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

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.

Judge Orders Cross Removed from Mojave National Preserve

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.

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.

Sep 6th - 18:36pm | Steve Sergeant

We did a story in 2005 on what it took a volunteer group to clean up one relatively small marijuana garden in a California state park: The WildeBeat number 19: Restoring a Park Gone to Pot

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

Sep 7th - 12:45pm | jsmacdonald

I do find this upsetting. So, the assumption that those upset with the government aren't also upset with private industry is not much of an argument. Do you think I like getting tons of junk mail, like having my name and information sold so that others can try to sell me stuff? It's all ridiculous.

Sep 7th - 12:08pm | haunted hiker

"private companies have been collecting more information about us than the government has for years, yet we keep signing the sheet or clicking the OK button that says we understand their privacy policy without reading it, we waive our rights on a regular basis just to get the goods or service we're standing in line for"

Sep 7th - 11:55am | Kath

You don't have a 'choice' as to whether or not to disclose your bank accounts, pay statements, dependents, etc. etc. to the IRS. And unless you want to travel to the National Parks by hitchhiking with cash only as your payment method, your movements are being tracked by somebody.

Sep 7th - 11:38am | jersu

Yes, we waive our rights on a regular basis, but, it is a choice we make. We have the choice to accept the privacy policy or not. If I choose to, in this country, I have the choice to have on official address that includes a P.O. Box (a no-no under the Real ID), I have a choice to own a driver's license, I have a choice to move about the country and not have anyone know where I am.

Sep 7th - 11:35am | Kath

The purpose of Real ID is to keep foreign terrorists who wouldn't be able to get a valid Real ID off airplanes and out of potential terrorist targets like federal buildings. Off hand, I don't think any of the National Parks would be prime targets for a terrorist attack, so I concur that the government is unlikely to have park visitor's show their Real ID.

Sep 7th - 11:34am | Merryland

This is all kinda silly, because private companies have been collecting more information about us than the government has for years, yet we keep signing the sheet or clicking the OK button that says we understand their privacy policy without reading it, we waive our rights on a regular basis just to get the goods or service we're standing in line for.

Sep 7th - 11:18am | Kath

I made reservations at White Wolf and Curry Village in Yosemite over the Labor Day weekend. In order to verify that I was the reservation holder, I had to show my driver's license. Delaware North, which runs the Yosemite accommodations has my name in its computers showing all my stays from previous years. Who cares?

Sep 7th - 10:44am | jersu

Anonymous, before you call me out for having got my facts wrong, would you mind doing your own fact check? In March of this year, DHS announced a 20 month delay, pushing the time of enforcement from May 11, 2008 to the end of December 2009.

Sep 6th - 22:20pm | Anonymous

The Real ID Act takes effect May 11, 2008, not "in just over a year," as this article states. At least get the date right!

Sep 6th - 19:19pm | jsmacdonald

I don't support privatizing the parks, but I find this onerous. It raises other issues in respect to the way laws are enforced in the parks and the general way that parks are managed.

Sep 6th - 18:17pm | Steve Sergeant

"A reliable source" in Lassen Volcanic National Park told me recently that it costs them close to 150% as much to staff the entry and exit gates as they take in admissions revenue. And they only staff those gates in the summer during office hours.

Sep 6th - 13:55pm | jsmacdonald

This is still a point that needs clarity. In some states and the District of Columbia, you are not required to show an ID to anyone for any reason when stopped by a law enforcement official (you do need IDs for verification for employment). In some places, even if you are arrested, you are still not required to show an ID. You will be processed in the system as a John Doe.

Sep 6th - 12:20pm | jersu

Wanted to let folks know, I've made an important update to the original story. We've heard from the National Park Service today. Upon further study, it appears as if revealing a Real ID to park rangers would not be a requirement of admittance into our national parks. More details are at the end of the original article above.

Sep 6th - 08:13am | jsmacdonald

It is whacko; are people serious about organizing a movement not to comply? Why do I get the sense that if this happens and a boycott is organized that people will still find themselves putting themselves through this absurdity? Just brand us now; that would save the government a lot of time and money.

Sep 6th - 02:37am | Dan

I sincerely doubt that anyone actually intends to require ID at all National Parks. All the other examples, federal buildings, courthouses, planes and trains, are secure environments, so we can expect that the ID might be required at similar sites. The Washington Monument, for example, has metal detectors and x-ray machines. The Liberty Bell requires some level of security check.

Sep 6th - 01:27am | Anonymous

Federal law enforcement already has the legal right to inspect your ID at any time while you are out on federal property -- regardless of what you are doing. If you do not have a passport or other federally-compliant ID, then when the so-called "Real ID Act" kicks in, they will also have the legal right to detain you until your identity can be verified.

Sep 5th - 20:48pm | Lone Hiker

Yosemite is not an unusual circumstance, in the staffing of "gated" entry points only during normal business hours, whatever that translates into. It seems as though the definition of normal varies widely across the system in actual practice, irrespective of the printed literature.

Sep 5th - 17:28pm | Steve Sergeant

Even at Yosemite National Park, the entry gates on the roads are only staffed during normal office hours. There isn't the budget for staff to manage visitor entrances and exits at other times.

Centennial Projects: Do They All Prepare the National Parks for the Next 100 Years?

Sep 7th - 09:53am | jsmacdonald

On the other hand, Mission 66 was quite the mess in Yellowstone in particular. I worked five summers in Grant Village - a Mission 66 debacle.

Sep 7th - 03:49am | mrc

@Anne Mitchell Whisnant: Thanks for your links and book recommendations. So everyone agrees, that the centennial initiative is nothing like Mission 66. That's sad.

Sep 5th - 21:03pm | Lone Hiker

Pardon my puritanical instincts, but I personally don't see the correlation between museum facilities and the NPS budget. On the other hand, if Yosemite is granted a disproportionate amount of the budget as suggested within the Centennial Initiative, all bets are off. I don't care WHO has the deepest pockets, and trust me, Grand Teton has about the deepest pockets you'll ever encounter.

Sep 5th - 19:27pm | repanshek

Now, Haunted Hiker, before you can fix something you have to know what's wrong with it, no? And I agree, the NPS seems to have more than enough bureaucracy in it. But how can you fix something if you don't have a blueprint or know exactly what's wrong with it?

Sep 5th - 18:40pm | haunted hiker

Beamis, You nailed it again. Could Arnberger's statement sound more bureaucratic? By God! This crisis calls for reports, reports and "a series of reports!" Reminds me of a scene in the movie Office Space where there's a bulletin board in the background with a flow chart titled "PLANNING TO PLAN." Would some DOING TO DO be too much to ask for on this go around?

Sep 4th - 21:10pm | amwdew

Dear MRC:

Sep 4th - 12:53pm | repanshek

Mrc, I'm afraid I can't answer all your questions off the top of my head. They will indeed require some research, but I'll see what I can pull together.

Sep 4th - 12:26pm | Mrc

Kurt, can you dig into some archives to find out about the 1966 50-year-anniversary initiative? From my very limited knowledge about the NPS in that time, between 1958 and 66 substantial funding went into many or almost all units, the agency had at that time. Some units, that were neglected for quite some time got their first decent installations.

When Nature Calls, It's Hard to Find a Restroom on the National Mall

Sep 5th - 23:17pm | Sabattis

The lack of restrooms is a definite problem on the National Mall - although I wonder how the NPS will deal with the situation without turning additional restrooms into de facto homeless shelters. The other major problem is that all of the Smithsonians and Federal Buildings surrounding the Mall effectively shut down around 5pm, creating an effective dead space in the heart of the City.

At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, The Facilities Seem Almost as Old as the Fossils

Sep 5th - 23:12pm | Sabattis

I too have been to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and have been appalled as well. Its really a shame, as this place has some of the most truly amazing fossils found anywhere in the world - insects so finely preserve in stone that you can even see the veins in the wings! Thanks for bringing this appalling situation to a wider audience!

Sep 5th - 18:46pm | haunted hiker

Kurt...you kill me...in a good way!

Sep 5th - 17:53pm | repanshek

C'mon Frank, look at the tree rings. Obviously it's Sequoia affinis, which is most closely related to today's semprevirens.

Sep 5th - 11:56am | jr_ranger

At least I'm not looking to climb the ladder.....

Sep 5th - 09:59am | Anonymous

The sentiment is well taken, but I'm not certain that the only tag that draws cross-country trekkers ends with National Park, National Monument, National Preserve, etc. While the majority of state managed facilities are indeed lacking in many areas of grandeur, most notably in their food and lodging aspects, what lies within the boundries of the parks (e.g.

Sep 5th - 05:53am | Merryland

How does "Florissant Fossil Beds State Park" sound?

Sep 4th - 19:54pm | Merryland

I hope you dropped a few bucks in the donation box... every dollar counts. Sounds like a few extra mouse traps could make or break your experience there... ;-) -- Jon Merryman

Sep 4th - 18:25pm | NATPARKLOVER

As a National Park completist, I took the trek from Denver to "tour" Florissant and I was embarrassed by the "visitor's center" and the unfliching pride of the only on-site ranger who put on his best face while enduring the limitations of his position there. This is the shame of the NPS and I could not recommend this park for visitation as it reflects badly on our nation.

Grand Teton Bears, Update

Sep 5th - 17:35pm | Random Walker

Bears let me know when the apples and pears are at their prime. Deer let me know when the strawberries are juicy. Raccoons remind me it is time for a dump run.

Sep 5th - 17:24pm | Alan

Here, here J! This is a HUMAN problem. Problem is these fines aren't big enough. $200.00 is nothing nowadays when folks don't bat an eye pouring 70 or eighty bucks into their SUV's gas tank. Make it $5,000.00 and people might start paying attention!

Sep 5th - 15:50pm | J

How did we, humans, get to be so arrogant? Why do we think that the 'bear' (or any other animal) needs to live with us? We are suppose to be 'smarter than the average bear' and yet we still crowd them out of their habitat, feed them when they have plenty of food of their own and in general, feel we can change them to 'our ways.' I say write those citations!

Yosemite Falls All Dried Up

Sep 4th - 21:42pm | Rick Deutsch

It is typical for the falls to dry up at the end of summer. This year with 25% snow pack, things shriveled up earlier. There are no aquifers to feed these streams – all we see is snow melt. Bridal Veil Falls usually runs longer due to its larger watershed (mentioned above) AND the fact that the snow fields feeding it face more north and thus melt slower.

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