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Francis Beidler’s Long-Ago Decision Saved the Forest that Became Congaree National Park

Aug 30th - 07:48am | Elizabeth

I worked for the Beidler's back in the mid to late 1970's when they were in litigation with the state of SC for the preservation of some land for the national forest. I may have some pictures of the old group I'd like to share with you.

Congresswoman Bachmann Would Support Drilling For Oil In Everglades National Park

Aug 30th - 07:36am | Bruce

You have to love that term "responsibly," as in "Of course we will do this responsibly.  We love the Everglades."  Then, of course, we find out that the word meant nothing because, either it was not said sincerely or intelligently or, guess what, stuff does happen after all.  Then we have a Gulf oil spill type disaster under the Everglades.  People like Michelle Bachmann make themselves scarce

Updated: Hiker In Yellowstone National Park Died From Grizzly Attack

Aug 30th - 07:01am | Connie Hopkins

What I'm assuming, is that Park visitors need to take responsibility for their own actions! I'm certain that many people NEVER read the materials handed out to them as they enter the Park. We were there just last month and if we hadn't have already heard about the Grizzly fatality (in July) before we got there, we certainly would have known once we entered the Park!

Aug 29th - 19:27pm | Wind Change

The blame game has been/is very much in vogue now days.  Taking the place of something much more productive.  

Aug 29th - 18:56pm | Anonymous

You are assuming this man read the same thing you did. Never fails, there will always be at least one comment seeking to lay blame on the human.

Aug 29th - 13:14pm | Connie Hopkins

Dave and I hiked a small portion of the Mary Mountain Trail last month on our vacation. In our guide book they list Bear sightings, as "very likely". While I am sorry for this gentleman's family for their loss why anyone would hike alone and apparently without bear spray is beyond me!

Bear Watching Mayhem In Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

Aug 29th - 20:50pm | stormy

I've said it before & I'll say it again...it's not Disneyland and those are NOT audioanimatronics!   I have a very healthy respect for the wildlife in our Parks.  From squirrels (cute, but may carry plague) to bears/wolves/bison (huge and can really hurt me!).  I am not even tempted to push the envelope & get too close.

Aug 29th - 15:21pm | nottonite

We were there this summer and I watched in amazement as a father led his daughter up the hill to see a bear up close.  They got within 15 feet of the grizzly, and could not possibly make it to safety if the bear decided to charge.  It was like watching a father take his child to slaughter.  Som thing about fresh air makes adults get really stupid.

Aug 29th - 13:03pm | Wind Change

It's as interesting to me to see the incredulous comments about park visitor behavior as it is the visitor actions.

Aug 29th - 11:16am | Anonymous

people have a huge misconception about the animals in the park. my family was at yellowstone earlier this year when the couple was attacked, and the man killed by a mother grizzly. a few days later, we were on a trail ride and one of the people riding told the guide, "well they were on a trail". do people really think that the animals don't use the trails as well as well as humans.

Aug 29th - 09:29am | Randy Gardner

I have seen this exact same thing happen this summer in Yosemite Nat'l park ... In that instance it was also a mother bear with two cubs, and people were approaching within 50 yards of them. I understand people being excited by seeing wildlife but they need to realize that the wildlife do not share their enthusiasm...in fact the wildlife is most likely scared.

Aug 29th - 08:38am | Janes

The tough reality about these encounters, as thrilling as they may be for visitors, is that the bears often wind up losing. Should one charge at folks who venture too close or pose a threat to their cubs, she runs the risk of being caught and put down.

Aug 29th - 08:27am | Smoky Zeidel

Nothing infuriates me more than idiots in the wilderness. Are we going to start having to test people before allowing them into our National Parks? Pass the test, you can enter; flunk, go back to How to Behave Around Wildlife 101 class. The sad thing is, we don't put bar the idiots from the parks--but if something happens, the bears get put down. Just breaks my heart.

Aug 28th - 19:55pm | Anonymous

 My feelings are expressed in all the comments. What is the fine for molesting the animals?

Aug 28th - 16:32pm | Becci of Racine WI

The absolute worst tourist striving for a Darwin Award that I have seen at Yellowstone was 2 foreign speaking tourists that wanted to take photos with the pet buffolo outside of Lake Lodge.

Aug 28th - 14:10pm | CayugaLake

I have also witnessed stupid people doing stupid things in Yellowstone - a woman approaching a bull elk with camera drawn, followed by two other stupid people.  This was in the rutting season.  Another incident involved a woman jumping out of her car, approaching a herd of bison with calves, and as a calve approached this woman, so did the herd.  Unbelievable people that think National Pa

Aug 28th - 10:36am | Anonymous

I've been to Yellowstone and other National Parks and have seen humans acting stupidly.  I’ve seen people in Bryce Canyon standing on a less than 1’ wide rock pinnacle several 100 feet above a canyon to get a picture, an individual heading down the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon from the rim at sunset during a ice/storm, and in

Aug 28th - 10:01am | Keeper

Knowing how in an instant primal behavior exhibits itself, the learning curve for many looking to touch the wild things and something extremely real is both transformational and in some cases, deadly.  I don't begrudge the effort and especially the breakthroughs (If you survive) but people starting out with the distortions of the Bambi or dot com culture have a bit farther way to go.

Aug 28th - 09:56am | Becci of Racine WI

We travel to Yellowstone aproximently every other year since 1988.  People interfering with bear and other wildlife normal activity has been on the rise.  Many tourists especially those from Europe believe that this is one big petting  zoo and that nothing will hurt them.  Note early this year when aproximently 30 tourists walked right up to Old Faithful's cone and took pictures (only the bus d

Aug 28th - 09:07am | Gal Yellowstone

It happens all the time, see my photo of a similar situation with a black bear (also taken in Yellowstone): http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/2595873891_f6c98bd0d5_o.jpg Absolutely terrifying!

Aug 28th - 08:14am | Anonymous

This is not an uncommon event in Yellowstone.  It just shows how stupid some people can be.

Lightning Strike Kills Visitor at Bryce Canyon National Park

Aug 29th - 18:05pm | Inquisitive Mind

From my experience it would seem safer down IN the Canyon than along the Rim.  Also, I heard something last summer that a grove of Aspens is a safe or safer place than among the Ponderosa's or similar Evergreens.  Please correct me if I'm wrong but have been thinking about it.

Aug 29th - 16:57pm | Jeff

I was there doing on the day of the lightning strike and me and my girlfriend were hiking out of the canyon when the thunderstorm approached, we were amazed how many people kept heading down into the canyon even with the obvious thunder approaching, when sought shelter in our car and waited the storm out, while waiting we witnessed his family searching for help but we didn't find out what happe

National Park Service Issues 5-Year "Call To Action" Plan For Moving Toward Its Second Century

Aug 29th - 15:10pm | Mike Painter

Alfred Runte says: "The cover alone leaves me cold. What do five kids jumping in a lake have to do with the national park idea?" I thought exactly the same thing when I saw the cover in your article. Although you can't tell a book by its cover, it, nevertheless, doesn't bode well.

Study Points To Value Of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem For Future of Wolverines

Aug 29th - 13:07pm | Jason G

I spotted a wolverine this July while hiking in YNP.  It was not far outside of your search area and judging by the amount of scat it most like was taking up residence there.  You can contact me for mor info in wanted.

Sky-High Ginseng Prices Boost Illegal Harvest in Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Aug 29th - 10:26am | Anonymous

They won't let us have wild ginseng seeds. I would replant my areas as well if I could get the seeds. The government needs to relax a little. I hope my grandkids can find root in my patches years from now.

Beware of Great Smoky Mountains National Park's Bears

Aug 29th - 10:14am | ramblefeet

I hike throughout the US and eastern Canada and have had brushes with black bears several times.   Only once did one act aggressively, though that may be the wrong word, as the bear seemed mostly curious as to what I was up to.   I stupidly let myself get boxed in by a lake and a cliff, and had to look big and act fearless while the bear inspected me from arms length.

Aug 29th - 08:30am | Smoky Zeidel

I was camping in the Smokies in May of 2000 when that woman was killed. She did absolutely everything right; she was an experienced hiker and frequent park visitor. The bear was a sickly mother with a sickly cub. The point is, if this can happen to a visitor who knows how to behave around wildlife, it can certainly happen to a visitor who behaves badly. Bears are beautiful, not cute.

More Than 105,000 Sign NPCA's Petition In Support of National Park Funding

Aug 29th - 08:48am | Wind Change

Am a Big supporter of these great places and that's why I suggest "individual" contributions now rather than saddle our kids, grandkids and great-grand kids with debt they had nothing to do with.  Not much of a legacy for our children that way.  Their standard of living will be such that they will look at the Parks the way the commoners used to look at the King's Forrest's in England.

Aug 29th - 08:17am | C F Lewis

Once these national treasures are gone ..they are gone...Please protect them.

Rare Motion Pictures Show Civil War Veterans at the 75th Gettysburg Battle Anniversary Reunion

Aug 28th - 16:21pm | Sue

Such a list does exist.  It was first published in volume IV (4) of Pennsylvania at Gettysburg and then later by one of the men who began the plans for the 1938 reunion, Paul Roy.  I have copies of both.  So if you send me the name I will be thrilled to look it up for you! Sue

Rare Fall Visit to Wetherill Mesa at Mesa Verde National Park is Possible On September 19

Aug 28th - 09:28am | Anonymous

am planning a visit around Oct 8. sad that staffing limitations close that area of the park so early, regardless of weather. i want to miss crowds, but more importantly the heat.

By the Numbers: Voyageurs National Park

Aug 28th - 00:43am | R Stefancik

They go down considerably after the 1st freeze, usually mid September.  But by that time the winds are kicking up and you can get quite a lot of cold rain.

Aug 27th - 10:52am | Lee Dalton

R Stefancik -- You were lucky they only went after your socks.  Those black flies bit a hole in the bottom of my canoe.  Darn near sank us. But what wonderful places, Voyager's and Quetico.  I wonder if the flies and mosquitos go away in September?

Aug 26th - 20:00pm | R Stefancik

Personally, I prefer the Quetico Wilderness just across the border in Canada.  They offer only 10% as many wilderness permits and you'll see more moose than people.  The fishing is outstanding due to lack of pressure.  I pulled a 60 inch musky up to my canoe in Lake Kawnipy, caught and released 9 smallmouth bass on 9 consecutive casts with 9 different lures on the St Mary's River, and caught al

The Abandoned Keane Wonder Mine at Death Valley National Park is Too Dangerous to Visit

Aug 27th - 23:47pm | Anonymous

I visited Bodie ghost town & mine site some time ago and found that a fence had been erected around the old mine & works, creating a barrier to viewing the mine & buildings.

New "Puppy Cam" Features Sled Dog Pups at Denali National Park and Preserve

Aug 27th - 17:12pm | b.e

I too, was concerned about the dogs...that is until I actually visited them in July.  We saw volunteers jogging down the road with the dogs, as well as the love they all received from their handlers.  The dogs at Denali are very well cared for, and appear to be happy and in very good shape.

These Big Bird Sightings at Grand Canyon Are the Real Deal

Aug 27th - 16:41pm | Sue England

I was at the Canyon in Pheonix the north rim on 13th August 2011. The condors were flying over us, at times there were 5 at a time they were so close we could see their feathers. It sure was an experience to be remembered.

East Coast National Park Units Bracing For Hurricane Irene

Aug 27th - 14:05pm | Leave Them B (a...

"The ponies are left to fend for themselves, as they've done for generations."  Nature is so cruel:). How refreshing, really!

Aug 27th - 13:06pm | Dina Grinstead

I figured that was the case. It makes sense. Thank you for the input.

Aug 26th - 19:33pm | Barky

The ponies are left to fend for themselves, as they've done for generations.

Aug 26th - 14:18pm | Dina Grinstead

This comment is regarding assateague island national seashore. Does anyone know the procedure used on protecting the ponies and other wildlife in this area during extreme weather if any?

Exploration Of Crater Lake Reflected On U-Haul Moving Vans

Aug 26th - 19:15pm | y_p_w

That Crater Lake license plate doesn't seem all that out of proportion. It's supposed to represent a specific angle, and I'd be surprised if the artist didn't use a specific photo as the source material.

Aug 26th - 15:46pm | Anonymous

Apparently, the U=Haul ad gurus who thought of this idea were unaware that to sell Crater Lake in terms of a tourism emblem, one must include the beautiful symmetry of Wizard Island as though it were placed by an artist. When one looks are the blue sign, what is there to tell the viewer that

National Park Mystery Photo 22 Revealed: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Aug 26th - 18:41pm | Kurt Repanshek

Hannah, fame is fleeting. My guess is you got much more than 15 minutes of enjoyment paddling around Apostle Islands! That said, thanks for identifying your family!

Aug 26th - 18:34pm | Hannah Higney H...

This is a picture of my family and I!

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Preparing To Hurricane Irene

Aug 26th - 18:39pm | Stacey

Erik: good luck. When Hatteras gets hit, it gets HIT. We've ridden out several hurricanes while vacationing there in the summers. I'm just hoping the Outer Banks are still there whenever I can make it back someday.

Aug 26th - 10:46am | Kurt Repanshek

A rough guess would be that they'd hunker down in the maritime forests on Shackleford and wait out the storm.

Aug 26th - 10:14am | Loretta

What happens to the horses (ponies) on Shackleford Island?  Are they evacuated?  Can they swim to safer islands?  This is going to be hard on the young foals.  They can drown.  Please inform me and others who have concerns about them, how the horses were affected by hurricane Irene.  

Marine Wilderness at a Crossroads In Point Reyes National Seashore

Aug 26th - 10:21am | Leave Them B (a...

The core mission statement of NPS is flawed, agenda based and anti-nature (humans) besides eliminating one more perfectly positive activity engaging the interaction of people and a natural process providing a native renewable resource that actually does very good things in the environment.  Quit being sissies and get real (refreshing:).

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