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A Celebration of Life Spurs Parks Tour

Jan 8th - 19:50pm | Snowbird

More power to you, Gab & Michael! Your my kind of people. I love your spunk and zest for life. Keep on trekking!

Jan 8th - 13:26pm | repanshek

Scholar (and all your pseudonyms), You are pontificating, and that shines poorly on the scientific community. The fact that you have to hide behind various names diminishes your arguments as well. Too, your assumption of my beliefs, if indeed you are directing your comments at me, goes against scientific method. Understand me before you attempt to dole out your disdain.

Jan 8th - 12:38pm | Scholar

I feel that it is my duty to provide this link. It explains why we scientists disdain attempts to equate Intelligent Design with scientific theories such as evolution and gravity. http://edge.org/3rd_culture/it06/it06_index.html

God, Geology, and the Grand Canyon

Jan 8th - 16:21pm | Jim Macdonald

*devilish* What else is OBVIOUSLY weird is that 2 billion years is closer to 6,000 years than it is to 4 billion! One might say that the NPS is 60 hundred years closer to the fundamentalist religious right than they are to the oldest rocks in North America that surely evolution wouldn't have placed in Northern Canada. I smell a monkey! *question: Is my sarcasm sufficiently sarcastic?*

Jan 8th - 15:30pm | Jeffrey Weiss

Not that it has anything clearly to do with faith/nofaith. But the page that link goes to *is* oddly worded: "Although the oldest rocks at Grand Canyon (2000 million years old) are fairly old by any standard, the oldest rocks in the world are closer to 4000 million years old. The oldest exposed rocks in North America, which are among the oldest rocks in the world, are in northern Canada."

Jan 7th - 20:00pm | Fan of redstat...

For Luther the Canyon Lover http://www.nps.gov/grca/faqs.htm#old

Jan 6th - 15:08pm | Jim Macdonald

kath,

Jan 6th - 13:10pm | Luther the Can...

Well thanks for the article. How many of you have actually been to the website in question?

Jan 6th - 09:25am | Snowbird

Kath, I also believe that cultural anthropology has a place with the NPS...doesn't the American Indian represent this with it's rich cultural burial customs...and it's sacred religious ceremonies that depict it's historical ancestry in America...outside the sever repression and exploitation by the land grabbers. Don't you think perhaps your a bit cold on this issue.

Jan 6th - 08:18am | kath

Jim, I don't follow. Are you saying that by reason of 'history, oppression and domination of land' that Native Americans should control what goes on in national parks? By that reasoning the whole park could be turned back to the tribes. No, science should be the standard for the displays at the National Parks, period.

Jan 6th - 07:42am | Jim Macdonald

kath, But, is religion the only issue here? Isn't the issue also one of history, oppression, and domination of land?

Jan 6th - 07:19am | kath

I see no difference between removing a mummy from Mesa Verde over native Americans' religious objections and not discussing the age of the Grand Canyon over Christian religious objections. I'm pointing out the inconsistency of the NPS's position. Obviously, somebody got to someone and the mummified girl was removed. The NPS should consider science and education only.

Jan 5th - 19:50pm | Snowbird

Dear Kath: I believe that the NPS should be commended for it's sensitivity and respect for are first Americans and their religious ceremonial sacraments. At least their not holy-rolling in the White House like some politicians I know. I definitely believe science and education go hand in hand with the NPS, but the scared bufflo has a place too with NPS.

Jan 5th - 16:22pm | waldteufel

Allen, how old do YOU think the Grand Canyon is?

Jan 5th - 16:21pm | kath

When I was a young girl I visited Mesa Verde National Park. My most vivid recollection was of a mummified Anasazi girl on display. She even had a name "Esther". Seeing "Esther" with her hair and some clothing still intact taught me more about the Anasazi than all the other displays.

Jan 5th - 09:49am | Allen Roy

I’d just like to point out that in the year 2000 all the scientists who have been studying Grand Canyon got together for a symposium [Grand Canyon Symposium] to determine the age of Grand Canyon. Scientist after scientist presented his evidence. About 10 different ages were proposed ranging from 65 Ma to 1 Ma. There was NO consensus and there remains NO consensus.

Jan 5th - 07:04am | Michael Balter

Nice job of reporting on this issue, more proof that the blogosphere can give the main stream media a run for its money. I came up with similar conclusions in reporting my short news item for Science, which will appear in our Random Samples section in the Jan 12 issue. best wishes, Michael Balter, Science http://www.michaelbalter.com

Jan 4th - 07:32am | repanshek

Well, Scholar, I'm certainly no hawk, but right on the park's home page, in the lefthand column, is a link slugged "Nature and Science." Click on that and it takes you directly to a page that discusses the park's geology, including a boxed item that reads: Did You Know?

Jan 4th - 07:18am | Scholar

I went to the National Park Service Website. They ARE INDEED disguising the age of the Canyon. One has to search the NPS website like a hawk to find ANY mention of Geologic time. It just skirts around the issues of earth science. A TRAVESTY TO SCIENCE IS THE NATIONAL PARK WEBSITE OF THE GRAND CANYON.

Jan 3rd - 12:45pm | Ranger X

Your investigation turned out very similarly to mine. http://parkrangerx.blogspot.com/2007/01/dont-believe-everything-you-read.html

Jan 3rd - 10:24am | Jim Macdonald

Kurt, Good job on this and getting to the bottom of this. I thought the whole story smelled and paid almost no attention to it. I think the actual story is the story behind PEER's release. Why did they do this? It's almost too ridiculous to believe that they thought that the bad press this would generate would be worth the shoddy look at the truth because it's such a crazy story.

Jan 3rd - 10:24am | jersu

Thanks for tracking this issue Kurt. The statement that park interpreters were not able to discuss geologic time at the Grand Canyon seemed too far fetched. I appreciate you making the necessary phone calls and emails to resolve this issue.

A Winter's Trek to Yellowstone

Jan 8th - 16:18pm | Ranger X

I can't wait to see Yellowstone in winter! Thanks for the post!

Jan 8th - 13:52pm | Jim Macdonald

I am not a creationist, but I'm curious what kind of scientist uses words like "proven" so sloppily. Scientists use induction and therefore always present hypotheses and theories which are probable. That is, they are falsifiable and therefore never proven.

Jan 8th - 12:34pm | Diamond

http://edge.org/3rd_culture/it06/it06_index.html No insult intended. I may have let my emotions control my posts. Here is a link which may help you understand why we scientists think that you who believe in the supernatural are soooooo NAIVE.

Jan 7th - 19:46pm | Ruby

Oh, BTW...Ya don't have to be a "right-winger" to believe in God....

Jan 7th - 19:45pm | Ruby

Now I'll bet all you elitist "scientist" types PRAYED a lot to GOD when y'all were taking those finals!! LOL!!

Jan 7th - 00:55am | Crazy Smart Dude

Well I like the fact that you said right wingers don't like you either. You handled my tirade pretty well, that was me posting under all those different names. Maybe I have you pegged wrong, I will take a second look. But in the meantime, prepare your defenses for an attack BY science.

Jan 6th - 14:04pm | repanshek

Scholar, obviously you need to get a better understanding of sarcasm, spend some more time reading my posts, and get out of the 'burbs a little more often.

Jan 6th - 13:51pm | Scholar

Maybe the increase in hits is due to the fact that you are presuming that God exists in all of your posts. Just a thought, why not try posting without assuming that God exists. That way people with scientific educations could also enjoy your website.

God, Politics and Parks

Jan 6th - 16:48pm | Ranger X

"...the absurd suggestion that I or anyone thinks selling religious texts in the parks could possibly serve as a primary source of income for the Park Service." Thanks Kurt. Was thinking the same and couldn't have said it better. "...the events of this past week show parks by themselves simply aren't sexy enough to draw attention."

Jan 6th - 14:20pm | repanshek

Let's see, in the past two months I've managed to draw the ire of the gun lobby, the right wingers, and now the left wingers. I'd say that's a pretty good record for trying to stay in the middle of the road.

Jan 6th - 13:46pm | DUH

Kurt, did you ever think that you guys might solve the budget crisis in a better way? Rather than selling religious texts as a primary source of income, why not focus on the science, that way the "interpretive park rangers" would be more likely to get funding. NOW THATS AN IRONY WORTH BURNING

Jan 6th - 13:40pm | Benji the Dog

At this point, I think we should BOYCOTT the NPS.

Jan 6th - 13:38pm | School Teacher...

Well, I tried the website too, and it has plenty of great information about the park. Nature Lady is correct though, it seems like they are hiding something. The well accepted scientific data suggests that the age of the rock in the Canyon have dated to over 2 Billion years.

Jan 6th - 13:32pm | Nature Lady

It is painfully obvious that the NPS website is avoiding the issue of the age of the Grand Canyon. Contrary to what Kurt has been posting here, the NPS website does not do justice to science. Further, it seems like they are worried about turning away visitors, which could be a noble cause in itself, but the religious reasoning behind it makes it DEPLORABLE.

Jan 6th - 13:29pm | Heather Flanagan

Here is a quirky video about global warming I thought you might find interesting: http://peoplegeek.wordpress.com/2007/01/06/global-warming-a-clear-and-present-danger/

Jan 6th - 12:17pm | kath

I agree with Ranger X. The ranger talks should be scientifically based. But to ban a book from the bookstore because it's creationist is censorship, which I don't support.

The Continuing Silence Over The ATB Pass

Jan 5th - 23:23pm | Ranger X

You may have read my take on the issue: Fee hikes are the result of unnecessary improvements. http://parkrangerx.blogspot.com/2007/01/defazio-urges-interior-secretary-to.html

Looking Back on 2006 and the National Park System

Jan 3rd - 19:44pm | Pronghorn

11. Yellowstone Park itself captured for slaughter over 900 wild bison within park boundaries, making Yellowstone the only park to mass kill its own wildlife to prevent it from leaving the park. In Yellowstone, it seems to be "never let science get in the way of the Montana livestock industry." Visit www.buffalofieldcampaign for details.

Entrance Fee Trivia

Jan 3rd - 17:46pm | Claire Walter

Most people who visit Glacier Bay Natl Park do so by cruise ship and never go ashore. I wonder whether the cruise lines pay some kind of fee to the Park Service for all that traffic.

Congressman Opposes Parks Fee Hike

Jan 2nd - 16:21pm | Franklin Clark

As an Oregonian and a former seasonal interpretive ranger at Crater Lake, I am unhappy with the fee hike at Crater Lake. The 1916 Organic Act, the NPS's charter legislation, stated that parks are for all the people, not just those with $20.

Mesa Verde Birthday Bash Opens Remote Dwellings...Temporarily

Dec 31st - 13:21pm | Curt

Kurt: I like your blog a lot (I'm a CLNP parkie my own self) but a word of criticism and take it how you would: Your post text shows up in bold. It's hard to read and in my reader (I use Netvibes these days), it's even harder than on the page itself. A minor thing, but I thought I'd mention it.

Time to Book Next Summer's Vacation?

Dec 31st - 10:58am | Harry Solas

The Furnace Creek Inn is closed during the summer. The Furnace Creek Ranch is open. Please call 760-786-2345 for more information.

Gale Norton Winds Up at Shell Oil

Dec 31st - 07:27am | Snowbird

Dear Heather: Give me a break! Anybody that disagrees with you and your ultra radical right wing policies is "vile and hateful". I agree we have a wonderful and free country that gives me the right to dissent and criticizes those who abuse there power...such as Gale Norton.

Dec 30th - 22:13pm | Heather

You certainly are a piece of work, Snowbird. Hmm...I wonder if you buy anything at all from those "evil corporations"...buy any gasoline lately?? You must grow all your own food and live in a cave....

Dec 30th - 19:53pm | Snowbird

Gale Norton, now is a piece of corporate garbage! A pimp would know better!

Gerald Ford Remembered

Dec 30th - 09:35am | Mangwiro

I find this tid bit very interesting. It may have very well contributed to his "green" policies. I posted a short review of his landmark strides in environmental conservation on my blog. I link it to this site so visitors can see this rare picture. Enjoy!

Dec 29th - 10:39am | Jim Macdonald

During my years working in Yellowstone, both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton visited (and Clinton several times). One of my co-workers actually met Clinton. Jimmy Carter was escorted up Mt. Washburn (which he didn't hike much of; they drove him up most of the way). I remember the hoopla over presidential or ex-presidential visits and remember feeling underwhelmed by it all.

Dec 28th - 21:11pm | Heather

Yeah...you're right...Carter didn't lie like Clinton did!

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

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