| Page 1524 | National Parks Traveler

Dear Anti-gun activist....If you chose to be a potential victim, that is your privilige. I would much rather have the ability & means of protecting my loved ones & myself via my 2nd amendment rights. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. There are many other countries in the world where this is a fact of life.

Bison Slaughter In Yellowstone National Park Draws Protest Against Park Service

Feb 26th - 12:34pm | jsmacdonald

Another 180 bison have been captured and will be probably shipped to slaughter. That brings that total to 470 for the winter; 602 total dead. The slaughter total alone is 1/10 of the buffalo; the overall total is 1/8 of all buffalo counted in the fall.

Feb 25th - 23:10pm | MPB

Jim, bringing up the Nuremberg trials and the torture at Abu Ghraib is *not* analogous to criticizing Park Service personnel. Why? Because, besides the fact that you're attempting to compare the murder and torture of humans to the killing of bison, the Nazi committed crimes against humanity and the torture at Abu Ghraib was illegal.

Feb 25th - 01:05am | jsmacdonald

First of all, eric, you asked: In your opinion why did the park service begin killing bison?

Feb 24th - 10:52am | MPB

Jim MacDonald wrote: "At what point do we hold people culpable who do what they do even though they hate it? Isn't it a horribly cynical world where we will have to depend on lawyers to make things right? And, then, will it? What's really changed? I think all it does is change the playing field, but it's still the same game."

Feb 24th - 02:24am | fred

Sorry for the delay Jim in responding to your well versed response to my comments, my head was spinning for several days. I just have to revisit my original thoughts about the beef industry being responsible and the park service being caught in the middle of it all. I'd like to ask you a few questions. In your opinion why did the park service begin killing bison?

Feb 23rd - 22:34pm | jsmacdonald

Mack, At what point do we hold people culpable who do what they do even though they hate it? Isn't it a horribly cynical world where we will have to depend on lawyers to make things right? And, then, will it? What's really changed? I think all it does is change the playing field, but it's still the same game. Randy O.,

Feb 23rd - 20:21pm | MPB

Randy O. wrote "For the record, I find the current bison management policies antiquated and irrational, and am putting my time and resources toward finding some sort of rational solution..." Will you describe your efforts, or, at least, can you share what you think would have to happen in order to obtain some sort of rational solution?

Feb 23rd - 12:37pm | Randy O.

Jim-

Feb 23rd - 08:28am | jsmacdonald

Randy O., You'll probably need to do more than brushing my arguments aside with ad hominem attacks to speak to what I wrote. It's easy enough to brush me aside, however many years I have spent actually caring about and learning about Yellowstone (and even living and working there seasonally over five summers in the 1990s). It's much harder to brush aside the force of argument.

Park History: Grand Teton National Park

Feb 26th - 12:18pm | Scot M.

One other interesting bit of trivia related to the creation of Grand Teton National Park & Jackson Hole National Monument is that because Jackson Hole residents were so upset with the land purchases by Rockefeller, his donation of the purchased land to the federal government, and President Franklin Roosevelt's use of the authority in the American Antiquities Act to create Jackson Hole Natio

Feb 26th - 12:14pm | jsmacdonald

I love Grand Teton and consider it Yellowstone itself, but how is it hat's off to Rockefeller? He scammed people using a front group (that hid his identity so that he could get the land for lower prices and who didn't want a national park in Jackson Hole) to collude with Albright to acquire land in Jackson Hole.

Feb 26th - 10:28am | Joesf

Hats off to Rockefeller and Albright for having the foresight to create this park! A great story and nicely written piece.

Critics: Changing Gun Laws in National Parks Would Open a "Pandora's Box" of Problems

Feb 26th - 05:38am | nobody

No one is asking for open hunting seasons in the parks just allow guns. I don't agree with carrying concealed weapons but I see no harm in allowing weapons in a persons vehicle for protection

Feb 26th - 03:15am | Joel

Boring!.....Yawn......This issue has been killed and rehashed to no conclusion. There are already guns in the parks. They belong to criminals who you are not aware currently carry them. Would you like to be aware of people carrying guns in the parks? If yes then you are for this legislation.

National Park Visitation Debate -- Here We Go Again

Feb 26th - 00:54am | ReBecca

Glacier uses explosives to clear trails (at least they did in 2005 when I worked there, on the highline trail for sure). It was employed to clear large rocks that would come down from the avalanches that might be blocking a trail or causing a hazard.

Feb 25th - 23:10pm | JTR

I wonder if the visitor statistics for the competing recreation activities fluctuate in the same patterns as the NPS visitation,but at different times. People's recreation interests follow trends like everything else in our culture. Maybe low visitation years shouldn't be a worry, its a time to recoup for the next upswing.

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Growing by 42 Acres

Feb 25th - 23:30pm | JTR

Maybe 42 acres doesn't seem like much land in the overall scheme of the NPS, but that land was paid for long ago in blood and tears. It is better that this hallowed land is set aside now. Otherwise in 50 years it will have a strip mall built on it.

Does the National Park Service Need a Quota System for Peak Seasons?

Feb 25th - 23:19pm | JTR

Quotas and lotteries are too cumbersome. Presumably all the people crowing the parks have already found a campsite or accommodations somewhere. The number of visitors is already "set" by the number of accommodations available.

A Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom Ranch

Feb 25th - 21:07pm | pkrnger

Ken,

Feb 25th - 11:28am | pkrnger

Diane, Are you spending the night at Phantom Ranch? If so, will you be eating meals there as well? I found that the Phantom Ranch breakfast of hotcakes, eggs, and bacon was quite good, especially the bacon. If you have them prepare a sack lunch for the hike out, it will include the electolyte mix that Kurt recommends above.

Feb 24th - 17:53pm | repanshek

Diane, Sounds like you've got a great trip lined up! While I've hiked down into and back out of the canyon, with a stop at Phantom, I have yet to run the river.

Feb 24th - 15:32pm | Diane

Was glad to see some "been around the block once or twice" ages posted here as I am a 58 year old woman :)

Dinosaur National Monument: Paleo's Not The Only Responsibility

Feb 25th - 17:20pm | Anonymous3

A re-post for the convenience of the readers: Monument or Park, the key word here is "Dinosaur".

Feb 25th - 17:11pm | Tom

Additional important factual information: *NPS-77 explicitly states that fossils found in parks are to be prepared by or under the supervision of professionals.

Feb 25th - 14:44pm | Dale

Mr. Chure and the management of Dinosaur NM continue to misrepresent the current paleontology program to the public. Here are some points that should be made clear. Paleontology is identified as a core issue of the Monument. The program has included volunteers as significant partners since 1985. Assistance from researchers, museums, and universities has always been a part of the operation.

Feb 25th - 12:38pm | Anonymous2

Sounds like the writing of JTR (yea the one who is obviously a park employee @ DNM & very close to the situation), sticking to only the upper management side of the story, completely fact-less postings and very willing to bash any other point of view or credible information that contradicts the party line.

Feb 25th - 12:37pm | JTR

Read the story again. The NPCA got letters from those opposing the NPS, including some calling for the Superintendent’s resignation. The NPCA heard from both sides and made a decision about who to support.

Feb 24th - 21:48pm | Anonymous1

Or the NPCA is only going on the limited information they have been provided with from the parks point of view.

Rangers Association Points Out Flaws In Secretary Kempthorne's Weapons Logic

Feb 25th - 14:41pm | Lee

There seems to be a lot of great opinions in this discussion (so I'll add mine)

Feb 25th - 14:13pm | Scot McElveen

Mr. Fletcher James, I feel I must personally respond to your post because you have been disrespectful to me personally, and some of your sweeping assumptions are not accurate which is what frequently happens when one makes assumptions.

Feb 25th - 11:11am | Frank N

I've beaten this to death on other pages (see, didn't even need a gun!!), and won't continue to do so here. Just a couple of quick things. First, as implied by Mr. McElveen, this IS NOT a second amendment issue. It has nothing to do with the second amendment. In fact, this does NOT insure the right of "law abiding citizens" to bear arms.....not even in National Parks.

Feb 25th - 08:52am | Jim M

Fletcher:

Feb 24th - 20:52pm | CF

perhaps a real poll could take place w/in the various national parks..be in campgrounds, tents only areas and back country. I believe most folks who have spent many a vacation in the parks would say they feel safe as law is now. Really, just how many of the few tragic events that have made the news in recents years could have been avoided.

Feb 23rd - 23:48pm | allan samuels

As a retired peace officer I don't feel that my right to carry a concealed weapon should not appply to national parks

Feb 23rd - 22:34pm | Fletcher James

This is a classic case of the leaders (or head idiots) just not getting it. I believe if you polled all employees and visitors (aka Citizens) as to wether they would feel safer knowing that an armed law abiding persons were allowed in the parks that a large portion would agree that is a wise idea.

Feb 23rd - 22:18pm | Bill Roberts

From what I have been reading on the gun issue in the national parks there seems to be a very large gap of ignorance in how our parks are used. Some guy from Utah thought I wanted a national CCW even though I had already stated there was no such thing (except for law enforcement and that is NOT always true or accepted) if he had read correctly.

Interior Secretary Opens Door for New Gun Regulations in National Parks

Feb 25th - 11:54am | el conquistador

I completely agree with "Barky". I have been in some very remote areas of our federal lands and on occasion I have wished I had brought a rifle, just in case. I do believe this is a state's rights issue, but I am very sympathetic to the park rangers who might stumble upon more gunplay than they have heretofor been subjected to.

Feb 24th - 17:22pm | T. Page

I just have a few questions: 1. Is it just a security issue that makes you want to carry a weapon into a National Park? 2. If it is just a security issue then what do you now? Do you visit the parks or take the family somewhere else? If you visit the parks do you carry anyway?

Feb 23rd - 19:31pm | Barky

I'm becoming more and more ambivalent on the gun issue. Gun lovers are going to carry no matter what. I suspect many already carry in the parks now, who would know? There is also crime in the parks. The Everglades, for example, were once notorious for drug runners (not sure if that still holds true today).

Feb 22nd - 22:59pm | Proud CHL Holder

Hooray for doing away with another 'dis-armed victim zone'! It's a step in the right direction in eliminating the mis-guided practice of not allowing properly licensed and trained individuals to carry their means of protecting themselves, their families and others from harm.

Controlled Flood Proposed for the Colorado River Through Grand Canyon National Park

Feb 25th - 11:00am | Nick Hower

I have scheduled a fly-fishing trip with many out-of-state friends for March 27-30, 2008 (Lees Ferry). Should I cancel this trip?!?!?

4-Year-old Dies in Fall off South Rim of Grand Canyon

Feb 24th - 19:45pm | Another Mom

Steve's opening comments certainly inspire anyone with a clue about what life is like parenting children to respond. This little 4-year old yanked away from her parent in an act of willfulness, and it had the most tragic of consequences. Every one of us - especially anyone who is a parent - can look at this and grieve, knowing that it could have been any one of us.

National Parks Conservation Association: Interior Buckled to NRA Over Park Gun Laws

Feb 24th - 09:37am | Dan Miller

Our national parks have many visitors, some of them families, some of them illegals (armed) and growing their drug crops, some of them human predators looking for weak victims.

Dinosaur National Monument Cutting Paleontology Staff

Feb 23rd - 21:08pm | Anonymous2

Whats your beef JTR? Do you have sort of inside information to offer? Have you been to the park? Do you know what is going on here? Do you work there? Have you worked there? Unless you have, I do not see how you can be accusing Tom of stating his mind (this is America after all). Paleo is a pretty small work, there are always personal connections, maybe you know that. So, whats your beef?

Clinton, McCain, Obama Answer Questions on National Parks

Feb 23rd - 19:23pm | Barky

I suspect McCain's heart is in the right place. The NPS is integral to Arizona's economy and is very important to its voting public. He couldn't have been an AZ senator all these years without hearing that from his constituency.

Tar Sands Development Could Impact Canyonlands National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Glen Canyon NRA

Feb 23rd - 15:01pm | Joseph Raglione

Hello from Canada!

Dinosaur National Monument Superintendent Favors Law Enforcement, Maintenance, Interpretation Over Paleontology

Feb 23rd - 00:37am | Al O'sore-ass

Whether or not the work at DNM can be done by other partners by outsourcing is irrelevant. The point is, why get rid of a dedicated, knowledgeable and skilled curator/collections manager (Ann Elder) and geologist/fossil preparator (Scott Madsen) when their work of 20+ years is tried and true?

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