell out to the government in income taxes, FICA taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, taxes to transfer property from one generation to another, fees for auto registration, passports, telephone taxes, sewer taxes, building inspection fees (I had to pay the city to check that my new dishwasher was properly installed), I just can't get upset over paying for something I'll

Apr 6th - 04:54am | Jim Macdonald

Well, the pickle of getting caught up in any bureaucracy is that the blame can always be passed off, sometimes illegitimately, if the park superintendent here is right. Yet, because of the hierarchical structure of these bureaucracies, people at different ends of it can't do anything to fight back without threatening their careers. So, they end up propping up the system.

Apr 5th - 23:02pm | Steve Sergeant

Sally seems to be missing the point that national parks are public lands; they're commons owned by us, the public. They're not a commercial product or service, and so it's unreasonable to compare them on that level.

Apr 5th - 22:06pm | Sally

C'mon now folks...$25.... How much does ONE nice meal cost in a restaurant for two? How about a 12-pack of beer? How long does $25 worth of gas last? How about $25 worth of groceries? If ya think $25 is too high for 7 days, buy the park's annual pass for only $40! It lasts for a WHOLE YEAR...and again, apply that price to the items above...perhaps you can get TWO meals for $40....

Apr 5th - 19:28pm | JLongstreet

These park-by-park raises in entrance fees are NOT being driven by rangers or park superintendents. They have been mandated from the Washington office of the NPS. Yet each park is being required to announce them individually, possibly to spread the anger rather than having a focused target where it belongs. It's hard, but don't blame the messengers at the park level.

Apr 5th - 15:09pm | kath

You could just as easily argue that the because the fee is per car rather than per person, it discriminates against older people (who are more likely to come by twos and therefore are being charged $12.50 per person) and favors families who come by fours and fives and pay less per person (and who have more of an impact due to sheer numbers).

Apr 5th - 14:43pm | Jim Macdonald

Well, here is what would need to be studied on this point. Are people not visiting parks because of user fees? I don't think that's the case; the trip to a park is already quite significant as it is in getting to one and getting back from one. If user fees are proving to keep some people back, what is the demographic? Are they usually more local, regional, etc.?

Apr 5th - 12:26pm | Ranger X

I spoke with an economics professor at the University of Washington this weekend and asked him, "Hey, if visitation to parks is dropping, but parks want to increase visitation, does it make sense to increase fees?" He answered it made sense only if managers ultimate goal is to keep visitation low, insinuating that's the real underlying reason for the fee hikes.

Denali: Fees To Feed the Dogs

Apr 5th - 19:35pm | JLongstreet

Several times in recent years the Washington office of the NPS has polled parks to find out how tight budgets were affecting visitor services, with the not-so-subtle message that park superintendents were prohibited from making overt closures.

Apr 5th - 09:15am | Margery

It is wrong for the park to keep the dogs tethered. Jurisdictions across the United States are banning this practice, because it's cruel to dogs. For information about the cruelties of tethering, visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Apr 5th - 08:30am | Ranger X

I think we should charge for using the toilet. They do in Bulgaria. Charge $1 each, payable by debit card, or in remote areas, quarters. But seriously, I'm with you on closing shop for programs that are under/unfunded. Close enough roads due to lack of repair, and visitors will SCREAM.

Wilderness Theme Parks?

Apr 5th - 10:37am | Random Walker

Have never fully understood this need to sanitize Nature (do not want to?) Now the Zoo's they build are down right frightening to me...

Apr 3rd - 20:49pm | Matt

Nice touch with the congresspeople's addresses there.

Tunnels For Bears

Apr 5th - 08:34am | Ranger X

Stupid deer. Can't they read the "no pedestrian" signs on the freeway on ramps?

Apr 5th - 08:28am | kath

Coyotes, cougars and even bears seem to negotiate the Southern California freeways just fine. They are routinely found in neighborhoods far from the wilds and mountains after having crossed our infamous freeways. But if this works to keep elk and deer off the freeway, then it may save lives. Deer/car collisions kill a lot of people each year.

Apr 4th - 06:48am | Bob

Kurt, Apparently you have never seen the deer overpasses built over I-78 in the Watchung Reservation in Joisey.

Of Elk Hunts and Revenue Streams

Apr 5th - 05:33am | Jim Macdonald

Ranger X, something like a cross between George Catlin and a Wild West Show, eh? How retro... It might work!

Apr 4th - 18:54pm | Ranger X

After paying the highest fee, require the buffalo hunters to wear moccasins, head dresses, and war paint and to use atlatls, spears, arrows, knives, and clubs, and you've got yourself one helluva living history program! You can charge $20 bucks a pop for tickets to the show! Fun for the whole family!

NPS's Backlog, Updated

Apr 4th - 21:44pm | Matt

That's great in theory Ranger, but the problem is that most of those roads were pushed in wherever the logging/mining/inholding interest wanted them. That was usually the quickest route, not the most sustainable.

Apr 4th - 18:39pm | Ranger X

How 'bout letting some of those $4.3 billion roads turn into very nice hiking trails or 4x4 trails at the price of: FREE! :)

Apr 4th - 15:24pm | Matt

"Which makes me wonder just a little why the agency is so focused on spending $3 billion through the highly touted National Park Centennial Initiative to build new stuff that it won't be able to maintain?" --

BLM Being Sued in Utah Over Tar Sands Plans

Apr 4th - 10:13am | Sam Schmieding...

I am just completing the environmental history of Canyonlands National Park. This will be published separately by the NPS and a university press.

NPS Unsure What ATB Will Do to Revenues

Apr 2nd - 15:24pm | Ranger X

"seems 'ol Billy Clinton didn't do a whole lot for the Park Service, did he??"

Apr 2nd - 07:22am | Snowbird

Yes, Sally a little homework helps along with some critical thinking. Instead of mouthing off with your right wing hate rhetoric...start kicking in some constructive ways in how we can save the NPS from Bush's budget slashes.

Apr 2nd - 05:14am | repanshek

Sally, perhaps you should do some reading in the archives. Dubya proposed a $100 million CUT for parks in his FY07 budget...the one that never got past go.

Mar 30th - 19:12pm | parkaholic

The parks were forced into Fee Demo? If you dig you will discover the definition of what can be funded with Fee Demo money has been twisted and shaded more and more each year. But they can still complain about flat budgets...unless the new Bush budget passes intact. Like him or not...it is what it is...the largest base increase in decades.

Is the Centennial Initiative In Need of Life Support?

Apr 2nd - 05:47am | Jim Macdonald

Ummm...ok, I never thought I'd be in a position to defend the Democrats, but it would be helpful to use arguments that make sense. Given that this is the first budget with a Democratic Congress in a dozen years, I'm not sure how Obey could be responsible for that. There's enough wrong with government, right? There's no need to resort to bad or trivial arguments.

Mar 31st - 19:51pm | parkaholic

If Rep Obey is chairing the appropriations committee and such a staunch supporter of the NPS then why do the shortfalls exist in the first place?

Mar 30th - 19:32pm | Constituent

Rep. Dave Obey (not Senator) is a very strong supporter of national parks and environmental causes, but he is one of the few legislators secure enough in his own skin that he says what he believes. He doesn't do much posturing. He also doesn't have any respect for the administration's privatization agenda and will likely fight any effort to put private interests above public interests.

Mar 30th - 19:02pm | parkaholic

Dave Obey sounds more than willing to tear down the Centennial Challenge. I would suspect maybe a little political posturing. Of course the only way for the Government to come up with $3 Billion in spending (over a number of years) is to cut other programs. Sen Obey may not be the best source for info on the Centennial Challenge....unless of course you ask him if he wants to support it.

Centennial Initiative: It's No Mission 66

Apr 1st - 14:32pm | JLongstreet

Parkaholic says “Budgets may appear flat against inflation, but that just requires better management and less waste. Superintendents have unbelievable autonomy for spending in their parks.”

Apr 1st - 11:13am | parkaholic

I totally agree with the authors point that all the funding should come from public coffers. We should further that by eliminating the puppet non-profits that already funnel soft money into their specific parks. Although the $3 billion doesn't compare to Mission 66 in todays dollars it may be more than it appears.

Park Leadership-Thoughts from Montana

Mar 31st - 19:45pm | parkaholic

Sorry Sally, I guess the sarcasm was not evident enough in my previous post. I was trying to make a point....I am actually a confirmed conservative. Has Gore flown in in his private jet to trash the snowmobilers yet? If the Snowmobilers bought carbon credits would it be OK for them to ride? If I pay my fines ahead of time...am I allowed to speed down the highway?

Mar 30th - 21:57pm | Sally

To answer your question parkaholic, NEITHER do damage...all you whacko tree-huggin' types need to get your heads examined...exhaust just floats away in the air...and those bison couldn't give a hoot about a little noise...heck, it probably breaks their boredom!!

Mar 30th - 19:06pm | parkaholic

Let's not limit this to over the snow vehicles. How about all personnal vehicles. What does more damage in Yellowstone over the period of a year....private autos or snowmobiles?

Mar 30th - 09:55am | repanshek

Without a doubt, science will indeed reflect that snowcoaches aren't as clean as no snowcoaches. Heck, the science already demonstrates that.

Mar 30th - 09:40am | Jim Macdonald

"The best way to protect Yellowstone and ensure visitors can enjoy the natural, clean air and quiet that are intrinsic qualities of Yellowstone’s winter is through modern snowcoaches."

Entrance Fee Hikes: Time to Say No?

Mar 29th - 17:09pm | parkaholic

Entry fees for the parks were introduced as a way of generating funds that would directly contribute to the visitor experience. It was begun with the best of intentions and has been twisted and convoluted into a money beast. Fee Demo funds have escalated to the tens of millions in some parks and are referred to as "soft money".

Mar 29th - 13:24pm | Snowbird

MS Kennedy, your comments are well taken. However, under Bush's environmental policies it's strictly scorch earth. I can remember when President Kennedy was in office, he helped to stimulate physical fittest programs...remember those 50 mile certicate walks? Under this present "selected" President, he advocates nothing of the sort...except more bodies for the sickening Iraq war.

Mar 29th - 11:59am | MS Kennedy

Perhaps ecology/environment/personal responsibility for public lands should be taught in all public schools? Seems like kids are ALWAYS turned on by being introduced to just about ANYTHING outdoors, if given the opportunity. Maybe also some kind of Vista-type program for the environment rather than urban areas? Wouldn't it be great if there was a universal draft-for-the-environment?

ESA Under Attack From Bushies?

Mar 29th - 12:34pm | MS Kennedy

I'm writing the appropriate congresspeople today. This is typical of the underhanded way this administration has gone about its business from day one. It's time to stop the erosion and destruction of environmental policy in this country.

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