| Page 1588 | National Parks Traveler

Perhaps not. Do you know how much goes to the charities vs. how much goes to the company that put this service together? The company that created this site is servicing thousands of charities. Even if their cut is small compared to the percent they pass to the charities, this hosting company may profit handsomely. Not that that's such a big a problem.

Giving the Parks Over to Bioprospectors

Nov 1st - 09:00am | Rick Smith

Kurt--

Nov 1st - 08:47am | kath

Gathering the thermophilic bacteria from Yellowstone did no damage to Yellowstone's thermal features. But it allowed the advancement of DNA replication technology that aids in putting criminals in prison and getting the innocent out. The only question on permitting this should be: Does the gathering of the microbes, etc. damage the park?

Woman Dies in Fall From Angel's Landing

Oct 24th - 12:40pm | Lulu

I just spent a phenomenal week in southern Utah. I attempted Angel's Landing on Saturday morning. I got beyond the first set of chains and at that point became terrified and wrestled through the decision to accept I simply did not have the mental fortitude to complete the hike. Today I saw photos of how much more exposed the hike becomes as one nears the top.

Oct 20th - 10:58am | Norm

Yes , I agree with Jeffrey that people are responsible for their own actions. If you are climbing Angel's Landing and using the chains and one of the pipes that anchor them to the rock pulls out and you fall to your death do you think the Forest Service is going to take responsibility for your accident? I doubt it. The park's policy is "use at your own risk".

Oct 19th - 15:06pm | Jeffrey

People are responsible for their own actions. If you're not, don't go. End of story.

Oct 16th - 00:00am | Norm

I'm sorry to hear that there was another fatality at angel's landing. I can't help but wonder if having those chains on the trail is really such a good idea. It seems to me they may be encouraging people to go up that should not be up there and giving them a false sense of security. They also detract from the wild beauty of the climb.

Oct 10th - 18:36pm | matt

I hiked Angel's Landing a few years ago in spite of my fairly significant dislike of heights and exposed climbs. I did it because I heard it was phenomenal (it is) and it looked like fun.

Yellowstone Soundscapes Report: It's Noisy Out There

Oct 23rd - 13:21pm | kath

I noticed that YNP was also monitoring noise levels year round. Is there a published report? Can you link up to that? I'd be in favor of banning any noisy motor vehicle from the parks whether it's snowmobiles, motorcycles, diesel motorcoaches or cars with bad mufflers.

CQ Researcher Provides Overview of NPS Woes

Oct 23rd - 08:25am | kath

My libertarian streak says that those who use the parks should bear more responsibility in paying for them.

Oct 22nd - 18:37pm | JLongstreet

I do it all the time -- much to the chagrin of my significant other, who is convinced I'll either be fired or blacklisted for doing so. Unfortunately, some people just don't get the not-so-subtle hint.

Oct 21st - 09:32am | Alan Gregory

I recall hearing a Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species biologist talk about her job, etc., a few years ago. Toward the end of her talk, before she played a heart-rending video of some of the more well-known endangered species, she told her audience that she couldn't just come right and tell them to write their elected representatives.

Time For A Change: Send Mr. Pombo Packing

Oct 21st - 19:18pm | Hazk Howard

I find the two comments about Richard Pombo to be nothing more than yellow dog politics. How do any of you know if he is s faux cowboy? Are you thinking he is a California Cowboy? Remember "Good guys wear white hats"!

Oct 11th - 18:00pm | Alan Gregory

Absolutely. The man has never met a patch of Wild ground he wouldn't set a bulldozer to ruining.

Oct 9th - 08:27am | Snowbird

This fake cowboy (like Bush 43 born with a silver spoon in his mouth) has no concept what conservation and natural resources means...he's just another pimp for the oil industries.

Fran's New Job

Oct 21st - 17:49pm | Alan Gregory

The university's public relations professionals must have hired an outside consultant to come up with that turd. I'll bet Clemson is privatizing its PR office!

Railroad Wants To Bomb Glacier

Oct 21st - 00:10am | Avalanche Blog

Here are some thoughts about this bill from an avalanche engineering and science perspective, as well as the political one, http://www.avalanche-blog.com/item/9/

Shhhhhhh! The Park Service Is Listening

Oct 19th - 14:08pm | kath

As I understand it, park rangers now have to be trained as law enforcement officers. It's a sad situation but necessary. A ticket or putting the boot on their cars or RVs might make the noisemakers go elsewhere to camp out. As for the motorcycles, they should be turned away at the entrance stations.

Oct 19th - 12:01pm | Snowbird

Get real Kath, this 2006 not the 1950's! Abnoxious drunken souls at the Parks, have no qualms in how loud they are after 10:00PM, it's the same situation with the Hell's Angel type that come roaring into the Park with looks to kill...if not to intimidate. Why can't we utilize are park rangers as naturalist (as most were trained as professionals) instead of crowd control cops with a hand gun.

Oct 19th - 09:22am | kath

All national park campgrounds have 'quiet hours' usually from 10pm. to 6am. or thereabouts. They didn't need to do any sound studies before making that rule. They just made a rule to keep things quiet at night. Why do you need a sound study to prohibit the playing of loud music in the parks?

Oct 19th - 08:43am | Snowbird

Good luck with the noise abatement in the National Parks. I thought we taught are kids that "silence is golden" when we visit the Parks. Now, it's who can be the biggest noise spectacle in the park.It's the loudest, meanest and most obnoxious noise maker in the Park that usually wins.

Oct 18th - 23:44pm | Bob

I recently retired from the NPS Natural Sounds Program. Although the program is relatively new, sound has been an issue for quite some time ... witness the length of time FAA and NPS have been struggling over the noise of flightseeing at Grand Canyon.

Oct 18th - 12:29pm | Jeff

Interesting. I just came from a Wisconsin State Park over the weekend. We left on Thursday and the kids missed school on Friday. It was the first time ever that I went camping in a state park with the kids during off-peak times. And the noise is exactly what I noticed, or the lack there of.

Oct 18th - 10:08am | kath

My family and I like canoeing on the Current River in Missouri. It's part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. You have to get started very early in the morning to be able to paddle in peace. By mid-morning, groups of canoeists fueled by beer are blasting their boomboxes. Those boomboxes compete with the boomboxes of the campers on the sandbars and picnic spots along the way.

Oct 17th - 22:01pm | Steve Sergeant

As someone who frequently records nature sounds and interviews in National Park and National Forest wilderness areas, it's amazing to me how hard it is to get a pristine recording.

Where to Visit This Winter?

Oct 17th - 17:33pm | repanshek

James, Perfect addition. Not sure how it slipped past me, actually. Of course, winter in Death Valley is also the high season, so rooms will be pricier and more difficult to come by than during those long hot dog days of August. Still, Death Valley does offer a very atypical park experience, one that's very cool if you like the other-worldly nature of the park.

Oct 17th - 15:30pm | James

All good choices, but I think one of the best has been left out: Death Valley. Many say that one should wait for spring and a potential Wildflower explosion, but that can be very iffy. Going during the winter is best for exploring on foot (during the summer it tends to be too hot for serious hiking) and the weather conditions tend to make for less haze and much better landscape pictures!

New York Moves to Control Transmission Corridors

Oct 17th - 11:27am | kath

300 million Americans as of today. In 35 years we will have 400 million. Anyone not in favor of limiting population growth by limiting immigration cannot call himself an environmentalist.

Oct 14th - 07:54am | Alan

He'll strike hard and fast. Pataki, the incumbent Republican, is leaving office and the front-runner to replace him is Democrat Elliot Spitzer, the now famous litigator (NY attorney general). If there is one place where the Decider's loyalities will never change it is the energy industry.

Who Else Should Join Pombo and Pearce on the Sidelines?

Oct 14th - 09:58am | kath

I'm against damage to the National Parks period. This article demonstrates the damage done by Mexican drug cartels growing marijuana on public lands, mentioning in particular Point Reyes National Seashore and Sequoia National Park. Damage to the watershed by fertilizers and pesticides. Damage to wildlife. Trash, pipes for irrigation, guns.

Oct 14th - 08:00am | Alan

On the other hand, a fence constitutes a migration barrier to terrestrial wildlife. Who else among the infamous anti-conservation crowd in Congress is worthy of attention? I pick Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the two-term member of the League of Conservation Voters' "Oil Slick Seven." Here's a newspaper column I wrote about this guy: Uh oh, that Clinton-loving-librul-ex-hippie is back.

Oct 13th - 17:30pm | Snowbird

That's easy...most of Congress!

Oct 13th - 13:47pm | kath

Check out http://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/yoursafety.htm

What Became of Ranger Gord?

Oct 12th - 18:56pm | Anonymous

He's Back

Your National Parks Pass Doesn't Always Cover Your Entrance Fee

Oct 12th - 18:54pm | Anomynous

Some NPS units like Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area charge "Parking Fees" to get you to pay fees that the National Park Pass do not cover.

Oct 12th - 12:52pm | kath

Geez, it's $15 an HOUR in Canyon de Chelly. Mt. Rushmore is a bargain by comparison.

Oct 12th - 08:23am | kath

Looks like your National Parks pass doesn't get you into Canyon de Chelly either since it is mandatory that you hire a Navajo guide and jeep to see the ruins.

Oct 11th - 17:53pm | Alan Gregory

Presidential Parking Inc.? Sounds like something a sleazy K Street lobbyist would be involved in. In any case, it sure doesn't bode well for this or any other unit in the Park System.

Oct 11th - 15:52pm | James

Well, this only goes back to my message that a very thorough audit needs to be done on exactly where the money is generated and where it is going!

Oct 10th - 18:38pm | Rick McCharles

One day you should do a review of the Canadian National Park system. For example: Annual National Parks vehicle passes for both countries: Canada = US$111.35 (C$123.80) USA = US$50 http://besthike.com/blog/?p=152

Oct 10th - 18:26pm | matt

This annoyed me on a summer-long road trip in 2000. I was still in college and didn't have much money, fortunately for me the booth attendant was a similarly aged college girl who gave in to my wily charm and let me in for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Aren't there free parking lots way down the hill? Its been six years and I don't remember too much about it.

Send Mr. Pearce Back to the Oilfields

Oct 11th - 17:58pm | Alan Gregory

The majority party's leaders just hate -- HATE! -- subsidizing things that truly benefit the public at large. Witness the continual harping over the funding of Amtrak. Yet the Amtrak operating budget is mere chump change when compared to the dollars thrown away in building new highways and other pork-barrel crap (projects that destroy Nature). Same goes for the National Park System.

Oct 10th - 08:59am | Snowbird

Another fox to guard the hen house. Rep. Pearce 's only goal is too solidify the wealth of the CEO's that run the recreation industry in the National Parks...the more noise and pollution the better! Right Rep. Pearce? Despite the majority of the general populace, most American's want less intrusive crap in the Parks that Pearce adovcates for.

Scout Leader Banned from National Parks

Oct 11th - 17:50pm | Alan Gregory

I recall being thoroughly briefed by Canyon de Chelly officials on the does and don'ts of the park before joining a guided walk some years ago. The warnings were clear. There is no excuse for the defendant's behavior.

Is The National Park System Headed for Yard Sales?

Oct 9th - 09:51am | Ed Smith

the cash fees that you now have to pay just to go into a National park is just a under handed (unconstitutional) way to tax (extort) money from the people. The Park ranger is now the tax (extortion) collector, at gunpoint. (they now carry 45 cal guns.(is that legal) NO its not, They have no authority to carry a wepon.

Bomar Confirmation Hearing Set for Thursday

Oct 7th - 16:06pm | simon pleasance

My wife and I are unconditional US Nat Park-lovers. the recent moves by the Bush High Command to open the Park system to the corporate wallahs was extremely alarming. It seems the main danger has been averted, perhaps only temporarily.

Burlington Northern's Bombing Plans For Glacier, Part Two

Oct 7th - 09:42am | Alan

Subsidized public lands grazing. Subsidized killing of native wildlife on behalf of public lands ranchers. Subsidized road building on national forests to benefit private industry. Subsidized logging of those same forests. And now a railroad gets a hand-up too?

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