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Grand Teton Puts Down Another Bear

Sep 12th - 20:34pm | Randy

We reported this Bear to the Ranger at Jenny Lake on August 29, 2007, we had 5 hikers turned around coming towards us on the trail by the String Lake Trailhead, they had encountered the black bear and said it was aggressive towards them.

Sep 11th - 14:33pm | Lone Hiker

So, when do they begin the sensible course of action......close the park until people can act responsibly? Hopefully, the winter snows will come early and often.

Dry Conditions Blamed For Bear Problems in Grand Teton, Yosemite

Sep 12th - 17:49pm | Merryland

OK, I guess I missed that last minute safety... Bears 14, Cowboys 2

Sep 12th - 10:55am | Lone Hiker

I would be curious to view any correlation in past years to ecological and environment data pertaining to "dry" years and the resultant effect on whatever might be considered a normal level of annual encounters between the bear population and human visitors would equate into, and I'm certain that these data are readily available.

Sep 12th - 06:19am | jsmacdonald

There's more to this - apparently, the man wounded the bear, and so the portion of the Gallatin National Forest that he was in was closed off because of the dangers of a wounded grizzly bear (and they aren't absolutely sure it was a grizzly that attacked). Of course, I've got relevant stories in the newspaper on the black bears as well as this latest grizzly incident.

Sep 11th - 23:09pm | repanshek

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes he eats you!

Sep 11th - 20:27pm | Merryland

Another bear incident just outside the Yellowstone boundary on Sunday I believe -- some park employee was out HUNTING for black bear when a grizzly decided to go hunting for HIM. Details are on the NPS website if you're interested. Final score: Bears 14, Cowboys 0

Private Party At Charlestown Navy Yard Doesn't Lack Alcohol

Sep 10th - 22:39pm | Anonymous

I would just like to add that the parks were set aside for the benefit and enjoyement of the people. The parks were meant to be used!!

Sep 10th - 15:25pm | Anonymous

"On an earlier comment, the "guy in the yellow shirt" who stopped a visitor from entering the Navy Yard, that was one of the law enforcement fellows...funny they have "POLICE" on the back of their shirt..they wish..."

Judge Orders Cross Removed from Mojave National Preserve

Sep 10th - 14:26pm | Lone Hiker

Good job Kurt, you have indeed touched a common nerve.

Sep 10th - 11:19am | entropyhed

It's tricky to respond posts like this (but watch me try anyway :) ). The best I can do I suppose is keep it personal. I'm an atheist. I'm also an occasional visitor to the Mojave preserve and have seen the cross. Am I deeply offended the cross is there? No. I'm regaled by Christian imagery everywhere I look, and quite honestly a bit numb to it. Am I offended? Yes.

Sep 10th - 09:35am | repanshek

Tom, I appreciate your diligence in tracking down the court order. But I would disagree with your analysis that this case is "not about religious symbols at all."

Sep 9th - 23:51pm | Tom Bremer

I find it interesting that no one has bothered to read the actual court opinion, which just affirms my earlier point that “the public debate has been poorly informed and relies more on opinion than historical fact.”

Sep 9th - 20:41pm | Merryland

It's too bad there are lots of Christians out there giving Christianity a bad name, but that's what it's come to. Too many "arrogant prosletizers" trying to drum up "business" and "followers" and let it be said -- "money". And now that religious leaders are putting their paws into politics, people are lashing out against it.

Sep 9th - 14:34pm | Kath

There's a "Christ of the Abyss" on a coral reef in John Pennekamp State Park in Florida. It has been there since the early 60's and is a popular sight for snorkelers and scuba divers. The ACLU tried to get it removed also, but to remove it would have disturbed the reef and destroyed coral so it's still there.

Sep 9th - 14:11pm | Art Allen

Pardon me for sustaining this rather heated and emotional debate.... I don't understand the responses.. How can you relate to the cross on the missions to my argument? The crosses, and star of david and crescents on the gravestones aren't at issue either. Those arguments are just silly.

Sep 9th - 12:07pm | Art Allen

What if the erection on this hilltop were a Swastika, put there in 1939, well before the NPS was on the scene. What if some person in the dark of night decided that the Al Queda symbol should dominate the hilltop. What would the reaction be?

Sep 9th - 11:33am | repanshek

I neglected to mention in my initial post that the cross long pre-dates arrival of the Park Service, as the preserve wasn't created until 1994. Of course, prior to that year the land was managed by the BLM.

Sep 9th - 09:14am | Kath

The cross was put up as a war memorial to the fallen of WWI. It's a war memorial, not a call to Christian religious services. The cross is frequently used as a memorial to the fallen whether they were Christian or not. There is no question that if it were over 100 years old, the National Park Service would keep it as a historical monument.

Sep 9th - 08:59am | jsmacdonald

It's appropriate if the reaction is different (for the totem pole than for the cross) for many of the same reasons I give above. And, not just those, but more besides ... though all of them related.

Sep 9th - 00:10am | Anonymous

how long does something need to stand in a national park before it becomes part of the tapestry of the story of a park itself and protected by law? i seem to remember something about trash (not referring to the cross, have no interest in the can of worms here) becoming historical after a certain period of time.

Sep 8th - 23:55pm | Anonymous

THAT CROSS ISNT HURTING ANYONE, THE PERSON WHO SAID IT WAS OFFENSIVE ONLY WANTS TO BE A BIGSHOT SO HE CAN SAY SEE WHAT I DONE. HE PROBABLY LIKES PULLING THE WINGS OFF OF FLYS ALSO.

Sep 8th - 22:06pm | jsmacdonald

Don't you - Anonymous - answer your first question with your second question? It seems common sense that you don't have freedom of religion if you don't protect minority practice of religion. Whether this cross is or isn't, I have no idea.

Sep 8th - 21:53pm | Lone Hiker

You're right Kurt, you've definiately stepped in a pile with this article. First someone demands that the pledge of allegiance be removed from public schools. On the other hand, public school facilities and other public buildings are still allowed to be utilized for denominational religious services. Both positions are vehemently supported by the ACLU.

Sep 8th - 20:18pm | Anonymous

THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE EDUCATED IN SPITTING OUT WORDS AND NOT EDUCATED IN COMMON SENSE . WHERE HAS THE FREEDOM OF RELIGON GONE ?? WHY ARE WE BOWING TO MINORITY RULE ????? THIS ALL APPLIES TO MANY MANY EVENTS IN OUR COUNTRY.

Sep 8th - 17:56pm | Tom Bremer

You raise some very good questions. The answers are neither simple nor easy.

GAO: Interior Failed to Provide Park Service With Tools To Cope With Climate Change

Sep 10th - 13:01pm | Lone Hiker

I'm not particularly enthralled with the prospects for the future either. And to Jr. Ranger, I have six of my own who I am most concerned about, but to claim that the old farts aren't doing anything and the younger generation is spearheading the movement isn't at all accurate.

Sep 10th - 11:54am | vink80

YOU ARE ALL OVER LOOKING SOME BASIC FACTS: I AM 83yrs old --- WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL IN PHILLIPS, MAINE I WAS TAUGHT AND SHOWN SOME BASIC THINGS ABOUT THE ICE AGE. GROOVES ON WHEELER HILL MADE BY MELTING AND MOVING GLACIERS ---- DAVIS ROCK CARRIED IN AND DROPPED BY THE GLACER. ---- AND ALL ACROSS COUNTRY THERE ARE LANDMARKS MADE BY THE ICE AGE MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO .

Sep 10th - 10:50am | Anonymous

Lone Hiker, good points and well taken but that does not satisfy my curiousity why you didn't blame this all on the cockroachs (emiittance of huge amounts of methane gas). In jest!

Sep 10th - 06:59am | Lone Hiker

If only practical and effective solutions were that easy to implement. Environmental impact, usually in for form of irreversible damage, is the track record of man-made alterations to local geographies around the nation. Dams generate hydroelectric power in the southwest, at the cost of plant and animal habitats, allowing for exotic species to gain hold and further alter the terrain.

Sep 9th - 22:15pm | Bob Krumenaker

Some who've commented are missing the point of the GAO report. Putting the issue of the cause of climate change aside for the moment, this report shows that field people in the NPS are lacking any guidance or consistency of approach on how to address the changes that are already being witnessed, and those that are projected to occur.

Sep 9th - 20:57pm | Merryland

If I may so bold...

Sep 9th - 20:40pm | Anonymous

jr._ranger, your comments tonight made my day!

Sep 9th - 19:24pm | jr_ranger

If I maybe so bold.... Before you start berating people for listening to bad sources of information , please consider the following:

Sep 9th - 15:58pm | Anonymous

Lone Hiker, all this techical jargon that you sprew out isn't only confusing the general public, but is in part of the bogus science that you represent. When in general, most world climatologist will agree that global warming is man induced...can we agree on that!? If not, show we where I'm wrong. Please!

Sep 9th - 14:42pm | Lone Hiker

I do not represent ANY faction of government, thank you. I am most familiar with Dr. Hanson's interpretation of his data, and that is indeed all they are, his interpretations. My sources and opinions are based in the chemistry of the reduction process by while ozone is converted to O2 and O, or how the O3 molecule is split, which is the ONLY process that really matters.

Sep 9th - 11:09am | Anonymous

Lone Hiker, I assume you have not read any of Dr. Hanson's research work at NASA on global warming. If you did, perhaps you might think twice before blogging your complete distortion of the facts what causes global warming. Corporate America could use you as there poster child to enhace their agenda that rape and pillage is good for the atmosphere.

Sep 8th - 22:35pm | Lone Hiker

The aren't any scientists at ANY level, academic or governmental, who have a solid enough foundation regarding this topic that qualifies them to redirect environmental issues, that if incorrectly altered, could have the same effect on our species as the misguided mountain lion hunts of the early 20th C did on the mule deer population on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I guess only the Rev.

Sep 8th - 20:29pm | Tim B

This article is almost insane. The total amount of "could's", "might's" and "may's" in each paragraph tells me that conditions could or might not get serious. But the one thing I do know...almost every time humans try to control a natural environment, the effects are usually worse than if the condition was left alone.

Federal Real ID May (Not) Be Required For Park Visit

Sep 10th - 05:48am | jsmacdonald

What's your phone number? 867-5309? :)

Sep 9th - 21:37pm | Merryland

Just last week I was at some big box store, paying cash for whatever it was I was buying, and the cashier looks at me with a straight face and says "I need your phone number" before he'll ring up the sale and give me my change. My response: "You're kidding, right?" After a blank stare and an awkward silence, I just said "No thanks" so the cashier could continue.

Sep 9th - 19:05pm | jsmacdonald

Jon, I definitely agree with you. And, I share your pessimism; I'm just not willing to give up. So, again, I'll ask what people are willing to do to organize. I put that out there not simply as a challenge I expect to fall on deaf ears, but one that's real. When I land in the Greater Yellowstone region, this is the kind of organizing I expect I'll be doing.

Sep 9th - 16:29pm | Merryland

Jim, I'm not in favor of any of it. It's just that each little piece of our identity that gets collected by this company and that government entity is faced with a pathetic wimper from the masses against it, and the march toward everyone knowing everything about everyone continues.

Search Under Way in Rocky Mountain National Park for Fort Collins Couple

Sep 9th - 21:05pm | Merryland

Finally -- a happy ending. <><><><><><><><><><> Rocky Mountain National Park (CO) Missing Couple Found After Lengthy Search

Should the NPS Be Given Mount St. Helens?

Sep 9th - 21:04pm | Kathy

I agree, I worked for the Forest Service in a Ranger Station very near to the Monument and they do not know how to manage an area for the person that just wants to visit the area. Thier specialty is managing it for many uses, thus thier motto. The best example is thier pass system, for most people this is very, very confusing. A typical visitor sees Mt. St.

Mt St Helens as National Park?

Sep 9th - 11:37am | Darcy

As a former Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument employee, and a resident of Toutle who lived the eruption, I must first correct some inaccuracies in the article. #1 No land in the Monument will ever be logged. Monument designation permanently removes 110,000 acre-Monument from resource extraction, period. This is a non-issue.

Pot Farmers Tilling Ground in Yosemite

Sep 7th - 21:29pm | Sherry

There are ONLY 20 million daily pot smokers???? I have a feeling that is a count of the people who ADMIT to a daily habit and not a realistic number of all daily pot smokers. I am going to guess that the number is much higher, at least double that figure. The solution to the problem lies with us and we are the only ones who have any chance of coming up with a sloution.

Another Black Bear in Grand Teton Put Down

Sep 7th - 18:55pm | Anonymous

kurt- maybe i missed something in the previous posts, but how is the overall population of black bears doing in the area, at least before the drought hit, good or bad? all those people should be fined. in drought years, educational enforcement just isn't enough.

Sep 7th - 12:48pm | Mookie

Exactly correct about the citations. The reason these bears are being put down is directly related to the easy access of food due to carelessness of visitors, campers, and backpackers. The NPS needs to get serious with the fines. I'm talking $200 minimum for carelessness, $500 for outright feeding of bears.

The Secret Life of Drugs in Parks

Sep 7th - 15:39pm | jersu

Steve, Me? Tired of you sharing your stories here? No way! I'm so glad you have added the link. You are correct, it is very on-topic, and it really helps tell the story here. I didn't discover your program until about episode 50, so I wasn't aware of that particular audio program.

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