| Page 1056 | National Parks Traveler

Keystone XL thought they were all approved here in Nebraska and now our State Legislature may reroute them and put them back a couple of years. This is thanks to many enviromental groups who put pressure on elected officials to think twice. I do not think the same can happen with the low level bureaucrats and a paid off Governor.

Nov 14th - 10:10am | See the Parks

I would like to see the author substatiate his claims versus throwing hyprebole. He even admitts he cannot substantiate his claims. This is pathetic pandering. The article assumes several things: 1) Global warming garbage (junk science constantly being disproved). The sun and its cycles are the number one contributor to cliamte change, not man.

Nov 14th - 10:00am | Anonymous

I'm guessing ecbuck has a See Eye Wolf, grounded in reality, leading his way. Oddly we don't see more of them.

Nov 14th - 09:42am | Lee Dalton

What kind of seeing eye dog do you have leading you?

Nov 14th - 08:27am | ecbuck

So where are the negatives? See nothing here but unsubstantiated accusations and meaningless triflings.

Nov 14th - 07:50am | Lee Dalton

Ah, thank you NPT staff for including the "corruption of public officials" item here.

Blue Ridge Parkway Management Alternatives Draw More Than A Little Debate

Nov 14th - 09:57am | Anonymous

I enjoy driving the blue ridge parkway, and we are planning on camping along the parkway this coming year and in the future. I completely support plan B that the Park Service has recommended. While option C is attractive, during our rocky economic environment - I believe that being more fiscally prudent is the wise way to go.

Stripping ESA Protections From Northern Rockies Wolf Packs Could Harm Yellowstone National Park Wolves

Nov 14th - 09:56am | Anonymous

I agree, Anon. Believe there will be a day when they (Lib's) try a little body paint and call themselves Progressives which of course would be deceptive. Two words that will/are becoming derogatory terms to most that are forced to pay for their whims and cronyism. There are good Libs out there. Unfortunately I'm related to some, lol.

Nov 14th - 08:40am | Anonymous

No effort here to enlarge anything. Just posted, that's all. It's for others to decide who's living in the parallel universe of reality/fantasy.

Nov 14th - 08:00am | Lee Dalton

Anonymous, trying to have your post printed in a huge typeface won't make it any more or less true.

Nov 13th - 18:45pm | Anonymous

Among the tiresome lingo is phrases like "...the Libs...".

Nov 13th - 17:49pm | Anonymous

[size= 14px; line-height: 18px]"Another is that if the states are going to have managed hunts, there should be buffer zones around national parks and corridors that prevent populations from being isolated and genetically imperiled."[/size]

Nov 13th - 17:09pm | Bow wow

Your way, huh? Interesting how the Lib's have co-opted Science. And to think it all started with Bambi. The reality is somewhere between Bambi and the jogger near Chignik, Alaska that was killed and eaten by wolves (non-habituated I hope). Closer to the jogger but not trying to be inflammatory. The lingo just gets tiresome.

Nov 13th - 16:20pm | Wade H

Tomorrow I am giving a short speech on the importance on maintaining protections for wolves. I'm a senior biology student and this is just for one of my classes, but I've written every college paper I could on wolves because I feel like educating people is our biggest weapon in this fight.

BLM Considering Proposal To Expand Coal Mine Near Bryce Canyon National Park

Nov 14th - 07:42am | Lee Dalton

Add to all this the widely reported and much criticized story that Utah's Republican Governor Gary Herbert "fast tracked" state approval of the mining company's application last year. This came only a few days after Herbert reportedly received a reported $10,000 campaign donation from the company and at about the same time another scandal broke regarding contracts for a rebuild of I-15 through

Hiking the Appalachian National Scenic Trail: It Takes More Heart than Heel

Nov 14th - 06:35am | Danny Bernstein

About Tim Kelly ... Call the Appalachian Trail Conservancy - see www.appalachiantrail.org and see what they say. They will probably direct you to the trail maintanining club of the area. Good Luck Danny

Nov 13th - 18:19pm | BirdShooter

It was stated that ... the key to success for young people is to keep the distractions down. The more you stay on the trail, the better. If you go into town too much, you're spending money, maybe on alcohol, and you're not hiking.

Nov 13th - 11:57am | k. washburn-kelly

My brother-in-law Tim Kelly started to hike the trail 8 weeks ago started in PA heading south. No one has heard from him . we are trying to reach some "official" person who might tell us how we might find him but haven't had any luck. Any suggestions out there?

Nov 11th - 12:22pm | Sharkey!

Thank you for this great article. I've read a million AT articles over the years and this one was clear, concise, and accurate. Well written and excellent sourses. I talked to Laurie Potteiger on the phone 20 years ago asking if I should do a SOBO or NOBO since I couldn't start until May 1992. Sharkey! GAME92, GAPA08, GAGA12?

Congressman Pushing Legislation To Require National Park Gift Shops To Carry "Made In America" Items

Nov 13th - 21:48pm | Anonymous

Mighty American of all of you to find every excuse in the book to keep your neighbors out of work. the reason we are out of jobs is because very little is made in America. What is made in America, is overshadowed by cheap stuff coming from overseas. Our economy will never move forward with excuses. It starts with consumers demanding and buying American made producst whenever possible.

Three Canyoneers Survive Flash Flood in Zion National Park

Nov 13th - 20:48pm | Meg

Hi, just watching your story on the show, 'I Survived...' and I just wanted to thank the 3 of you for sharing your story and bringing awareness to such situations. I'm glad that everyone survived and it's quite the story for years to come. I'm sure it will save lives in the future.

Popular Swimming Area At Capitol Reef National Park Closed Due To Dangerous Conditions

Nov 13th - 07:48am | Lee Dalton

Thanks, Local Resident. Some facts are refreshing here.

Nov 12th - 20:57pm | Local Resident

Maybe your father and grandfather planted the flower because it was an endangered native species. If they planted something that wasn't native in a National Monument then they were breaking laws. Here is more info on that orchid from the FWS: Ute ladies'-tresses is found in three separate geographic areas of the interior western United States.

Nov 11th - 21:12pm | Taralyn Howard

has a 6th Generation Wayne County Resident...

Nov 11th - 19:03pm | Do I have it right

I didn't see Capitol Reef or any place in Southern Utah mentioned on your link about your orchid????

Updated: Man Missing In Rocky Mountain National Park's Snowy Backcountry Found

Nov 13th - 04:06am | Dale Lund

Please see our story at http://oldelephantwings.blogspot.com/2011/11/our-son-lost.html

Bluffs Lodge Along The Blue Ridge Parkway Shuttered For 2011

Nov 12th - 08:01am | Susan Tilman

My brother and I stayed there finally last year after spending many childhood memories at Doughton park..It was a very special weekend right before it closed...Unfortunately my brother died suddenly 1 month later..I am SO glad we had that memory and special time at Bluff's.It was wonderful....PLEASE RE-OPen!!

How Much Did Those New Units Of The National Park System Cost You?

Nov 11th - 18:03pm | justinh

I agree, Rick B. Another way to put it: National Parks unlock these places, allowing the resources to be enjoyed and valued as something other than commodities.

Nov 11th - 14:29pm | Anonymous

How different is it by replacing National Parks with your wife and family (presumably)? Besides the love of both it comes down to money. Kind of a reality.

Nov 11th - 12:58pm | Trend

It is sad that saving something so beautiful as these National Parks for everyone comes down to a matter of money

Nov 11th - 06:16am | Uneducated masses

How about the things we do like and wish to improve?

Updated: Report Details How Corporate Pressure Seemingly Derailed Plans For a Plastic Bottle Ban at Grand Canyon National Park

Nov 11th - 16:13pm | Lee Dalton

Oil companies? Coal companies removing Appalachian mountaintops? But we can go back and forth like this all day. Probably won't change much.

Nov 11th - 16:05pm | ecbuck

Lee - Unfortunately, governments "help" has too often hurt technology. And i can't seem to recall a prior technology that governments gave 30% tax credit for capital investments by those that used a less efficient technology - but perhaps you can educate me. And I'm always smiling.

Nov 11th - 14:57pm | Lee Dalton

Ec -- there are alternatives and then there are realistic alternatives. As for using "your" money to find alternatives, you probably should do some research. If you do, you will discover that governments have always had a hand in helping develop new technology. When it works, it benefits all of us. When it doesn't, it gives us all one more thing to complain about. But we've still learned s

Nov 11th - 13:36pm | ecbuck

Lee - Sure you can support the development of alternatives to oil. Just don't use my money to do so.

Nov 11th - 13:14pm | Lee Dalton

ec -- I'm not in any way trying to "force" anyone. And, like most other Occupiers, I'm also not anti-bank, anti-corporation, or anti-oil. I chose not to buy bottled water, but recognize it's up to others to make their own choices. Although more than once when I've mentioned the cost of bottled water, I've had people suddenly become aware of how much it really costs.

Nov 11th - 12:46pm | Owen Hoffman

I personally see nothing wrong about the NPS banning the sale of drinks contained in plastic bottles by stores inside the Grand Canyon. It's the mission of the NPS to protect and preserve resources, and if it's determined that litter created by plastic bottles has become a problem, one way to reduce this litter is to ban the sale of this product inside the parks. Such programs have already be

Nov 11th - 12:08pm | ecbuck

Lee - If you don't find value in bottled water then so be it. Don't buy it. But quit trying to force everyone else to do what you want rather than what they want. And if you are so anti banks, corporations, oil companies or what ever you Occupiers are railing against stop buying their products. I'm sure they won't miss you.

Nov 11th - 10:08am | y_p_w

I think paying for bottled water is a choice. I'm trying to cut back when I don't absolutely need it. I have a reusable bottle that I take to work, and I almost always drink out a reusable bottle on the trail. However, I do put packaged bottled water in my car and keep some around to share and might stash a few bottles in my pack. I also tend to reuse a lot of bottles.

Nov 11th - 08:24am | Lee Dalton

I don't mean to insult Julie, but I really have to wonder about the wisdom level of people who are willing to waste (and I do mean to say waste) their money on bottled water when we can all open a faucet and fill a bottle with pure water. Pure water that was provided by EPA laws -- that some people hate. Pure water that millions of people in other lands are dying because they don

Nov 11th - 00:40am | y_p_w

Gaelyn: One of the problems is recycling the plastic bottles. No one really wants the stuff and it ends up costing NPS to get rid of it appropriately.

Reader Participation Day: How Many National Parks Do You Want To Visit In Your Lifetime?

Nov 11th - 13:36pm | Anonymous

Of the 58 national parks, I have 7 left to visit. Visiting all of the parks has been a life time goal, to be completed in the next couple of years. Why not visit all of these parks? They are in wonderful places, force you to see America, and make you appreciate nature. I just visited Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, and Big Bend. Try walking down the natural entrance in the caverns w

High Water Table, Wetlands Causing Flooding At Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Nov 11th - 12:51pm | samsdad1

Try this link for an update. http://wheatseyeonhatterasislandnc.blogspot.com/2011/11/update-on-floodi...

Nature Notes: The Black Oaks Of Yosemite National Park, The Video

Nov 11th - 09:22am | Lee Dalton

Steve Baumgardner's videos are always awesome. Thank you Steve, and thank you NPT for sharing them with us.

NPCA Report Paints Somber Portrait Of An Underfunded National Park Service

Nov 11th - 09:08am | Lee Dalton

In WWII, the parks took their hits along with everyone else. But now, in an age of enormous corporate kick-backs and tax breaks and subsidies, the playing field is no longer level. One day of the cost of funding the Iraq war would have paid for a few years of operating parks. So would a few months worth of corporate subsidies.

Nov 11th - 08:25am | Anonymous

Wonder what the tone for priority funding for NPS was during WWII. Was everyone together in fending off the shared threats or was NPS elevated to a priority over the war machine that liberated the world. From my view the threats today are every bit as serious, more really because the culture has declined in character and more about me, me, me. Far worse now, I believe.

Nov 11th - 08:02am | Lee Dalton

Sad indeed, but is it really much different than it always has been? National Parks have always been chronically underfunded. While the current underfunding -- and foreseeable future, too -- may be the worst in a long time, the parks have always seemed to be the poor stepchildren of the United States.

Nov 11th - 07:12am | Danny Bernstein

What a sad situation. The national parks depend on the taxpayer, even as more and more money are coming from Friends groups. Also, the thousands of volunteers work hard to fill in, where park staff is not available. Still the primary source of funding has to be us - the taxpayer. Ultimately, we, the people, are responsible for the folks we send to Washington.

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