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Gerald Ford Remembered

Dec 29th - 10:39am | Jim Macdonald

During my years working in Yellowstone, both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton visited (and Clinton several times). One of my co-workers actually met Clinton. Jimmy Carter was escorted up Mt. Washburn (which he didn't hike much of; they drove him up most of the way). I remember the hoopla over presidential or ex-presidential visits and remember feeling underwhelmed by it all.

Dec 28th - 21:11pm | Heather

Yeah...you're right...Carter didn't lie like Clinton did!

Dec 28th - 16:25pm | Snowbird

Dear Heather, what misson accomplished? That's not how the American voters felt in the last election. Right? Why brag about a republican President that has done very, very little for the middle class...or for the National Parks...or for the environment...except rape and pillage! At least Carter doesn't lie!!

Dec 28th - 15:31pm | Alan

I find it amusing that everyone has an unabashed opinion on how each of the 43 presidents ranks when it comes to greatness. What should matter is what each, particulary those of the 20th century and early 21st, have done for conservation. Conservation isn't about popularity. It's about doing the right thing for fish and wildlife and wild places.

Dec 28th - 14:19pm | Heather

Excuse me, Snowbird...but why do you bring up President Bush? Shirley never mentioned him..it's funny how you liberals are SO fixated on him..you all just can't get over him whipping Algore and Flip-flop Kerry can ya?? LOL!!! Mission Accomplished - 4 more years!!

Dec 28th - 10:25am | Snowbird

Well,well Shirley! Maybe if Bush II had a job with the National Parks (instead of screwing around as a Texas playboy) perhaps he just might of had a little more compassion for the environment...instead he chose the philosophy of rape and pillage. I'll choose Carter any day!

Dec 27th - 15:58pm | Shirley

A truly good man who America came to regret not electing in 1976...instead we got the disaster that was Jimmy Carter. Israel has suffered greatly since as a result of Carter's appeasement of the murderer Arafat. RIP Mr. President!

Fee Creep In the Parks

Dec 28th - 20:04pm | Public

The parks belong to the US people. They are mine - I should not need to pay anything more to visit what is mine. User fees only real purpose is to create a barrier to keep out the non rich. It is a means to create more country clubs and golf courses for the rich. Either way so called user fees are obscene and should be repugnant to all Americans.

Cape Cod National Seashore Considering ORV Options

Dec 28th - 15:27pm | Alan

Where is it written that humans must be able to go everywhere all at once? Where's the compassion for the future of a tiny, unassuming shorebird species? Look no further than the pix of the SUV on the beach for the answer.

The Masterpieces of Chiura Obata

Dec 28th - 11:23am | Snowbird

The young man definitely has good taste. Good choice Sean!

Entrance Fee Trivia

Dec 26th - 15:43pm | repanshek

Thanks, Tom. Same to you. I'm sure you can find some trails to your liking in the national parks.

Dec 25th - 08:49am | tom

Kurt: Just sending along some Christmas greetings ... keep the excellent commentary coming; with any luck I'll actually get to visit some National Parks this year.

Dec 24th - 18:33pm | Alan

I used to visit Colonial National Historic Park's Yorktown unit while on Air Force Reserve duty in Hampton, Va. The park has long charged $5 a day to get in. But I always wondered just how many park visitors really paid. After all, it's an honor system (or was when I last stopped by).

Dec 23rd - 14:29pm | Ben East

Of course, some of these parks are charging user fees. Isle Royale, in fact, is charging a daily use fee of $4 per person that is blatantly illegal under the current fee legislation. -- Ben East

Dec 23rd - 13:32pm | parkaholic

Thank you Kurt for shedding some light and provoking some critical thoughts. My question is what really happens to the money that is charged by the other parks? And what did they do for funding prior to charging for access?

Dec 23rd - 07:26am | Mookie

Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Trans-Canada Highway goes right through Banff National Park in Canada, and travelers who are simply driving through still need to pay a park fee, even if they're not stopping their car.

Dec 23rd - 06:15am | kath

Mammoth Cave charges a fee to tour the cave. Redwoods has a major north south highway running right through it. Highway 101. You can't have an entrance station on a major route on which most people are just passing through to California or Oregon.

Back at it!

Dec 26th - 15:42pm | repanshek

Hey Mookie, same to you! Sixteen national parks in one year is pretty impressive. Can't wait to see how many you visit in the coming year.

Dec 26th - 10:51am | Mookie

Happy Holidays Kurt...keep up the great work in 2007. My wife and I visited 16 National Parks in 2006, plus numerous Nat'l Monuments, Recreation Areas and Wildlife Refuges. We hope to do better in 2007!

Rep. Rahall Plans Oversight for Park Service

Dec 22nd - 13:49pm | Jim Macdonald

I have seen a lot of the mass movement stuff from within the anti-war movement over the past few years. If you want a primer on anti-war movement politics, I sure could give it to you. And, frankly, I'm disgusted by it.

Dec 22nd - 10:40am | Snowbird

Jim don't despair, long as we have Kurts blog and your solid impute (and others) the battle to keep the National Parks in sovereign hands for the American public...there's always hope!!

Dec 22nd - 09:56am | Anonymous

Jim et al, I fear we as a society are too self-centered and distracted to muster any type of uprising, mass or otherwise, in defense of the national parks. We can't even manage much visible protest over the Iraq conflict.

Dec 22nd - 09:53am | Snowbird

Jim, very good commentary! What are you advocating...in a nut shell? Sounds to me your ready to light a fuse somewhere. In regards to the Hoover Dam and like environments, maybe John Wesley Powell would of thought messing with the Hoover Dam. I think Edward Abbey had it right..."The pen is mightier than the sword" in theory! Stick to your pen Jim!!

Dec 22nd - 08:11am | Jim Macdonald

Snowbird, I know some people in Earth First! I know some people who have been involved or have been alleged to have been involved in much more militant groups than that (need I say more?)

Dec 22nd - 07:03am | Snowbird

Uprising!? I think Earth First with Dave Foreman (at the helm in the 1980's ?) tried to bring attention for some source of public out cry over the rape and pillage by are run amuck capitalistic out of control goverment.

Dec 22nd - 05:39am | Jim Macdonald

No Radical New Wind in Yellowstone http://jsmacdonald.blogspot.com/2006/11/no-radical-new-wind-in-yellowstone.html rather...

Dec 22nd - 04:38am | Jim Macdonald

So, Alan, I'm intrigued. What would the public uprising look like? Depending on what such an uprising would look like, count me as interested.

Dec 21st - 18:31pm | Alan

It will, I dare say, take more than one or even a dozen members of Congress championing the Park Service's cause to reverse the terrible trends of the past half-dozen years. A public uprising is called for -- on this as in so many other parts of the public trust.

The Last Season

Dec 21st - 12:10pm | DSD

Great listing of interesting books. Many I have never heard of! Lots here I will have a look at. Thanks. DSD "Summit Stones & Adventure Musings"

ATVs Blamed for Damage at Acadia

Dec 20th - 10:01am | Snowbird

Another example, why we need to educate the public and teach are children the value that Aldo Leopold advocated...a reverence for the land called: land ethics!

Dec 19th - 19:01pm | Shauna

Uh...The headline should read "ATV RIDERS Blamed for Damage at Acadia"...guns and ATVs don't kill people and cause park damage, respectively...PEOPLE kill people and cause park damage!

Parks Vs. Mining

Dec 20th - 07:51am | Montana Tom

Thank you, a great explanation of this proposed mining operation. I posted comments on this at: http://glaciernationalpark.blogspot.com/2006/12/flathead-lake-threatened.html

Cattlemen's Proposal Could Decimate Yellowstone's Bison Herds

Dec 19th - 19:20pm | Sabattis

The NPS also watches over a sizeable bison herd at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota - which is one of the true hidden jewels of the National Park System...

Dec 18th - 10:38am | Paul Schepler

Another rather large herd of Bison reside in Wind Cave National Park (http://www.nps.gov/wica/) in South Dakota. The National Park Service keeps the herd to level that is in tune with the amount of grass and each year has excess animals (I believe they auction them off) that might replace any animals that would be destroyed.

Dec 18th - 09:47am | Jim Macdonald

This sort of stuff comes out all the time; I'm not too concerned about it. As far as bison management goes, there is bureaucratic gridlock, which means that bison die outside of Yellowstone, and more often than not (though not always), they live within it.

Grand Canyon Skywalk: Will It Happen?

Dec 19th - 13:47pm | gcmaven

How good could the engineering be if they can't do the simple math (subtraction) needed to calculate the depth of the view? Canyon floor = approx 2,000' elevation. Skywalk = approx 4,000' elevation. So how far down are you looking? Remember, they aren't providing x-ray goggles so you can look 2,000' through the bedrock.

Dec 18th - 10:37am | kath

More. Because this really boils. The question shouldn't be "Will it Happen" but "Should It Happen". Building what amounts to a thrill attraction on the edge of a national treasure is an abomination.

Dec 18th - 09:35am | kath

A complete eyesore on the edge of the canyon.

Another Park Study Approved

Dec 19th - 08:12am | Snowbird

Yes Kath, I know the pork barrel is full projects and studies like this, but there might be something bigger in the making that the NPS can't refuse. Sort of, you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.

Dec 19th - 07:55am | kath

The NPS may not even want this. But the Michigan Senators do. Oink.

Dec 19th - 06:57am | Snowbird

This kind of nit-picking study, is just what puts the NPS in a bad light...I would like to see if there's a "rider" attached to this piece of legislation.

Dec 19th - 06:34am | kath

Should be renamed the Pork Barrel Politics National Park

Woman Dies in Fall From Angel's Landing

Dec 18th - 17:13pm | Aunt Jacqueline

I am the aunt of the husband who tragically lost his beautiful wife on Aug. 22nd, 2006 as she fell 1200 feet into the arms of her Savior. Her life, obviously, touched many that justify the "climb" up Angel's Landing. Please pray for her husband and family and friends.

Zion NP Raising Entrance Fees

Dec 18th - 16:10pm | Michael McNamee

Your blog continues to provide useful information, great photos and commentary, and a near endless amount of entertainment value.... Keep up the good work. Kurt, I understand your concern with raising the Parks Pass; but my wife and I felt the $50.00 annual fee was too low, too much value for so much benifit.

Dec 18th - 09:45am | kath

In all the stories and comments on this blog about the National Parks, the big picture seems never to be mentioned. That is: the United States has the best national park system in the world. Europe has virtually no parks. They run railroads to their mountain tops and put beer gardens up there. When they want a wild experience they come here! Poaching is a way of life in Asia and Africa.

Dec 18th - 07:45am | Snowbird

Note Terry! Kurt has done his homework!!

Dec 18th - 07:03am | repanshek

Terry, I repeat, READ what I've written. I haven't come out and said entrance fees should be done away with. And I've also said that even an $80 fee is a BARGAIN. Are you so blinded by your right-wing anger that you can't comprehend the written word?

Dec 18th - 06:53am | Snowbird

Hey Terry, knock off the G.I. Joe crap and stick to the issues, instead of finding ways to browbeat those who disagree with your Bush type war policies and rhetoric...71% of the American people disagree with you! Isn't that what the American people were telling you in the last election. You don't seem to get it!

Poll: $80 ATB Fee is Too High

Dec 18th - 07:07am | repanshek

Roger, You're starting to sound like Terry, so I'll give you the same response: READ what I've written. I haven't called for free entry to the parks, I have said the $80 fee continues to be a bargain. Then read Mookie's comment.

Dec 18th - 05:37am | Mookie

I'm a liberal/leftist/socialist and I do think the $80 is a bargain. However, I do feel that the gov't is short-sighted in its thinking that user fees will help offset the budget crunch the NPS is in. Without adequate funding from Congress, there is no increase in fees that will cover the money needed to fund the basic needs of the parks.

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