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Summertime: What National Parks Are On Your "Must Visit" List?

Jul 14th - 15:24pm | Dapster

I noticed that the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area was conspicuosly absent from the "Beachcombing" section of your article.

Interior Officials Want to Allow Concealed Carry in the National Parks

Jul 14th - 14:45pm | Anonymous

Yeah Scotty, tell me what's the NRA's masterplan for this country? It first starts with fear mongering! Besides Scotty, this isn't a subject that I wish to dwell on, give credence or provide propaganda flak for the NRA. It is an NRA issue! Simply because it touches the very heart of the subject that's hell bent on fear mongering. GUNS OUT OF THE PARKS!

Jul 14th - 14:02pm | Scotty

Anon- In response to your comment.....

Jul 13th - 11:32am | Kath

The NPS will not have the final say on this. The Supreme Court will. The recent Heller decision said that a complete ban on firearms can be a violation of the Second Amendment.

Jul 12th - 20:30pm | Anonymous

The NRA sure knows when to pile on a blog! I guess the gun craze issue will be with us until the NRA gets everything it wants...lock, stock and barrel!

Jul 12th - 17:41pm | Anonymous

I don't understand why I should "need" to carry a concealed handgun into a park. Why do my second amendment rights disappear when I enter a park? Anywhere that I go is a place that people with evil intent may also go, so why is there this illusion that NP's are completely safe? Hikers go missing and are found murdered every year.

Comment Period Reopens on Whether National Park Visitors Can Arm Themselves

Jul 14th - 12:26pm | Parks Visitor

Lots of misinformed commentary here by the folks who refuse to believe that unarmed parks visitors (in isolated areas or otherwise) are potential victims of those with criminal intent. In other words "it won't happen to me". That is a classic victim's mentality.

Jul 10th - 20:23pm | Samaya

"If you want to be safe, don't travel alone", is bulk. I should be able to travel alone or walk the streets of any city any time day or night alone if I so choose...and be safe. But of course I cannot and why? Because of muggers, rapists, murderers, etc. So who is free here?

Jul 10th - 20:11pm | Samaya

I am also a second amendment advocate. In addition, I am a woman and a concealed weapon permit holder. I respectfully disagree with you Sully and here is why.

Jul 10th - 19:32pm | Fred Miller

Cate - I'm also a nature lover. If you met me on the trail, you'd wouldn't know whether I was armed or not. After we parted ways, you'd probably think to yourself, "What a nice man". If you only knew. I feel sorry for you and your irrational fears. Good luck in our reality.

Jul 10th - 18:39pm | Anonymous

I am aware that guns can save lives, but they also take lives. I know that a lot of people like to say guns don't kill people, people kill people, but if the people didn't have guns there wouldn't be as many deaths.

Study Claims National Park Service is Failing to Protect Biscayne National Park's Coral Reefs

Jul 14th - 09:49am | Anonymous

You see this beautiful marine sanctuary, a splendor of magnificent beauty slowly dying at are doorsteps. Yet, the Bush & Cheney administration wants to drill off the coast of Florida and California for more oil without a clue how precious our ocean resources are.

Another Black Bear Put Down, This One In Yellowstone National Park

Jul 13th - 23:03pm | jsmacdonald

And an interesting twist on this! 7/14/08 Park: Tourists not to blame in bear death (by Noah Brenner Jackson Hole News and Guide)

Jul 13th - 20:51pm | jsmacdonald

I just got back from a weekend in Yellowstone. One of the sad things we saw was a coyote persistently looking through a picnic area in search of human scraps. Despite our efforts to keep him away by scowling at him, he continued on throughout the picnic area to another group of tourists. The tourists there had a dog. They were encouraging their dog to get into a fight with the coyote.

Jul 12th - 17:01pm | little bear

Mother Bear is sick, so Father Bear saw no alternative but to seek food in other places, a forest fire destroyed their food source last year, and fishing is slow as well. Baby Bear is hungry and Mother is getting weaker. They said their goodbye

Jul 12th - 10:13am | Anonymous

Right on. If we have the money to build roads,home's, and park's in the wilderness, we should be able to protect the life of wilderness. This should be part of a permit to build. Thou shall not kill. Relocate,Relocate, as many times as it take's or keep people out, not the creature's. We can move a lot easier than they can.

Jul 12th - 07:48am | Mary Griffin

We went on vacation last year to yellow stone. It was in fact an awesome place and every one should see it. BUT I totally agree we have been moving in on nature and wild life...they were here first. While we were there, a woman was kicked out of the park because she was trying to get a picture of her baby on the back of a bison!!!!! People just don't get it.

Jul 12th - 07:34am | Pete

I agree, Fred. There are millions of acres in the surrounding areas of Yellowstone where humans would not pose a threat to this bear!

Jul 12th - 07:27am | Pete

I agree, Fred. There are millions of acres in the surrounding areas of Yellowstone where humans would not pose a threat to this bear!

Jul 12th - 07:24am | Jammin Pete H

I agree, Fred. There are millions of acres where humans would not pose a threat to this bear in the surrounding states. Keep on Jammin Fred! Pete

Jul 11th - 18:45pm | Loes W.

Hey Airport4, I paid good money for my University of Disney biology degree. With it I know more than the PhDs working in the field will ever know, and I can criticize the feds on whatever they do with bears, bison, chipmunks and aliens (they're not just in area 51 you know). Habituated bears are dead bears. Period.

Jul 11th - 10:23am | Airport4

Why not relocate the bear? 1. Bears come back, sometimes from remarkable distances. 2. Do you want a habituated bear in your back yard? Most folks don't. People need to get past the University of Disney biology degree.

Jul 11th - 09:25am | Shawn

Mookie, I agree with you that it all comes down to funding and or lack of time/manpower.

Jul 11th - 07:22am | Mookie

Fred, the answer is in Kurt's article: "Park officials say that based on the animal’s aggressive behavior, lack of fear of people, and its success at getting human food, the decision was made to capture and kill the bear."

Jul 11th - 07:19am | Betty H

A FED bear is a DEAD bear, why can't people learn this ?

Jul 10th - 21:18pm | Kurt Repanshek

Perhaps, just perhaps, the fuel cost comment was intended as sarcasm.

Jul 10th - 21:17pm | Anonymous

i hate to see any animal killed but if it can not be safely moved to another area away from people then i guess that is the only ansrew that will not endanger the rangers or visitors. the black bear is a beautiful animal but can also be deadly to the average visitor as a child in tennesse i saw a black bear tear the front door off my aunts house as if it was nothing.

Jul 10th - 20:28pm | Anonymous

You are out of your mind, the government spends Billions of our tax dollars every day and they can't expend a few gallons of gas. Get a life.

Jul 10th - 19:07pm | Anonymous

Because fuel costs too much these days.

Bush Administration Plan to Remove Wolf Protections Draws Criticism

Jul 13th - 20:34pm | Shawn

As for the question of who counts the wolves, one answer would be a wildlife manager working in that area. As for the how do they count them, well, there are several different ways and it's a little to hard to explain. The only reason I know about them is from a wildlife/ forestry conservation course that I took, and from what I studied, the results should be accurate.

Groups Sue Park Service Over ORV Use in Big Cypress National Preserve

Jul 13th - 18:34pm | Hugo H.

I have been riding ORV in the cypress for years and i have felt both sides of idiousy in the park from both sides of the issue. i have on occasion picked up trash while riding, mainly beer cans. on my way out i was stopped with several cans old, dirty, sun faded cans. when i was stopped and told i was going to be given a open container ticket for every can on my bike!

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

Jul 13th - 15:54pm | Shawn

Both of the comments do hold important issues in preserving the ecosystem. There are times that both are needed to bring an deterorating ecosystem back into check. Hunting by it's self isn't the answer, you need the balance of predator/prey to keep things under control after the ecosystem has been restored.

Jul 13th - 09:36am | Anonymous

Need a better predator/pray balance...not control hunting! Keep the damn hunters and ranchers out of the equation and let nature do it's job.

Jul 13th - 08:07am | RicBarnett

Replace wolves with controlled hunting.

Should Yellowstone National Park's Elk Herds Be Culled to Fight Brucellosis?

Jul 12th - 08:45am | B Howell

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/07/12/opinion/guest/40-habi... Interesting letter to the editor from a very good group who seems to share my beliefs concerning wildlife and wilderness.

Man Bitten at Saguaro National Park by Gila Monster

Jul 12th - 08:19am | Anonymous

I have to agree, the guys a dumb***. Some people may think that you should give the man a break, WELL who is giving the animals a break??? I'm sorry for this homeless man that was off his meds( I'm glad the doctar diagnosed this for us). Perhaps in the future he will not listen to the gila monster when he wants to be his friend.

Jul 12th - 06:34am | Anonymous

I typed *MAY* not be mentally fit. There's a difference between MAY and IS. The statistics are there about the correlation between being homeless and having a debilitating disease such as schizophenia (which may be why the man got the impression from the gila monster that "it wanted to be friends").

Jul 11th - 20:14pm | Lone Hiker

Guess this is another case where a concealed weapon would have solved all the world's woes. Damn those wild animals are vicious!

Jul 11th - 11:52am | Anonymous

Anonymous: The NPS Morning Report (as stated in the post above and available to read on the NPS website) says he was homeless. Mookie: C'mon. Anyone who puts a gila monster on their shoulders because he thinks it wants to be friends *isn't* all there...

Jul 11th - 08:00am | Mookie

And how does being homeless equate to not being mentally fit? I know that there are many homeless people that have psychological problems and ailments, but don't paint the picture that if someone is homeless he must have something wrong him mentally.

Fire Restrictions Ban Campfires at Zion National Park

Jul 11th - 22:37pm | Marie

There is nothing new about this they always ban campfires in Zion usually May thru Oct. They also never allow fireworks in Zion. To me this is not news. Most parks in the Southwest have these bans this time of the year. Only a fool would light a campfire here in the Southwest during the summer.

There's A New Way To Come Up For Air At Mammoth Cave National Park

Jul 11th - 18:21pm | Norm Rogers

Wow! Great article and a great photo of the new tower. If I had a nickel for every step that we took on that old tower... Thanks for the post. It brings back a lot of memories.

Jul 11th - 17:09pm | Larry Matiz

Enjoyed your article on the new tower at Mammoth Cave (MaCa). I will enjoy running up and down those steps in a few weeks for a week of MaCa Restoration Camp the first week in August. We really don't run up and down the steps but it seems like it working down in the cave. You can check our our website at www.restoremammoth.com

Park History: Mammoth Cave National Park

Jul 11th - 18:15pm | Lonnie Meredith

I have family who lived in the Mammoth Cave Park territory before it was made into a park. I would like to see a map ot the area that would designate who owned parts of the land before the park was formed. I know that some sold the land to the park and some of the land was confiscated by emminent domain. Some of my relatives still live in Brownsville today.

Brown Bears Fishing at Katmai National Park and Preserve

Jul 11th - 14:43pm | Betty Peterson

The bears in the water are amazing. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get there this week end with two of our 11 grandchildren. Grandma Betty

Violent Deaths in the National Parks

Jul 11th - 10:17am | Frank N

"A gun in a US home is 22 times more likely to be used in an accidental shooting, a murder or a suicide than in self-defense against an attack."..........Gosh Fred, guess if you suddenly stop posting in January we'll know what happened!

Will The Superintendent's Summit Chart The Path For The National Park Service's Next Chapter?

Jul 11th - 08:49am | Art Allen

Perhaps my comment needs a little more explanation. The situation that bothers me is that park management is overly concerned that there is not constant growth in visitation. To increase the numbers, it appears that park management is introducing many new intrusions and innovations that might attract visitors. Often, such changes adversely affect the resources.

Jul 11th - 00:03am | Mark E

Art Allen says:

Black Bears in Denali, Grand Teton National Parks Killed

Jul 11th - 03:25am | jimhiker

Good article and I agree with most comments. It is unfortunate that bears have access to so much easy human food and food waste, but the average camper/hiker really does not have a clue about the outdoors, nature, or survival. The bears do and they are very good at it.

Jul 10th - 21:45pm | Robert Amos

I was raised in the mountains of West Virginia and spent a lot of time outdoors. Even as kids we were taught how to treat nature and and animals. The problem with these [national] parks is that the people that usually visit them are from the city, and have no idea what they are doing.

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