From record visitation to devastating flooding, 2015 was a year packed with news from throughout the National Park System. Here's a look at some of the top stories from the parks.
Will 2016 visitation to the national parks be suffocating?/NPS
Visitation
Record visitation was noted for 2014, with roughly 293 million visitors to the National Park System, and that number is expected to be eclipsed when all of the 2015 data is evaluated. While that visitation was welcomed by the National Park Service, some superintendents were concerned about what 2016 might bring.
Record Visitation Strained Some National Parks This Year, Creating Concern Over What 2016 Might Bring
"Find Another Park." That twist on the National Park Service's "Find Your Park" campaign leading into the agency's centennial year was voiced this year in some parks as record visitation strained staff and impacted resources and left Park Service managers wondering how high visitation might go next year, according to a sampling of parks by the Traveler.
Workforce
Despite having some of the best sunsets in the federal government to enjoy, the National Park Service staff as a whole is not happy with their employment setting, according to a survey of federal agencies.
National Park Service Continues To Sag In "Best Places To Work" In Federal Government
Unhappiness with senior leadership, teamwork, and concerns about a lack of support for diversity continue to plague the National Park Service as an agency to work for, according to the latest Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Survey. While most federal agencies saw increasing job satisfaction and commitment, the Park Service slipped again in the rankings.
Wildlife such as grizzly bears figured into a number of prominent stories in 2015/NPS, Neal Herbert
Wolves, bears, and bison were among the wildlife that made news in parts of the National Park System.
Human-Bear Incidents At Yosemite National Park Lowest Since 1975
A commitment to educating park visitors about keeping food out of the reach of bears and working to improve food storage options has resulted in 2015 producing the lowest number of human-bear incidents at Yosemite National Park since 1975, according to park officials.
Grizzly Bear Attacked, Ate, Hiker Who Died In Yellowstone National Park
A grizzly bear, possibly a sow with cubs, attacked and partially consumed a hiker whose body was found near a trail in the vicinity of Lake Village in Yellowstone National Park, park officials said Saturday.
The Death Of A Bear
It didn't take long, less than seven or eight minutes, to kill the grizzly. First she was immobilized with a drug, and then the equivalent of a shot to her brain and it was over. While the killing brought an end to a bear that attacked and partially consumed a hiker in Yellowstone National Park, it won't likely bring an end to the controversy that was fanned by Social Media commentators.
The deafening roar of the 225-horsepower Mercury engine propelled our skiff across the turquoise expanse of Biscayne Bay. It was hard to imagine that less than an hour earlier I’d been sipping a café cubano in the heart of downtown Miami. Here we were though, making headway toward an offshore reef to explore some of South Florida’s renowned marine habitat.
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Biscayne National Park's General Management Plan Gains Final ApprovalBison 5, Humans 0 At Yellowstone National Park
A fifth person has been gored by a bison this summer at Yellowstone National Park while posing for a picture.
For the third time in less than a week a swimmer at Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks has been attacked by a shark. Seashore officials said Wednesday that the 68-year-old man received a number of injuries from the encounter.
With Isle Royale National Park's wolf population perhaps on its last legs, the park is embarking on an environmental impact statement on a "Moose-Wolf-Vegetation Management Plan" that might be too late, at least for the trio of remaining wolves.
One of Alaska’s most treasured bear-viewing sites is about to be turned into a destination theme park, sacrificing grizzly bear habitat on the altar of commercial development. After a decade of development planning, EIS and public input, once aimed at major improvements in resource protection, the National Park Service has aborted earlier plans for removal of facilities at Brooks River in Katmai National Park. Protection of a unique population of bears at this premier site is now seriously compromised, going against 50 years of research-based recommendations.
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My first partner in my first job with the National Park Service was a dark bay mare. I was extremely popular with the kids when I’d show up at the General Sherman Tree or Lodgepole Campground in Sequoia National Park riding Sweets. So you can imagine the shock and horror I felt last August when I learned that three NPS horses were on a feedlot in Colorado, waiting to be shipped to a slaughterhouse in Mexico.
The revitalization of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique has been nothing short of amazing/Barbara Moritsch
How did I miss what premier biologist E.O. Wilson claims is, ecologically, the most diverse park in the world? I’m an ecologist; much of my career has focused on habitat restoration. I read a lot. I pay attention to environmental news. And I fell under the spell of Africa in 1995, when I visited Kenya, and again in 2005, while exploring Tanzania. So, how did I miss Gorongosa?
Fewer than 100 miles separate Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida from Biscayne National Park, yet when it comes to views on preservation the two parks are light-years apart.
Maine isn’t all rocky coastlines. Travel to the Pine Tree State’s interior and you’ll find a mythical, verdant, forested woodland of hemlock and balsam that inspired Henry David Thoreau’s treatise, The Maine Woods.
For more than a century, freight trains have rumbled up and over Marias Pass, skirting the south boundary of Glacier National Park, casting rolling shadows on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River below. Until recently the major threat was a grain car derailment, which on occasion left bears woozy from eating fermented grain. Today a derailment involving a 100-car train hauling highly combustible Bakken crude oil risks an environmental catastrophe unprecedented in National Park Service history.
The National Park Service reminds me of a proud old ship sailing confidently across the North Atlantic. The captain is beaming and the passengers seem contented, at least, those traveling first class on the upper decks. It’s below decks that the problems lurk. The crew is perhaps too easy going, believing the ship will always reach New York. However, the engines are old, the iron plating is thin, and the rivets are working loose.
In my career as a caretaker of America’s national parks – including years spent as the superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park – I have been honored with the duty to follow the fundamental principle of using sound science and balanced policies to guide decisions affecting these lands that are owned by all Americans.
National Park Service Waived Policy To Allow Budweiser's Centennial Partnership
Torrential rains in mid-October created floods that laid waste to many parts of Death Valley National Park/NPS
Death Valley National Park Facing Months Of Recovery From Largest Flood Event In Area's Recorded History
Mud-filled buildings, roads cleaved in half, electricity out. Two weeks after the "largest flood event in recorded history of the area" washed through Death Valley National Park, officials are formulating a recovery plan that likely will take months and tens of millions of dollars to carry out.
Across the National Park System, the National Park Service has an estimated half-a-billion-dollars of obligations owed concessionaires who run lodges, restaurants, and even some activities. It's a sum that, while agency officials say it's manageable, has seemingly stifled concessions competition in some parks and diverted tens of millions of dollars from others to reduce debts.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Adds A Missing Link To The National Park System
A window into the last Ice Age in the present-day desert outside of Las Vegas brings a missing link into the National Park System along with a small, but enticing, possibility that fossilized human remains are buried next to those of ancient bison, camels, and even lions.
With sweeping views of Jackson Lake and the jaw-dropping jagged Tetons from its deck, and the historic Molesworth furniture that fronts its stone fireplace, the historic Brinkerhoff Lodge in Grand Teton National Park would likely qualify as a 5-star resort property commanding hefty rental fees. But the National Park Service wasn't in the habit of charging the lodge's guests, who included Vice President Joe Biden and his family, nor did it provide the safety and security it should have, according to a report from the Interior Department's Inspector General's Office.
Wildfires Close U.S. 2 South Of Glacier National Park, Force Evacuation
Wildfires have tormented those in Glacier National Park this summer, and ongoing fires in and around the park have kept firefighters busy and led to the closure of U.S. Highway 2 that runs along the park's southern border, and forced the evacuation of Essex, Montana.
Federal Judge Okays Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon National Park
A federal judge has denied a request by a coalition of conservation groups and the Havasupai Tribe to halt uranium mining at a site near the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The legal action had challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to allow the mine to be reopened without updating a federal environmental review that dated to 1986.
Usually you need to head into a museum to see what turned up in the backcountry of Great Basin National Park: A 132-year-old Winchester rifle.
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