Recent comments

Borders, borders, borders; it's not just a book store anymore. Kurt, I've finally finished my 4-part series of essays on Locke and against property rights. I can't help thinking of what I talk about there when I read about this. http://www.yellowstone-online.com/2007/03/part-4-john-locke-yellowstone-and-dogma.html

Your right Steve, but close enough to enjoy all three great parks. Thanks for re-directing my pathways.

I worked at Natural Bridges back in the Fall of 2000 - it's a lovely piece of the Colorado Plateau and definitely merits at least a full day of exploration - if not more! There are lots of ruins in the canyons, not just the Horsecollar location which is pointed out to you. Search carefully and you'll find a lot more along with some beautiful pictograph and petroglyph panels.

Don't forget to slice in some time with Mineral King (between Kings Canyon/Sequioa National Park)...great views from the peaks...and much solitude!

"It was owned by the Spanish in the beginning."

Wrong. Well, depends on which "beginning" to which one refers, and how one defines ownership. For this Alaskan Republican, the "beginning" refers to post-European contact. In one simple sentence, he cavilerly dismissed 20,000 years of human history. While American Indians extensively modified their environment, they didn't transport deer or elk to the island. The ignorance of our elected representatives is saddening.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.