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Grand Canyon National Park Officials Release Stock Use Plan, Including Mule Ride Quotas

Jan 12th - 18:18pm | Casey Murph

The rim ride that has replaced 75 percent of the mule rides into the canyon is nothing that even resembles a Grand Canyon mule ride. It is nothing more that an ordinary trail ride through common northern Arizona pinyon and juniper, and the mule riders never will see that canyon once from the saddle.

Jan 12th - 12:34pm | skeptic

There is documentation on how very little NPS has done to maintain the trails ... the evidence points to unrelenting moves in retribution after Spt. Steve Martin and his wife created a disruption in an encounter with the mules on the trail.

Jan 12th - 12:31pm | Matt Stubbs

Boy this sounds way too familiar to the plight of Cape Hatteras, Replace the word Mule with ORV... Erosion versus humans lets blame the humans (The low hanging fruit of the NPS) Outside influences seem to run the NPS who was doing much better before they interfered.

Jan 12th - 10:52am | Rich Granberg

Thanks Kurt for your article on the Canyon Mules. If it would be okay to post a link that has been up for the last three years since the threat to the rides became apparent. It's a good bunch and are saddened with the EA release. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=188057931399

Jan 12th - 07:01am | Also interested

NPS Public Relation Specialists did well with the numbers that bely the reality of the changes. By many accounts the above the rim rides on the South Rim are a disappointment with many wanting refunds because the Ride does not reflect the Inner Canyon Ride's "transformational" effect.

Group Urges NPS Director Jarvis To Reject ORV Plan For Big Cypress National Preserve

Jan 12th - 18:16pm | Larry Keene

Hey Matt, I think Hugh was talking about vehicles in Big Cypress not on public highways and the issue in Big Cypress has more to do than just protecting panthers. You should tone it down a notch.

Jan 12th - 17:34pm | matt stubbs

These animals are killed by motorists on the public highways also. Stop Driving anything in Florida!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you should be walking only making you fair game for the panthers allowing them to have a new food source and allowing them to get to numbers that will make people like you be more tolerant of other peoples forms of recreation.....

Jan 12th - 15:49pm | Hugh

The rights of a relative few to engage in motorized recreation does not - I repeat NOT - trump the importance of protecting Public Trust resources like Big Cypress for the vast majority of the rest of us. Also, anything that can protect endangered species like the Florida Panther MUST be done. And if that means keeping joyriding yahoos out, the SO BE IT.

Reconstruction of Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains Will Stretch Over 6-7 Years

Jan 12th - 17:36pm | matt stubbs

one word "government"

Jan 12th - 15:18pm | Anonymous

Six to seven years just to repair the road seems excessive since it took less time than that to build the road from scratch in the early 20th century. It only took five years to build Hoover Dam in approximately the same time period. Government regulations and the lack of a work ethic causes jobs to take much longer today than they did just a few decades ago.

Reader Participation Day: Should Pets Be Given More Leeway in National Parks?

Jan 12th - 17:22pm | Anonymous

I don't even like seeing dogs in campgrounds, much less trails, because the barkers are never hushed by owners or anyone else. Campground volunteers ignore this, presumably because it seems like law enforcement duties. If dogs are not supervised responsibly in campgrounds, how much less likely is it that they will be on leash on trails, not accosting strangers and chasing wildlife?

Political Lineup For House Natural Resources Committee Sure to Produce Fireworks Over Public Lands

Jan 12th - 16:09pm | George Orwell

I suppose the comment that Anonymous is referring isn't the most extreme of what I've been hearing. What is extreme is what the Environmental Movement has become. It's an industry and it's pretty common to see the dark underbelly that "pimps" the resource. It's the people in the middle of the spectrum that seem the reasonable ones.

Trickle of Documents Highlights National Park Service's Mistakes In Hubbell Trading Post Investigation

Jan 12th - 15:51pm | Dottie

Hubbell Trading Post had a position for "Chief Ranger"?

Jan 12th - 13:53pm | Rangertoo

I can tell you that I was once the Chief Ranger at Hubbell Trading Post and no one talked to me.

National Park Mystery Spot 20: The Business End of the Arrow

Jan 12th - 13:34pm | Bob Janiskee

You've got it, Matt. It's Convoy Point at Biscayne National Park. I'm going to give RangerLady an assist. Check back tomorrow for an explanation of the clues.

Jan 12th - 13:33pm | RangerLady

OK...since it's near the visitor center and you can see Elliot and Adams Key, I'm going with Convoy Point

Jan 12th - 13:31pm | Matt W

Convoy Point, Biscayne You travel in a convoy to avoid the wolfpack.

Jan 12th - 13:30pm | Bob Janiskee

You've got the right park, riverotter and Rangerlady, but you're not going to get this one by naming keys until you run out of keys.

Jan 12th - 13:28pm | riverotter1971

ADAM KEY in Biscayne National Park

Jan 12th - 13:24pm | Bob Janiskee

RangerLady, you are ever so close.

Jan 12th - 13:19pm | Bob Janiskee

Nope; not Dry Tortugas.

Jan 12th - 13:03pm | RangerLady

Then I'm going with my second guess of Elliot Key in Biscayne National Park. After that I have no idea! YOu picked a good one Bob

Jan 12th - 13:02pm | riverotter1971

its Dry Tortugas National Park in the Keys

Jan 12th - 12:58pm | Bob Janiskee

Sorry, RangerLady, it's not Cape Point. Eric, remember that the mystery spot is in a national park (which Patriot's Point, home of the WW II carrier Yorktown, is not)

Jan 12th - 12:48pm | Eric

Thanks to Matt and Bob's clues, I think I got it. Patriot's Point at Fort Sumter.

Jan 12th - 12:47pm | RangerLady

I'm going to guess Cape Point at Cape Lookout National Seashore

Jan 12th - 12:34pm | Bob Janiskee

Correct side of the continent Matt, but that's about it.

Jan 12th - 12:18pm | Matt Stubbs

Cape Hatteras?

Jan 12th - 11:56am | Bob Janiskee

Fort Point National Historic Site is a very good guess, Matt, since it integrates several of the clues in an ingenious way. The wolfpacks referred to in the clue are indeed groups of WWII-era German submarines, and you "got the point" too. But Fort Point is not the answer. Wrong side of the continent, in fact. Give this some more thought, Matt. I like the way you think.

Jan 12th - 11:30am | Matt W

Going out on a limb with this. If the "wolf pack" is a group of WWII submarines...and no bridge to a key, could be golden gate... so it may be Fort Point at Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Jan 12th - 11:29am | Bob Janiskee

Sorry, Matt; it's not Russell Cave.

Jan 12th - 11:24am | Matt Stubbs

Russel cave?

Jan 12th - 09:43am | Julie S

Is it Rocky Mountain NP's Arrowhead Lake Area?

Jan 12th - 09:36am | Kurt Repanshek

Nope, not the Trail of Tears.

Jan 12th - 08:00am | Susan L.

The Trail of Tears?

Reader Participation Day: What Is The Most Unusual, Interesting, Or Silly National Park Souvenir You've Seen?

Jan 12th - 13:27pm | dustyboots

I was taking a course in college on Enthnicity, Gender and Class in the Southwest and needed some props for a presentation I was doing on stereotyping of Native Americans. At somewhat-nearby Petrified Forest NP, I bought some plastic "Indian dolls" with eyes that closed and some Made-In-China rubber tomahawks. I was so embarrased to purchase these!

Jan 12th - 11:10am | y_p_w

Olympic National Park, Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center store - probably run by the Northwest Interpretive Association. In the clearance section we saw some mugs that said "OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK" in block letters on one side and "HURRICANE RIDGE" with an image of Hurricane Ridge visible through the letters and a small image of a fawn (deer).

Jan 12th - 09:28am | Lee Dalton

Long, long ago there were a bunch of Yellowstone savages (I guess that dates me, huh?) who started an enterprise in which they made necklaces out of elk droppings.

Fort Sumter and Bull Run Stamps Will Lead Off Civil War 150th Anniversary Commemorative Series

Jan 12th - 12:29pm | Bob Janiskee

An editorial from The (Columbia, SC) State newspaper (December 19, 2010; p. A-8) addresses this issue at great length.

Jan 12th - 12:00pm | toothdoctor

Bob,

Jan 12th - 10:55am | Bob Janiskee

Toothdoctor, have you ever read the articles of secession for South Carolina (or any other state) that seceded? I have. The one for South Carolina, a copy of which I have right here in front of me, puts slavery front and center as THE issue. There is no wiggle room. It leaves no doubt that the "states rights" involved were the states' rights to own slaves.

Jan 12th - 09:50am | toothdoctor

Bob,

Record of Decision on Cape Hatteras National Seashore ORV Plan OKed, But Implementation Months Away

Jan 12th - 11:07am | Ron Saunders

Well put Ginny

Jan 12th - 09:15am | Ginny

One other issue commonly overshadowed by the discussion of economics and visitation--the quality of life of the residents of "the park". These residents are the 4,000 plus people who live in the 8 villages surrounded by park property. Yes, surronded not adjacent--i.e. park property, to our south park property, to our east park property, to our west the sound.

Yellowstone National Park Saw a Record 3.6 Million Visitors in 2010

Jan 12th - 10:37am | Bob Janiskee

How on earth can anyone rationalize reporting a ballpark estimate carried to seven digits?! Would someone in the National Park Service please explain that one to me?

Jan 12th - 09:41am | Kurt Repanshek

Lee, for a whole range of reasons -- unstaffed entrance gates, hikers coming through on long-distance treks or from neighboring national forests, vehicle-passenger estimates used by the Park Service that vary throughout the year, malfunctioning counters -- I would say the 3,640,184 number is not 100 percent spot on, as the Brits would say.

Jan 12th - 09:33am | Lee Dalton

I know this is probably a dumb question, but just how accurate is that number? Do fee collectors keep tabs of the number of occupants in each vehicle or is it based on some kind of "average?" All I know for sure is that at least 1/2 of them were on Dunraven Pass one day when I tried to drive over it.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Dispute Places Birds, Turtles, and Humans on Small Strip of Sand

Jan 12th - 08:46am | Ryan

I will contend to the day I die, that a place like CAHA would be mostly private beaches, and wall to wall high rise condos if not for the protection provided by the NPS.

Yellowstone National Park Moving Into Next Phase of Building Bison Tolerance In Montana

Jan 12th - 00:57am | Anonymous

This is a horrible plan for the buffalo and the full story is not being told. It is highly stressful for the buffalo and many will probably not survive, as has happened with other "management" efforts. Buffalo are no longer welcome in Montana because everything is about cattle in Montana.

Big Cypress National Preserve Superintendent Defends "Addition" Lands ORV Use

Jan 12th - 00:41am | Frank Denninger

Mr Schwartz is correct but may not want to admit Mr Ramos the Superintendent fo the Addition and Big Cypress National Preserve is also correct. My belief is that PEER, NPCA and Matt Schwartz and other groups that use these controversies as a fund raising tool, just can't accept the fact that this place is not a PARK but a Preserve with 2 difficult to balance objectives according to law.

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