Recent comments

Craptacular,

Re Star Wars quotes, you're confusing humour with philosophy... You also seem to confuse the term "government" with "the current administration". The vast majority of government employees are there year in, year out, doing their jobs at lower than job market rates, regardless of who's in charge for four or eight years.

I am curious though about the reference to "illegally snatched". Is there any form of government that would meet your criteria? Do you see any reason for the existence of government at all? And if not, why bother complaining about the National Park Service which represents an eency weency fractional percentage of the federal budget? You seem to have much bigger issues than could ever be addressed here.

-- Jon

That the legislative impulse to fund the parks in the first place stems from a silly anniversary date is even more absurdly strange than any language inserted into a Congressional spending bill and just points, once again, to the folly of our national treasures being mere political footballs for the crooks in DC to kick around on Capitol Hill.

It's time that the nation begin to look at other ways to run many, maybe not all, of our national parks. A good start would be a non-partisan commission to look at many of the smaller historical parks and urban recreation areas to see if they could be transitioned to cooperating associations or other site specific, community based organizations. Is the Boston Navy Yard truly a national treasure? Or would it be safe to say that it became a park through cunning politicians who wanted a little park service pork in their district created out of surplus military land? Do most Bostonians swell with pride when they think of their "crown jewel" of a Navy Yard? Does it rank up there with Fenway Park and the Old North Church? What about the park that commerates our "copper smelting heritage" (Keeweenaw) in the upper peninsula of Michigan? Is that even a "treasure" to the people of Michigan? Most of it was a Superfund site when it was originally created. That it was an economic development project created to drum up tourism in a very depressed area of the Great Lakes is a well established fact. What about Steamtown, old cloth mills in Massachusetss and urban parks in Cleveland, NYC and the San Francisco Bay Area? The list could go on and on. Is this what the founders of the NPS envisioned 100 years ago? A park in every Congerssional district?

Until the politics is removed, as well as many unworthy individual units, the NPS is doomed to failure by the very institutions that are supposed to prop it up and "support" it. It's time after a century to try a new way and forge a different path. The current system is clearly broken.

Theft? Stolen? Secession? Wow... I guess this conversation is going nowhere fast. Have a happy life in the Conch Republic. ;-)

PS -- I said "ultimately accountable"

ULTIMATELY: adverb. At last; in the end; eventually.

Yosemite National Park (CA)
Visitor Death On Half Dome Trail

Valley rangers received a report of an unconscious and unresponsive man on the Half Dome trail about a half mile up from the Sunrise trail intersection early on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 11th. Off-duty park safety officer Roger Farmer soon arrived on scene and reported that CPR was in progress. Helicopter 551 was immediately requested and flew to the area. Ranger/paramedic Keith Lober and ranger Jason Gayeski-Peters heli-rappelled to the man’s location. The victim. Jose Vasquez, 53, of Lodi, California, was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was short-hauled from the area. The cause of death has not yet been determined. [Submitted by Leslie Reynolds, Valley District Ranger]

I recently got one of the new National Passes. Happy to pay $80 toward the parks. For years I've paid parking fees, etc. at climbing spots, hiking parking, etc.

The interesting thing is my new national pass doesn't work at Federal sites in Colorado (the state I'm currently visiting). 3rd party "concessioners" are operating the bulk of the National Forest sites I'm trying to visit, they know nothing about the pass, and they all want additional fees. One worker went so far as to tell me the pass only gets 50% off. I showed him the information pamphlet given to me by the Forest Service folks who sold me my pass, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

Reading through prior comments I know there's a lot of debate. I'm skipping past all of it, to ask a simple thing. Can we get an explanation of what the new pass really offers? It's vague and cloudy to say the least. The regional Forest Service offices I've called declined to give me an answer, as I identified myself as a travel writer for several magazines (which I am). What I know is simple. Sites with Forest Service Signs are declining the pass in Colorado!

I think there should be placards below the forest service signs stating, "Under New Management" to identify non-participating sites.

Looking forward to some thoughts and insights from folks here.

Thanks for taking the time to read my comment.

Rich

Bobt,

Don't waste your time on the Landing and hike the Narrows instead (if you haven't already). I think National Geographic rated it as one of the top 100 hikes in the US. Make sure you overnight in the canyon as well.

What about the examples of Mount Vernon and Monticello? Why is business efficiency always equated with such super "evil" motives like showing a profit? Eating is more important than going to national parks, so why don't you advocate that the government take over the grocery business, because obviously we could never trust the "evil" motives of the market place to efficiently feed the masses, now could we? After all the Interior Department is such a pargaon of virtue and selflessness now ain't it? Just ask Jack Abramoff. Your boundless faith in Big Brother's abilities is truly astounding. Just look around and ask yourself what has the government ever done that is consistently efficient and-first rate?

I'll take a billboard of a national park any day over one for Bud Light or some lame FM radio station. It might even brighten up your dreary Maryland commute.

Haunted hiker, Beamis: You two are right on.

"I'll take a park that is run 'like a business' versus one that is run like a stagnant bureacracy [sic] anytime."

Amen! How can anyone support the bloated pigs? Parks should be run efficiently like successful businesses, not like Marxist regimes.

Oh and re: Anonymous and Modoc: OUCH! SMACK! Were facts not verified? Was false information put out on the Internet? Wouldn't be the first time.

There's more than a little bit of brilliance written into this bill. The deeper one looks, the more thoughtful it becomes.

Of course the President won't be able to support it. HR 3094 is a sharp stick in eye of those special interest groups who have been working with the Administration to create the Centennial Celebration boondoggle as it currently is envisioned. The funding mechanism written into the new bill, is anathema to this administration. The funding mechanism in HR 3094 is entirely appropriate .... and is one I support fully.

HR 3094 is honest and yet it is also clever. It threatens to transform the President's destructive fraud into something worthwhile. So of course Bush and the recreation/tourism industry leaders who created the President's alternative to HR 3094 will loathe this new bill.... though they will need to be extremely careful in the language they use in opposing it. HR 3094 puts them in a very difficult position. It puts NPCA in a difficult position. It would put the National Park Foundation in a difficult position if they were anything more than industry's pawns --- which they are not.

As a consequence of HR 3094's introduction I expect that, for the first time, a genuine discussion about the Centennial will start to develop. I look forward to that discussion and, for the sake of the parks, I hope HR 3094 passes and that the President signs it into law.

Mookie,

Predicting fire behavior is a tough one, especially this summer when things are do dang dry across the West. On top of that, the nation's firefighting resources are being stretched way thin, which is hindering response times and the size of attacks.

You can stay up to date on Zion's fire activity at the park's web site, www.nps.gov/zion and then go to the "news" section. I'd consider a different trip, as even if this fire complex is doused by August, that's not to say another won't flare up. There was a start yesterday near Nephi that blew up to 5000 acres really quick.

My wife and I stayed in the actual lodge a couple years back. THere are only about 4 or 5 rooms upstairs from the dining room and lobby, and while they call them "suites", our room was nothing more than a medium size room with a coffee maker. However, being in the lodge itself was nice, and we didn't have the noisy squirrels that people in the cabins often complain about. On the flip side, our room's window looked out onto the back courtyard, where most people who work at the lodge come to and fro, so expect some morning noise.

My favorite trail at Bryce has always been the Fairyland Canyon loop. Hit the Fairyland trailhead first thing in the morning and you'll have the first few miles all to yourself. As you go around Boat Mesa into Campbell Canyon you're bound to start running into more souls, espcially those who are visiting Tower Bridge Arch. But early morning in Fairyland, while not holding the amount and density of hoodoos in the main amphitheater, is still an incredible canyon full of scents, colors and serenity.

For a bush-whack, hike to the top of Boat Mesa and explore around. There are some unofficial trails leading up and around the top of the mesa, and while the park service probably doesn't want people poking around up there, it gives great views of both Fairyland and Campbell canyons.

I beleive that Mr. Repansheck should verify all of the facts before he puts out false information on the internet.