| Page 1176 | National Parks Traveler

In the last four years of research, not one smidgen of factual evidence points to the human transmission theory. Martians possibly will invade earth or so they say. Money is what is keeping the caver transmission theory alive and well. I have seen twelve full time federal jobs created with regards to White Nose Syndrome, at a yearly cost of over a million dollars.

Nov 17th - 10:19am | Anonymous

In the last four years of research, not one single smidgen of evidence can point to the human spread of WNS. The time is up!!! You can give in to the possibilities of martians invading earth all you want, but the facts show that nothing is going to stop the bats from spreading their doom. This comment was edited to remove gratuitous comments.--Ed.

Nov 17th - 09:10am | MaggieP

I was a caver first and then began working extensively on the "inside" in WNS research. Although, I agree that bats are the primary source of spread, its possible that any person who has even been to the entrance of an infected cave or mine can unintentionally carry the spores with them. This is not a situation where blame is to be laid or fingers are to be pointed.

Nov 16th - 09:16am | Kurt Repanshek

I haven't come across any information portraying federal or state officials as "blaming" cavers for spreading this disease. What I have read are concerns about the rampant spread of WNS and "precautions" being taken in an attempt to minimize that spread.

Nov 16th - 07:38am | Jon Chinn

This is bogus policy based on bad science. Show me a single peer rteviewed scientific study showing humans have transmitted WNS. Parks should be open to people, and caves should be presumptively open. Period. No matter what a vet, who has how much experience underground [?], thinks.

Nov 16th - 00:53am | Anonymous

"There is evidence that shows these spores can be transported on gear, articles of clothing after going into an infected cave," said Mr. Thomas." Really? I've yet to see such evidence. Yet another attempt to blame cavers for transmitting the disease through baseless, unproven claims.

Reader Participation Day: What is the Greatest Threat To Our National Parks?

Nov 17th - 10:38am | pkrnger

"Over crowding is an easy fix, drop campsite and back country permits by 25% and up costs/fees by 30%. And drop motorized activity by 40%. Done deal. Cleaner, quieter and less crowded w/ out losing much revenue. JRM"

Nov 17th - 10:36am | pkrnger

Industrial tourism, motorized recreation, and over-development, especially in Gateway communities.

Nov 17th - 10:12am | John Robert "Bo...

Nicely put Barky... awesome insight. The backlog f maintainence in the Parks is shameful. To have let these gems erode is a waste of the investment. Climate change is to great an issue and would be a waste of resources. Over crowding is an easy fix, drop campsite and back country permits by 25% and up costs/fees by 30%. And drop motorized activity by 40%. Done deal.

Nov 17th - 10:09am | Jon Merryman

We should come to the realization that "enjoyment" does not mean enjoyment in any manner that you as an individual desire. There's enjoyment that leaves little or no (or manageable) impact on the parks, and then there's enjoyment that degrades both the parks' vitality and enjoyment by others.

Nov 17th - 08:54am | Random Walker

I agree with the others here. It is us, our hubris.

Nov 17th - 08:49am | ecbuck

Over development and use. Especially by those that neither appreciate nor respect them for the natural wonders they are. For those that answered "Republican Party" I would like them to identify specific programs of the "Republican Party" that threaten the parks.

Nov 17th - 08:34am | RangerRandy

The Republican party.

Nov 17th - 08:27am | dennis g

Simply put, it's congress. While it's easy to heap most of the blame on the republicans, democrats can be faulted for their inability, at times, to be a cohesive group on such issues.

Nov 17th - 07:51am | Smoky Mtn Hiker

Don't forget about invasive species such as the Asian Jumping Worm in the Smokies that you discussed the other day. Or the Hemlock Wooly Adelgids that are decimating hemlocks across the east. There are a number of others, such as mountain pine beetles in Colorado and Wyoming, Balsam woolly adelgids, kudzu, wild boars.

Nov 17th - 06:58am | Anonymous

I would say mismanagement or lack of management is the greatest threat. Any activity that doesn't support the NPS mission should be scrutinized and looked at very hard. And yet in many parks there is obvious evidence of mismanagement.

Nov 17th - 06:28am | Barky

Hmm, tough one. I am in the camp that, when it comes to the National park System, preservation trumps low visitation, recreation, diversity, and other "people issues". So I don't rank those highly on the list.

Nov 17th - 05:48am | Lawrence J Caldwell

The biggest threat is to do nothing. If we allow debate to overcome action, questions to overcome the obvious, and commitee to overcome commitment, then we all lose.

Nov 17th - 05:36am | wis hiker

In my humble opinion, the single biggest threat to our National Park System is --- the Republlcan party.

Discovering Grizzlies and Wolves at Yellowstone National Park

Nov 17th - 10:37am | Kevin Watson

What or who is paying you to repeat such lies as these 2 entirely different specie of wolves be genetically identical? That is the lie. They are not genetically identical? Here is a thought. How about we trap every one of the wolves, test their genetic's, and if they are not 99% wolf or above, removed from the gene pool.

Nov 17th - 10:06am | justinh

Kevin Watson: "The native wolf of our region, (CL irremotus) has been wiped out by this "Experimental" specie>." However, by the 1970s, scientists found no evidence of a wolf population in Yellowstone; wolves persisted in the lower 48 states only in northern Minnesota and on Isle Royale in Michigan.

Nov 17th - 05:17am | anonymous

Irremotus and occidentalis are identical down to every gene. That ridiculous, made-up argument didn't work in court, and no thinkihng person will buy it here. Furthermore the person agonizing over the waves of ungulates of yesteryear now eaten must not actually live in the area, otherwse he would trip over the abundant elk and bison that I continue to see weekly.

Nov 16th - 23:28pm | Rick B.

Boy, the semantic value of these discussions sure drops when an overuse of "quotation marks" "not sure if I'm sarcastic or emphasizing" gets thrown on on top of cutsie wootsie names to attack other with. Boo.

Nov 16th - 19:08pm | Kevin Watson

Sorry to burst your bubble wolfaboo's, however this specie of grey wolf, (CL occidentalis) has never been native to our region below the Canadian border.( Never even close, by hundreds of miles).The native wolf of our region, (CL irremotus) has been wiped out by this "Experimental" specie. This is a fact you people seem so proud of ignoring. Ignorance is no excuse.

Nov 16th - 17:34pm | justinh

Kevin Watson, Not much of what you're saying is accurate. y_p_w is correct that the wolves restored to Yellowstone are native: they are Northern Rocky Mountain wolves, a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus). To suggest that they are not "native" because they were relocated from Canada is to confuse a biological definition of "native" with a political one.

Nov 16th - 17:07pm | Me

"Wolves Not Native!" This wolf myth is old and retold so often as to become trite. Belief might be stagnant, knowledge is not..

Nov 16th - 16:36pm | y_p_w

The gray wolf isn't native? My information is that they used to range all throughout North America. Perhaps the current population reintroduced to Yellowstone is Canadian, but there aren't that many healthy population of wolves.

Nov 16th - 14:48pm | Kevin Watson

What a great "fairy tale" spin to the complete destruction of our natural wildlife from a "top king" predator that should be considered by everyone as the greatest disaster of our eco system in modern times. May you please take a honest look at this one simple fact about your beloved "furry icon"! THERE NOT NATIVE!!! Get over your criminally protective selves once and for all.

Nov 16th - 13:13pm | Lynn

There will always be a controversy about the wolves no matter where they are located or relocated. But, all of you need to realize that the Lord put them here for a reason. That reason is to keep balance whether it is killing for food or "killing for fun."

Nov 16th - 12:54pm | Anonymous

To Toby Bridges, And once the wolves reach the "mythical balance" many continue to speak about, the wolves will begin to disappear, and so will the grizzly bears - due to the loss of adequate food supplies. Yellowstone is doomed to become nothng more than a lot of pretty, and very empty, real estate.

Nov 16th - 11:44am | MI MI

I have been celebrating the wolves everyday since I first saw them in Yellowstone 10 years ago. I travel 2000 miles one way to catch a glimpse of them every year. They are the very image of the song in my heart and I could never regulate that melodie!!!!!

Nov 16th - 08:09am | Jane S

The reintroduction of the wolves in Yellowstone, in my mind, is symptomatic of the tension that has always existed between man and nature. What and whose purpose do we serve? The wolves were originally killed off because of the threat they brought to ranchers, farmers, and to a lesser degree, the park. With their reintroduction, we face similar issues.

Nov 16th - 07:44am | Toby Bridges

If you think wolves only "kill what they eat"...you are the one who obviously knows nothing of wolves.

Nov 16th - 05:24am | Anonymous

Obviously you know nothing about wolves. Wolves do not kill "just for fun" they kill what they eat and to survive unlike humans who do "kill just for fun". If the deer and other animals are declining so precipituously then all hunting should be discontinued.

Nov 15th - 21:52pm | Anonymous

Thank you Jane Schneider for a well-written and informative article on the goings-on at Yellowstone National Park, and on the works of the Yellowstone Association. This article makes me want to visit the park and witness the beauty of it and the majestic animals at my earliest convenience. Well done!

Nov 15th - 21:01pm | Anonymous

I disagree with the above comment. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone is only putting back what was wrongfully removed over many years. Wolves are pack animals and live in a strong social network. When the wolf kills it not only benefits the wolf and his family but also many other animals and birds.

These Worms Can Jump -- And They're Unwelcome Pests At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Nov 17th - 06:32am | Barky

Henry, I'm pretty sure they only ban what they believe is harmful, not only allow what they know is safe. California has a harder line I think. Not my area of expertise.

Nov 16th - 18:01pm | Harry Case

Actually, Barky, I believe importing any foreign organism without a permit is a violation of federal law. Unfortunately it's nearly impossible to enforce because of the sheer voume of pests being carted accross our borders and into our ports.

Nov 16th - 05:21am | Barky

You can buy these worms ... called Alabama Jumpers ... on-line for fishing and worm composting. http://alabamajumpers.com/.

Whitebark Pine Trees in Crater Lake National Park Under Attack From Blister Rust, Pine Beetles

Nov 16th - 17:42pm | justinh

This kind of thing is so depressing; it seems to be happening everywhere. The dying of hemlocks at Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains, the lodgepoles at Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone. Could really use some good news about our trees.

Nov 16th - 16:58pm | Anonymous

Unfortunately, we have learned that Dr. Michael Murray is no longer monitoring whitebark pine health at CRLA. He has left the NPS and Crater Lake for a job in Canada.

Park Potpourri – A Sampling of Upcoming Events in Parks Around the Country

Nov 16th - 11:29am | Jim Burnett

Anonymous - Thanks for your comment.

Nov 16th - 10:06am | Bob Janiskee

@Anon. Granted that the Masonic Hall in Forbestown is the oldest standing building in the settlement. Is it also the oldest masonic lodge in the state of California? The claim for Shasta seems very strongly supported.

Nov 16th - 09:56am | Anonymous

The oldest Masonic lodge in Calif. is in Forbestown.....

Marine National Parks Have Experienced Vast Losses of Coral Reefs to Bleaching and Disease

Nov 16th - 09:53am | Anonymous

When one considers how the warming climate has provided opportunities for insects to decimate old-growth pines in Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mts, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mtn, not to mention the disapprearing glaciers in Glacier NP, this is pretty depressing news.

Mount McKinley Flightseeing? Sure, Let's Go!

Nov 16th - 02:12am | RoadRanger

In the late winter of 2000, I boarded a de Havilland Beaver with four other guests for a spectacular trip from Anchorage to Mount McKinley and return after a stop over for lunch at Talkeetna. It was the best $199 travel expenditure I have ever made. The weather was crystal clear all day, the pilot remarking it was one of the clearest days he could recall in his many years of flying in Alaska.

Nov 15th - 20:19pm | Leland22

We took a flight out of Talkeetna in late August 2006 in a twin engine plane.The size of the mountain is unbelievable. The radar showed us to be 10 miles from the mountain and it looked like we could touch it. It was a clear day which made it all the more exciting. I would highly recommend it and, unlike Bob, would do it again-weather permitting.

Fatal Fall from Angels Landing in Zion National Park

Nov 15th - 21:43pm | y_p_w

Half Dome style cables wouldn't work. It's not a single hump like the 400 ft Half Dome climb, but a lot of little ridges. I found that a lot of the gaps where there aren't chains aren't so bad, but there are some chained areas that are scary.

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