Recent comments

  • Cyclists Ride Through Grand Canyon, Booted from Parks   6 years 11 weeks ago
    Wow, that's wild; those three managed to bike through Yellowstone during the time when it was closed (though according to their blog had not been stopped by rangers from doing so). That was a shock and a half to me. However, other cyclists during the winter season have complained that rangers won't allow bikes into the park through the South Entrance because the bikes have wheels, and that that violates the winter use policy. I think that's amazing; snowmobiles, snowcoaches, skis, but not bicycles. Jim
  • Tinkering With Perfection   6 years 11 weeks ago
    Even though it is a state park you could use Stone Mountain Park as the prime example of over development. I grew up there and a little at a time they have paved over and comercialized the park. You can no longer fly a kite, ride your horse, put your private boat in the lakes,walk through what little foreset is left or walk up the mountain on any place other than designated trails with thousands of other people. I quit visiting the park 15 years ago or more. There is no nature left to see.
  • Tinkering With Perfection   6 years 11 weeks ago
    Bob Madgic(is this a real name?) also writes: "In Lassen Volcanic National Park a ski area had been built near the south entrance, and cabins, a gas station, a store and cafe near Manzanita Lake, where rental boats littered the shoreline. True to their mission, enlightened officials eliminated most of these intrusions. Today Manzanita Lake is as picturesque and spotless as could be." The proposed business management plan for Lassen calls for building cabins and building/improving roads around Manzanita Lake. The plan also discusses on-site boat rentals and the necessary accompanying "improvements". Seems the NPS is un-learning the ecological lessons it discovered in the 1970s.
  • First NPS Oversight Hearing for 110th Congress   6 years 11 weeks ago
    I was nowhere near a computer this morning during the webcast. I've heard they questioned Bomar about snowmobiles in Yellowstone. Did you hear it, how'd it go? I'll check for the inevitable press release of the hearing which should show up later today sometime.
  • Yellowstone, Sadly, Goes Electronic   6 years 11 weeks ago
    As a park professional who is working on podcasts and vodcasts, I have to say that the Yellowstone casts are excellent. I think it is wrong to think this is a way to get rid of interpretive rangers, on the contrary, this will allow rangers to develop writing skills (for media) and new methods of interpretation (presenting to a camera is very different than being taped for Interp compentancies). Another skill will develop for writing, editing and production of the podcast, further enhancing rangers skills and abilities. I don't know how long the Yellowstone project was in the works, but by viewing the seasonal change, I'd say it took several months. No quick work there(I think your comment about "canned" presentation is meanspirited), my hats off to Ranger Taylor. Keep in mind, like all interpretive media, it will have a shelf life. I do not believe management, as well as the ranger stafff should make these productions, post them and that be that. Like site bulletins (and to a lesser extent, unigrids, which don't get reprinted too often) that get revised frequently, podcasts should be redone every year or so. Just think of some of the collections that have now seen the light of day, which may still have been locked up, only know to those who have the luxery of visiting Yellowstones archives. Modern computers and consumer grade DV camers are now part of (or will be soon) a rangers tool kit. Add some good training and you'll see great things from present and future rangers. As a resident of the east coast who has not had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone, I've seen things on these podcasts beyond what I ever expected of Yellowstone. I would probably never seen it all if I did get there anyway, but now I want to get there more then ever. By viewing these podcasts, I would feel a little better informed when I do get out there. Always leave your audience wanting more.
  • Glacier Geotourism Map: Boon, or Bane?   6 years 11 weeks ago
    I do at times whine about the three foot wide, eight foot high, five percent grade, over signed trails in our National Parks (I swear I once came across a sign, a large arrow with the word "View" in a so called "designated wilderness" area of a National Park.) There are many places I know of in the wildness where the adventure begins with the drive to the trailhead. A few of these roads give access to lesser visited areas of our National Parks. In planning a backpack adventure I love pouring over any maps and data I can find on the history, culture, natural resources etc. of the area I am visiting. If this new NG map gets one person off their ass and a couple of days or more out into our Glacier National Park to gaze wonderingly, loosing track of time, space and self for even a moment, I will be happy.
  • Yellowstone, Sadly, Goes Electronic   6 years 11 weeks ago
    It's rangers in the field who are introducing the podcasts in the first place. We'll tell our story any way people will listen. Brochures, podcasts, car tours, interpretive signs, films, exhibits, informal interp, formal interp, commercial guides, roving contacts, junior ranger workbooks. The question is, will 'podcasts,' which are just audio tours, help people make their own connections to the parks? The answer, like always, is "sometimes yes, and sometimes no." Podcasts are just another tool in the box.
  • Back in the Saddle   6 years 11 weeks ago
    Steve, I was indeed at Natural Bridges, and it provided an incredible star show. Even with the crescent moon the multitude of visible stars was fantastic. Unfortunately, I left my telescope at home. Not that I needed it;-)
  • Yellowstone, Sadly, Goes Electronic   6 years 11 weeks ago
    The next best thing to plastic! How does this test the human spirit and soul by not being there in the National Parks...to enjoy, feel and touch? Podcasting is another way of scouring out the interpretive rangers off the payroll...as the Bush administration would like!
  • Paddling the St. Croix   6 years 11 weeks ago
    Thanks Kurt. The next part in the series should be posted today or tomorrow. I'm approaching it as a study of the specifics of this issue, but also taking the opportunity to examine some of the assumptions of the conservation movement and its opponents. Thanks again for the link!
  • Yellowstone, Sadly, Goes Electronic   6 years 11 weeks ago
    This could be done well, or it could be done poorly. Like anything else in technology, it can be effective or ineffective. To be effective, in my opinion, it would have to leave a lot of mystery in the audience's mind. It would have to be something that piques their curiosity for information or experieences they can only get by exploring the park on their own. If it tries to give them a feeling of being there, of "I've seen it, now I don't have to do it," then it will fail. In this way, audio-only programs can be ideal for leaving much of the experience to the imagination, and leaving you with more questions than answers. I think it's harder to make a video with these qualities. And video is considerably more expensive to produce.
  • In Desperate Need of the Gray and Green   6 years 11 weeks ago
    OTJ: I was surprised, it looks like there may be some authentic gear on eBay. I just hit it with "National Park Service" and found the results pretty interesting. Check it out:

    http://search.ebay.com/sear...

    As of right now, there's a sweater (going for $51), a tie tack, long and short sleeve dress shirts, pants, tie, belts, and even one of my favorite items when I was a ranger, a green fleece jacket! But of course, no ranger uniform would be complete without a flat hat, and to my surprise, there is a summer straw hat for sale too. I think it may get expensive though, with 5 days left, the bidding is already up to $56 bucks.

    eBay is amazing.
  • In Desperate Need of the Gray and Green   6 years 11 weeks ago
    There are children's sized ranger uniforms, but I don't see my big husband squeezing into those.
  • In Desperate Need of the Gray and Green   6 years 12 weeks ago
    There are uniform items all over eBay.
  • In Desperate Need of the Gray and Green   6 years 12 weeks ago
    I may be funny, but getting my husband dressed up like a National Park Ranger is no joke. I'm a woman with a mission!!
  • Back in the Saddle   6 years 12 weeks ago
    If you were in Natural Bridges National Monument, then you were under the darkest skies among all of the national parks in the contiguous 48 states. I hope you took a telescope and a star chart, or at least some decent, large-aperture binoculars! I did a couple of editions of The WildeBeat on the monitoring and decline of the darkness of night skies: http://www.wildebeat.net/index.cgi/2005/10/#E013 http://www.wildebeat.net/index.cgi/2005/10/#E014 Six months later, Science News Magazine reported on that here: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060318/bob10.asp
  • Gateway Arch is Pink with Embarrassment   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Interesting point. I enjoyed this nice thinking piece.
  • Road Warrior Sacked by the National Park Service   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Bob,
    Thanks very much for the clarification. I've re-written the first paragraph to more accurately reflect history, and not my memory. And I agree, that the history of the ANILCA is far too interesting and complex to be summed up very well in a single short paragraph. It sounds as if you are already familiar with the story, but for others who are not, I would recommend the chapter in the book "The Antiquities Act". One of that chapter's co-authors is Cecil Andrus, who was Sec. of Interior at the time. As you suggest, without Carter's decisive action in '78, the opportunity for federal protection of those lands may have been lost altogether. Thanks a lot for your comments Bob.
  • Juggling The NPS Budget   6 years 12 weeks ago
    I read the president's call for private investment in the parks as just another step toward even greater privatization. The spectre of signs promoting some gawdawful corporation's "sponsorship" of this park or that one are just a step behind. Full and adequate public funding. That's what the parks deserve and Congress should give it to them.
  • Road Warrior Sacked by the National Park Service   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Your quick history is just a bit too quick. Carter did not use his authority under the Antiquities Act to sign in to law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). 28 years ago (not 26), on Dec 1, 1978, Carter did use his Antiquities Act authority to establish 17 national monuments covering just under 56,000,000 acres in Alaska. Then two years later, Congress used its authority to pass ANILCA, which Carter then signed into law (on Dec 2, 1980). The Congressional action effectively rescinded or undid Carter's proclamations and replaced them with the national parks, monuments and preserves (and other federal lands) that exist today. Carter's monuments no longer exist, but that does not mean we should discount the importance of his actions in using the Antiquities Act to preserve the Alaska lands and force the Congress into taking the action that it had thus far failed to do.
  • NPS Web Sites: Boon or Bust?   6 years 12 weeks ago
    I was trying the other day to re access some administrative history on a NP site and could not find it anywhere.. I do remember pages and pages of this kind of data.
  • NPS Web Sites: Boon or Bust?   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Agreed, but there was definitely a significant amount of time and resources poured into the NPS web redesign. The fact that the end result makes it more difficult to find park sites by state, region or topic is frustrating to say the least. www.nps.gov used to be a daily destination on my laptop but now I actually rely on my own website and the deep links to the original park websites (those local pages you can sometimes find clicking on the "In Depth" button at nps.gov) that we posted there to find information I need. There are a lot of great websites dedicated to the National Parks, Kurt's being one of the best. But they should be free to supplement and highlight what NPS has to offer, rather than have to fill the gaps left by NPS's poorly planned "updated" site.
  • NPS Web Sites: Boon or Bust?   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Waaaaaaaahhhhh! I'm afraid of change!!! To be honest, if I have to choose between a webnerd updating Olympics website or an LEO out in the field keeping the place safe, I'm going to go with the LEO. Websites should be kept relevant but not every NPS site is going to be like Glacier NP.
  • Don't Cry for Richard Pombo   6 years 12 weeks ago
    More sordid details on Pombo's cozy relationship as a congressman with his new employer can be found on the SF Chronicle's blog today at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-b...
  • Out Product Testing   6 years 12 weeks ago
    Happy travels, Kurt. I'm jealous. The things I see every day (or can see every day) - the National Mall, Lafayette Park, Dupont Circle, the Anacostia waterfront, or even Rock Creek Park, aren't all that conducive to showing people the fruits of the national parks system and perhaps show just enough to show just how stretched out the NPS is. They could use a road trip out of this city - perhaps a permanent one; a lot of people who live here would like that.