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What's the Solution For Cape Hatteras National Seashore?

Aug 22nd - 08:53am | Ted Clayton

James R. Pepper et al,

Aug 22nd - 01:43am | Ted Clayton

James R. Pepper, I admire & respect your participation in the great Land Claims Settlement era. It was more historic than many yet realize, and it still continues to unfold.

Aug 21st - 22:49pm | James R. Pepper

Access to inholding or private property is a Fifth Amendment right, and should not be confused with access for subsistence. Thank you, Ted Clayton, for your documentation on the current policy on subsistence access. I have been away from Alaska for quite a while, and believe me it was a settled issue then that ATV's were not "customary and traditional" access.

Aug 21st - 21:33pm | Ted Clayton

James R. Pepper, Thank you for the opportunity to give a more detailed treatment of subsistence practices in Alaska Parks, and other lands.

Aug 21st - 17:41pm | James R. Pepper

Ted Clayton is explicitly WRONG about ATV's in Alaska.

Aug 21st - 14:06pm | Bugsyshallfall

Folks I messed up my grammer, so I edited it. It was originally posted earlier in the day before the posting above. Sorry Dapster Chris, Your quote:

Aug 21st - 12:31pm | dapster

LH, The "Lip Rippers" moniker is my personal favorite too. Classic! I have seen it in print on other sites, believe it or not. This thread contained some similar sentiments, as I know you are aware.

Aug 20th - 21:33pm | Lone Hiker

"Fish lip rippers"? Now I've heard everything........that's the best someone could invent? Sounds more cartoon than derogatory.

Aug 20th - 15:13pm | SAMSDAD

I decided to respond since I was the one that used sarcasm to make my point on putting lockers at the point is a bad idea and after going into shock after seeing the response by LONE HIKER.

Aug 20th - 13:00pm | dapster

Lone Hiker, Thank you for your kind words, and also in taking the time to look at Google Earth in relation to this issue. It certainly is a wonderful tool! I hope that a flyover of the area gave you and other readers a better understanding of the logistical complexities that all possible access related options face on this part of the island.

Aug 20th - 11:18am | Dave Vachet

Good stuff dapster and beamis. Very well put. It's funny how the folks that want you off your beaches stop talking when the truth about the critters starts coming up. But, I guess they don't really care about the critters in the first place. Kurt, thank you for this forum and your article on this issue I'd also like to remind everyone that the consent decree is illegal.

Aug 20th - 08:54am | Lone Hiker

Ah, GoogleEarth, one of my favorite new toys of the past 5 years!!!

Should the NPS Be Given Mount St. Helens?

Aug 22nd - 08:01am | Mountain lover

Yes of course. the more publicity the better it is

A Century of National Parks in Utah To be Celebrated Labor Day Weekend

Aug 22nd - 07:41am | Anonymous

Ditto, Salt Sage236 recommended: "Glen Canyon should be restored and elevated to National Park status. Adjacent wildlands, such as Great Gulch, Little Rockies, Dirty Devil River, and Dark Canyon, should be added to this new park." How true this is.

Aug 21st - 22:33pm | Michael Kellett

SaltSage236, I totally agree. I have been to all of Utah's national park areas (except Rainbow Bridge -- still need to get there). They are all extraordinary. But we also need to expand Utah's existing national parks and create several new national parks, to protect many other lands threatened by oil and gas drilling, mining, livestock grazing, off-road vehicles, and other abuses.

Aug 21st - 17:53pm | SaltSage236

I consider Natural Bridges to be one of the greatest units of the national park system on the Colorado Plateau. In celebration of this anniversary, I hope the federal government will begin to respect the national treasures we have in Utah and not abuse or destroy them with oil, natural gas and oil shale development outside Utah parks' boundaries.

Pruning the Parks: Six National Parks Acquired via Transfer in 1933 Were Subsequently Abolished

Aug 22nd - 00:06am | Ted Clayton

Michael, My crystal ball is as murky & cracked as all the others ... but the economic challenges we are experiencing now seem to be associated with basic 'structural' factors - domestic & global - that suggest we could be at the beginning of an historically difficult era. Going forward, the budget-conditions at NPS could even deteriorate.

Aug 21st - 22:16pm | Michael Kellett

Ted, et al., Nothing in the universe is totally permanent. But in the world of human institutions, America's federal government is the closest thing to perpetuity that we will get. It is literally the oldest democracy, and one of the oldest continuous governments, on earth.

Aug 21st - 18:04pm | SaltSage236

After taking many South Carolina history classes in middle and high school while I was growing up in Charleston, the significance of Castle Pinckney was certainly under the radar and was hardly mentioned.

Aug 21st - 17:31pm | Ted Clayton

Lepanto said: ... "Rick Smith is exactly right at the core of this." On the contrary, it is precisely at the core of it, that he sets fact & reason aside.

Aug 21st - 17:24pm | Lepanto

Chris: Heritage Areas should not be considered as "substandard parks," or at least National Heritage Areas should not be.

Aug 21st - 13:59pm | Bugsyshallfall

Beamis,

Aug 21st - 13:41pm | Rick Smith

I do not believe in these kinds of exercises, but if we all sat around a table and listed the top ten NPS areas that we would prune, I suspect that our lists would be significantly different. And that's the rub. One person's pork barrel park is another person's crown jewel.

Aug 21st - 10:53am | Lepanto

Ted Clayton, there is a difference between the mature reflection of a nation and most of what we hear from people shaking their fist at the sky who complain about too many parks and parks that don't deserve designation. This is the context, I believe, of the Rick Smith remarks.

Aug 21st - 10:41am | Rick Smith

I agree with you, Beamis, that it is important to subject policies--feeding bears, killing wolves, etc.--to constant scrutiny. In my mind, "delisting parks" is a significantly different issue. Rick Smith

Aug 21st - 10:30am | Bugsyshallfall

Ted,

Aug 21st - 09:39am | Ted Clayton

Rick Smith & Michael Kellett, I have to agree with Lone Hiker. Little or nothing about the United States, its citizens or anything else human, is established in perpetuity. Certainly - absolutely - as Rick said:

Aug 21st - 08:43am | Bugsyshallfall

Rick, Yes, I agree

Aug 20th - 23:51pm | Anonymous

Beamis - Yes, Platt became an NRA and is now Chickasaw NRA http://www.nps.gov/chic/

Aug 20th - 21:45pm | Lone Hiker

The ebb and flow of units within the NPS isn't exactly the most catastrophic event that might occur within our lifetimes, or the blackest mark attributable to the current generation "in charge".

Aug 20th - 21:30pm | Michael Kellett

Rick, I totally agree.

Aug 20th - 17:48pm | Rick Smith

I have said this before on the Traveler and I will say it again. We ought to be very careful when we talk about "delisting" NPS areas. Each generation of Americans gets tp add to the National Park System. speaking through their elected representatives, the areas it believes merit protection in perpetuity.

Aug 20th - 13:51pm | Kelly

@ Beamis (or anyone else who knows): Was the NPS sued in the Bonneville Power / Zion case for not protecting the Park's resources? Or was there something in the Park's original designation that allowed the power company to put through the power line?

Aug 20th - 12:51pm | FrankC

"Because it's a state park, not a national park, there's no guarantee that the line won't go through."

Aug 20th - 10:41am | Kelly

Beyond the Parks that were pruned in the 1930s, there is also at least one that should have been made a national park but wasn't. The area known now as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park became a 600,000 acre California state park instead and is said to be the second largest state park in the country.

"Designing the Parks"

Aug 21st - 14:30pm | dapster

I would have to agree with the statement provided by Frank C. on the on-line forum, submitted below. After having witnessed firsthand what can happen to a National Park Unit when sued by special interest groups, (Specifically the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area (CHNSRA)), I would agree that the need for a decentralized park service is painfully evident.

Fall Kills Woman in North Cascades National Park

Aug 20th - 17:21pm | Diane Kerr

I have known Bob Terczak since 1978, a very experienced hiker and climber, Bob was well versed in reading maps and knowing what to do in dangerous situations. In 1983 my ex-hushand and Bob went on a similar hiking trip in Maine, they made it to the top of the summit which was sheer ice, it was a clear day and they even have a photo of them both at the top, you can see for miles around.

Is It Time to Overhaul the National Park Service and the National Park System?

Aug 20th - 17:17pm | FrankC

"I agree that our government has been substantially captured by special interest groups. However, I don't know how you can say that the American people are the problem." I refer you to Jonathan Rauch's Government's End, particularly the third chapter, titled "Hyperpluralism". From page 50:

Aug 20th - 16:28pm | Michael Kellett

Beamis, Thanks for the discussion. This is an interesting essay. The Ben Franklin quotation is typically multi-layered in meaning, of course. But anyone involved in the American Revolution had to be a level-headed optimist down deep, no matter how much he protests. And the writer of the essay sounds the same way, speaking favorably about Camus but then saying:

Aug 20th - 12:33pm | FrankC

Thanks for sharing, Beamis! I particularly enjoyed the Ben Franklin quote, "He that lives upon hope will die fasting." I think anyone who has read Government's End would see that the American people working together IS actually THE problem when it comes to government's dysfunction.

Aug 20th - 09:39am | Michael Kellett

Beamis,

National Park Quiz 16: Waterfalls

Aug 20th - 14:54pm | jsmacdonald

Completely coincidental to this week's quiz, I found myself writing today about waterfalls - focused for points of reference mostly on the Yellowstone ones I have experienced - but really about all waterfalls.

Aug 20th - 11:29am | Anonymous

According to wiki.... Dark Hollow Falls, near Skyline Drive, Virginia, is an example of cascade waterfall. It even shows the same picture as the quiz.

Aug 20th - 08:18am | Joseph

You are wrong. Dark Hollow Falls is a classic tier horse tail...as the water rides on the rocks...a classic plunge is where the water falls away from the rocks from top to bottom....

Black Bear Attacks Child at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Aug 20th - 12:08pm | Kurt Repanshek

Ted et al, Park rangers initially estimated the bear weighed 55 pounds. It later came in at 86 pounds, still probably too small to take on an adult.

Aug 20th - 11:02am | Ted Clayton

This bear weighed 55 pounds. A young male like this would not be aggressive toward another bear weighing 100 or 150 pounds. It would defer and retreat. It would know perfectly well that a larger bear could be dangerous.

Aug 20th - 09:40am | Kurt Repanshek

Trish, I'm not sure we can rush to judgment on what the parents did or didn't do. Obviously, they were close enough nearby that the father could rush to his son's rescue. Too, rangers who responded noted that the bear charged them, as well, so merely standing and watching from a distance might not have worked in this case.

Aug 20th - 09:13am | Trish

Park Rangers are quick to tell you to keep your children and any pets close when bears are around. Where were the parents? It's unfortunate that a bear had to lose it's life because of careless humans. These people should be ashamed of themselves for not following the most basic rules while visiting the Park. We hiked Rainbow Falls in June and also encounterd a black bear on the trail.

Aug 19th - 22:13pm | Mama Martin

I hope that this situation doesn't keep people from going and enjoying Cades Cove. This attack really saddened me, a young child playing in the water being attacked. I should first say I wish a speedy recovery to the child and his father. This being said, my family was at Cades Cove at the begining of July and August, and we encountered bears both time.

National Park Service Admits Mistakes With Proposed Little Bighorn Visitor Center Expansion

Aug 20th - 10:02am | Ted Clayton

Intermountain Regional Director Mike Snyder said:

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