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NPS Snowmobile Plan for Yellowstone, Grand Teton Bucks Science, the Public, and Itself

Aug 7th - 09:10am | Todd

Another issue with the park service and loud motorcycles is that the park police use them. A park police motorcycle officer roared by my house one sunday at 8 am while escorting some VIPs to the Mt. Vernon Estate. I drove over and asked him about his motorcycle. He agreed that it was much louder than it came from the factory, that it had aftermarket mufflers which were much louder.

Aug 7th - 08:55am | Todd

I have done some research on the subject of motorcycle noise, I live close to the entrance of the GW Parkway which is a national park area starting at the Mt. Vernon Estate. Loud motorcycles often turn this area into what sounds like a racetrack.

How is Cape Hatteras National Seashore Faring Under Travel Restrictions?

Aug 7th - 09:05am | JCNowak

One thing people need to keep in mind is that despite the "ORV" being attached to this story wherever you read it, the problem is not just access for vehicles. It is also access for pedestrians. The Consent Decree calls for huge closures for both people and vehicles.

Aug 7th - 09:01am | Regina

Because the access is sooooo long. If you are unfamiliar with the area in question look at it on a map. the dunes you cannot walk on The access areas in general do not allow for very many people to park and access with beach chairs, coolers, and the like.

Aug 7th - 08:40am | Anonymous

This is so typical of a ignorant comment to make an all inclusive statement like "ORV's should not be on the beach" and "if fisherman want to fish the point let them walk their gear out". Well in your fabulous well thought out plan lets consider the handicapped and small children. Should we just post a sign stating you are not welcome?

Aug 7th - 08:34am | James Upton

Carol has not even got a clue what CAPE HATTERAS NATION REACTIONAL SEASHORE is about. It is not a wilderness area!!!!! A group of special intrest groups, (Dow, Audbon and Sleg), have formed an alliance and threatened to sue and close six for the most fished spotes on the outer banks. Under this threat a conscent decrees was forced down the throats of those involved.

Aug 7th - 08:27am | Anonymous

For those who think they have a need to blame ORV's for the Bird population decline first need to take their uniformed little minds over to www.nps/caha and check for yourself on the piping plover reports and you will see they have not actually increased in population of nests this year at all.

Aug 7th - 07:15am | Carol Marley

ORV's have NO BUSINESS on the beaches at all unless they're emergency vehicles!!!!!!!!! Why can't fishermen/women WALK down to the beaches with their gear??????? I say that no ORV's (except fro emergency vehicles) should be allowed in ANY wilderness areas.....They enable people to trash the beauty,hassle the animals with their noise,and pollute the air.

Aug 7th - 01:34am | sandman

I keep seeing Hatteras Island refered to as a natural area. The "natural" part of the island was "destroyed" when we built the dunes as one of FDR's depression ending work projects(no there is nothing natural about the dunes they are manmade) in order to have a hard surface road. Why build a hard surface road on a barrier sandbar?

Aug 6th - 23:42pm | albietross

cape hatteras is not a park, national parks traveler. it is a national recreational area for human biengs.human biengs have been driving on the beach at H.I. for a long time, human biengs that have been driving on the beach for a long time have been long time stewards of the beach. they clean it up, love the enviornment and the wildlife.

Aug 6th - 23:08pm | Jack

Who you talk to is the real question. What isn't said in all this is the fact that the Consent Decree in words APPEARS to take all parties positions into account. What it doesn't say is that ALL PARTIES have equal ability to verify sightings of nesting birds.

Aug 6th - 20:26pm | Tim Kania

The truth is that under the consent decree the closures at CHNS completely shut down human access to the premier surf fishing location on the east coast, Cape Point, for several weeks. Human access was completely denied, pedestrian as well as ORV. Additional prime fishing areas were also closed. Any reports of this issue that don't reflect that reality are misleading.

Aug 6th - 19:56pm | Tony

The below is one of many truthful articles you can find if you choose to determine facts as opposed to opinions. This is not about ORV access, this is not about birds, this is not about turtles. This is about a violation of rights and laws. This is about people losing their jobs, land and homes.

Aug 6th - 19:10pm | fishspin

I can't wait until you people realize the true effect this consent decree has put on eastern NC. If this consent decree is not overturned, life as we know it on Hatteras Island and further south will be non-existent. People have already lost their jobs, business' are suffering and homeowners who rent their houses on the island are just begining to feel the effect.

Aug 6th - 18:42pm | keith

yall are a bunch of ignorant people with more concerned about birds than humans and threatened not endangered at that...you will spin your tales and invent figures that dow/as/and selc seem to make appear out of thin air without any shread of proof of those figures..

Aug 5th - 19:47pm | Carol Thompson

I have recently volunteered for the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Pea Island NWR located within the national seashore. I have followed the recovery programs for piping plovers along the East Coast since they were listed in 1986.

Aug 5th - 17:37pm | Barky

Here we go with our beloved Congress again: they'll look at the economic downturn as an excuse to ramrod their own peeves through to legality. "Oh, the economy is bad, it must be because we aren't letting people tear up the beach with their ORVs." Forget that we have an oil crisis and food costs are going up. These things are keeping people home, not rules on beach usage.

Aug 5th - 17:07pm | Anonymous

the negative response to the consent decree seems to be overstated and without sufficient basis. I have seen signs that indicate that the government is trying to "close Hatteras." I can only conclude that these signs are intended to misinform the public and to sway public opinion through a campaign of misinformation.

Olympic National Park Ready for Wolves?

Aug 7th - 01:36am | Ted Clayton

I live on the Olympic Peninsula, west of Sequim. My grandparents milked cows on the "Sequim Prairie", with about 300 other farm-families.

Study Says Loss of Wolves Damaging Olympic National Park's Forest Ecosystem

Aug 6th - 23:50pm | Ted Clayton

Hunters with firearms are the main control on Olympic Peninsula elk-populations today. Hunters - both local rural folk and veritable hordes in pickup campers 'from the cities' - lobby heavily to manage the herds at the highest achievable levels - the better to successfully hunt them.

National Park Quiz 14: Historic Houses

Aug 6th - 21:38pm | Marylander

I normally do fairly well on these quizzes, but this one I just blew completely. I only got 4 correct, including the bonus... Apparently I need to pay more attention to the historic houses!!

Aug 6th - 20:14pm | Barky

Got 9, not too shabby :-) #12 is one of those questions where, once I read the answer, muttered "oh, of course, should've known". TR NP is my favorite NPS unit :-) =================================================== My travels through the National Park System: americaincontext.com

Aug 6th - 13:38pm | Anonymous

Question 9 seems perhaps a bit ambiguous. [Ed: The Hauptquizmeister agrees that item #9 was more than a bit ambiguous in it original form. Item #9 has been extensively revised and should now past muster.]

Is the National Park Service Obligated to Better Promote Proposed Change in Gun Regulations?

Aug 6th - 21:22pm | Ted Clayton

As I grew up on the Sol Duc River of the Olympic Peninsula, Lyle Cowles - a lead Park trail-crew foreman - raised his kids next door. My family subsisted largely on deer & elk, with lots of choice fish & beach-food (plus a huge garden & wild fruit). The Cowles were vegetarian 7th Day Adventists.

Oklahoma City National Memorial is a Fine Memorial, But It's Not a National Park

Aug 6th - 18:58pm | John D. Demosthenes

Lone Hiker is making an important point.

Aug 6th - 17:15pm | Lone Hiker

Meaning no measure of disrespect either to the thousands of victims past and those to become so in the future, but does this set a precedent for the NPS to be given the go-ahead to commence "advertising" this and other soon-to-be memorials to the victims of domestic and international terrorism, particular to incidents that occur within our boundries?

Aug 6th - 12:34pm | John D. Demosthenes

Interesting points, Bob, Anonymous & Paul "Barky" Dionne: Of course, we have memorials that ARE units of the National Park System (the Lincoln Memorial & the Roger Williams National Memorial, for example, of many) and others that are not.

Aug 5th - 17:55pm | Barky

This is a case where I feel I am too close to make an objective call on this topic. I remember clearly that day when the Murrah Building was blown up, taking all those lives, including the kids in the day care center. I remember it so clearly because I have friends in the greater OKC area and instantly feared for their lives (they actually didn't work anywhere near the place).

Aug 5th - 14:48pm | Anonymous

I agree that the OCNM is not a national park, however, because it is a very importnant piece of American History, that is a popular place of interest, and this may be one of the reason's that it is listed on the NPS's website (besides the reason(s) given in the article).

What Suggestions Do You Have For the National Park Service?

Aug 6th - 11:47am | Kath

Raise more money for the NPS, by having a two-tiered pricing structure. American citizens and legal residents pay a reduced price. Foreign tourists pay more. This is done in the EU. EU passport carrying people get in at reduced prices or free at certain museums and sites. This would raise more money for the parks without squeezing taxpayers anymore.

Aug 6th - 09:28am | pkrnger

"The National Park Service likes to promote that visitors give the National Park System a 96 percent approval rating." Kurt,

Aug 5th - 18:00pm | Barky

The best suggestion I have for the NPS is to free itself from the political toilet that is our "democracy" and create its own federal entity, unbeholden to the garbage that currently is responsible for allocating funding, and function as a self-sufficient "federal business".

Aug 5th - 17:43pm | FrankC

After my recent visit to Mount Rainier National Park, I have the following two very specific suggestions:

Aug 5th - 12:47pm | SaltSage236

These suggestions are aimed at Congress for the management of NPS and its units: 1) NPS units should never -- ever-- be designated solely to boost tourism revenue for nearby towns. National Parks should exist to educate and celebrate and preserve ecosystems, landscapes, landmarks and our natural and cultural history.

Aug 5th - 12:17pm | Michelle

I have been visiting National Parks since a baby here in Utah and have gained so much more in life because of it. Any extra cost is worth it, if a person can pay $40 for ONE DAY at a Six Flags I think we can manage $80 for a year worth of National Parks and the additional parking fees.

Aug 5th - 11:28am | Lone Hiker

As touched on briefly above, I don't want my "national" parks to be in the business of supporting overseas interests. I don't need "Native American" artifacts made in China, clothing stitched in Cambodia, DVD's produced in Mexico, and disposable cameras from Japan.

Aug 5th - 06:12am | Bob Janiskee

Beamis, let me interject two important points of clarification. First, Mather and Albright didn't birth the National Park Service. Congress did that in 1916 with the Organic Act. Mather and Albright were administrators. While they were given limited authority to make rules and regulations, they were never given authority to designate or proclaim national parks.

Aug 5th - 05:07am | Barky

Yes, the problems with the National Park Service are not problems of the National Park Service, they are the problems of Congress and the Executive Branch. They simply do not care enough about the parks to adequately fund them.

Aug 4th - 21:50pm | Anonymous

amen to you anon and your four suggestions.....scary thing is --it would work!

Aug 4th - 21:18pm | Vicki

I'd like to see more of the hiking areas opened up to allow leashed dogs. I am disabled, and thus, cannot climb up, say Clingman's Dome, with my husband. One of the first dreams he had after we got our (very well behaved) Golden Retreiver/Lab mix was that finally he would have someone to climb Clingman's with him.

Aug 4th - 19:20pm | Anonymous

The focus on park fees takes this question to perhaps its lowest level. My suggestions are...

Aug 4th - 18:22pm | Jimi

I am a real fan of the national park system and, unfortunately, I am handicapped. I found it almost impossible to make it to the Arch in St. Louis - there are no provisions for the disabled and a really long walk from parking to the base of the Arch (the entrance).

Aug 4th - 14:06pm | Anonymous

The Park Rangers do a nice job of keeping visitors on the well beaten path and restricting access within the park, especially Yellowstone. These actions do help to preserve and defend the National Parks from destruction.

Odes to the National Park Rangers Who Wear the Grey and Green

Aug 6th - 11:29am | pkrnger

Who would lead us on hikes if there were no rangers?

Aug 6th - 09:41am | Anonymous

Good grief! Buy your own uniform. Nobody has ever funded my work wardrobe...

Aug 5th - 15:07pm | Anonymous

This is a fine piece to be sure, but not all NPS rangers wear the green and grey. Indeed, many of us wear green polo shirts and khaki pants since we are Centennial employees and Congress didn't fund our uniforms, and due to this many visitors don't see us as park employees. Perhaps a better title would be "Odes to the National Park Rangers Who Wear the Arrowhead".

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Settlement Won't Ban ORV Use, But Will Restrict Travel

Aug 5th - 10:55am | Anonymous

Frisco Fran - based on your observations, I nominate the ORV people for sainthood

Hidden Hall of Records at Mount Rushmore

Aug 5th - 07:22am | wow gold

So essentially it's a very elaborate time capsule? Could he not have used a shoebox like the rest of us?

Battling Invasive Species in Arches National Park

Aug 4th - 16:05pm | Lindsay Bartsh

You're right Kurt, invasive species are a huge problem facing our national parks.

Did the NRA Infiltrate Groups Opposed to Overhauling Gun Regulations for the National Parks?

Aug 4th - 14:26pm | Bill Wiese

For once the gunnies got a good one in. More of this needs to happen. At least in California, the Bradyites have attempted to (sometimes with success) infiltrate local 2nd Amendment groups and regional NRA councils. So the "We're so shocked!" attitude by the antis, Bradys, etc. is much like the mutterings of a soccer mom suddenly found doing the day shift in a massage parlor.

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