| Page 1139 | National Parks Traveler

I would also note that sometimes the enforcement personnel can't even keep all the rules straight. I was at an interprestive ranger program on the history of flight at Crissy Field when our ranger noticed a group on the beach with a leashed dog. He excused himself and said that he might have to whip his ticket book out.

Feb 16th - 21:04pm | y_p_w

This is a very complicated issue - especially those areas ceded by the City and County of San Francisco under a set of restrictions. The agreement was that the areas that were open to off-leash dog walking under city control must remain so under NPS control. The Endangered Species Act does of course complicate issues.

Feb 16th - 18:17pm | Anonymous

I am against unleashed dogs! Dogs should always be leashed in public spaces. One nice thing about Hawaii's State Park Beaches is that dogs are not allowed, period. But, no matter what the law is, dog owners will not obey the laws and the dogs will be unleashed and no one in authority will do a thing about it. I've seen that over and over.

Feb 16th - 16:03pm | Ron Saunders

Bob, I think the reality again is that the "use groups" do not wish to deprive God's creatures of anything. they simply want to share it. The vast majority love the birds, including the Plovers ( though it may be getting difficult in light of current conditions).

Feb 16th - 13:30pm | Anonymous 12:51

I am sympathetic and an advocate for wild things. I am one, LOL! What I don't appreciate is when some creatures like the Plover or the Spotted Owl and their plight is hijacked to further an agenda that has a very dark underbelly of motivations that ARE hurtful in the end. I don't like it when they are used as the next poster child by very unhappy people, it would appear.

Feb 16th - 13:17pm | Matt Stubbs

Bob I understand your stance on playing GOD, but the Environmentalists do not. They choose to play God every time they kill one creature to protect another or when they rope off an area expecting the birds to just come. SINGLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT...

Feb 16th - 13:00pm | Bob Janiskee

Implying that (efforts to save the) snowy plover and spotted owl should be viewed as "tools for some with bigger agendas" or that species preservation should be viewed in the context of "hurtful agendas" begs the question of where species preservation ought to rank in the grand scheme of things.

Feb 16th - 12:54pm | Anonymous

The GGNRA is a Recreation Area, not a Nature Preserve. The use of Fort Funston for dog walking by San Francisco and Peninsula residents far pre-dated the ownership by the GGNRA. It is quite bold that the GGNRA think that they can now dictate the citizens of that area how we can use our own land less than 10 years since they were stopped from doing the same thing.

Feb 16th - 11:51am | Anonymous

I can remember conversations with US F&W Biologists in the early 80's at Willapa Bay. The Snowy Plover and the Spotted Owl have a lot in common. Certainly useful tools for some with bigger agendas. Hope for rational discussions that leave hurtful agendas outside.

Feb 16th - 10:27am | Ron Saunders

Since I am concerned with the different but similar situation at Cape Hatteras, I found it interesting that the "Plover" is again involved. I would be interested to see what organization is involved in this coincidence.

Black History Month Celebrated With Special Events at African Burial Ground National Monument

Feb 17th - 10:23am | Donald Bunn

Thank you for bringing this monument and the Black History Month presentations to my attention. I'm at Palm Springs CA but if I could make it to New York I'd certainly be there.

Federal Judge Refuses To Block Yellowstone National Park Bison From Being Slaughtered

Feb 17th - 10:17am | Aggnonymous

I can relate, Jamie. What has been in vogue in these modern times is the proclivity to judge and condemn, using PC standards, somethings that are so distant and disconnected from there own lives. Private property rights, life risks (risk is required in the life experience) and the apparent goal of dumbing things down to the safest and pablum fed non-existence.

Feb 17th - 08:31am | Jamie Marty

Interesting comment from JS Mcdonald! So agreed, the yellowstone bison herd has been allowed to increase past what the rangeland within the park can sustain. What I advocate is managing this herd to a level that can be sustained. What you advocate is that the land around the park be made available for the bison so the the herd doesnt have to be reduced.

Feb 16th - 09:42am | Marjorie

My step-father had a photo of the buffalo that he shot on the Arizona House Rock Valley range. He would not explain why it was leaning against a barb-wire fence. Later I found out it was part of the annual herd cull. I agree: some trophy.

Feb 16th - 09:32am | Chris

Rounding up 500 bison in a corral and sending them to slaughter does not a "hunting season" make. I don't know any hunters who will get a trophy out of that.

Feb 16th - 09:20am | jsmacdonald

One of the points, whether one accepts a rangeland view of wildlife management or not, is whether the current range is sufficient to support the species. New evidence is suggesting that the amount of actually wild bison that do not have cattle genes is much lower than previously thought and that Yellowstone may truly have one of the last reservoirs of wild bison.

Feb 16th - 09:09am | Jamie Marty

There is not a lot of wiggle room in the difference between responsible rangeland and animal management and the lack of it. Bison are cattle, wild or not, that difference has no bearing on the responsibility of land managers be they government agencies or private.

Feb 16th - 08:55am | Bob Janiskee

Jamie, you open your comment by stating flatly that "Bison are a cattle species" and then go on to say "it matters not whether we think they are wildlife or not." The thing is, whereas cattle are domesticated animals by definition , bison are not. That's an important distinction.

Feb 16th - 08:19am | Jamie Marty

Bison are a cattle species. To allow any bovine species to overpopulate their range, deplete the resources of that range, spill over into other ranges in search of food simply because we are sentimental about their "wildness" is as I said before irresposible. Once again, the carrying capacity of their range needs no be established and the herd population kept there.

America's Great Outdoors Report Carries Lofty Goals That Need Widespread Support For Success

Feb 17th - 07:49am | Smoky Mtn Hiker

Call me stupid, but I'm really not seeing anything in this report that will get kids out into the woods in any meaningful numbers. This appears to be a major waste of money. Nothing is stopping kids from getting outside right now. Throwing more money at this issue isn't going to solve anything.

Trickle of Documents Highlights National Park Service's Mistakes In Hubbell Trading Post Investigation

Feb 17th - 07:43am | Anonymous

Have to think at least one of the many thousands of new IRS agents just hired would be hot on that! Maybe the new agents could double as border security officers checking their Social Security Cards:). You used to only see this kind of stuff in the cartoons.

Feb 17th - 06:46am | Liz Ross

And did Mr. Malone have receipts for the items in is NPS residence? I am sure he would need these for the IRS.

Feb 17th - 06:41am | Liz Ross

One thing for sure Billy Gene Malone is one of the best story tellers in the cowboy tradition of his Texas roots.

Does the National Park Service Need a Quota System for Peak Seasons?

Feb 17th - 01:09am | Randy

While I don't buy for a moment that these places will be lost forever due to overcrowding during peak usage, certainly the magic is significantly reduced (the all-afternoon traffic jams on summer weekends in Yosemite are a definite kill-joy).

Park History: Badlands National Park

Feb 17th - 00:57am | Badlands Nation...

One can only try to imagine what it must have been like for pioneers traveling for months across a never ending sea of prairie and then mountains and then this! THE BADLANDS

Updated: National Park Service Budget Would Grow by $138 Million Under President's FY12 Proposal

Feb 16th - 23:11pm | d-2

Anonomous, this is silly. Now Barney Frank is responsible. You want facts: how about you just read the financial crisis inquiry commission report? Check out, when you see all the facts, how empty your arguments are. And it is not as if one of the commissioners did not argue your points, he did and the facts annihilate his, what turns out to be, ideological arguments.

Feb 16th - 20:30pm | Anonymous

Ha! You want to go on a Mule Ride? Heard from my guide that anything can be solved by putting everyone on a mule and head into the Canyon. I believe he's right! Catch you later:).

Feb 16th - 19:59pm | Ron Saunders

Man, this is some heavy stuff. I'm not being funny. I'm not sure if everyone is right or everyone is wrong or if we should call it a draw.

Feb 16th - 19:42pm | Anonymous

A little history on Clinton's success. Never one to deny credit for someone else's labors, shaming the office and setting a poor example for the young by setting a new low in behavior (and making it acceptable), Clinton arrived on scene as the economy was turning around on it's own.

Feb 16th - 18:25pm | Michael Kellett

Anonymous (not verified),

Feb 16th - 17:22pm | Anonymous

What really distinguishes comments, opinions and purported facts is the character of their proponents. If you instantly go to demeaning tactics directed at people personally there most usually playing fast and loose with the truth and are called out. There is so much that totally dominates the airways with what can only be described as a CON at worst and youthful naivete at best.

Feb 16th - 16:56pm | d-2

I don't support left OR right -- I support POLICIES and ACCURATE FACTS. Anyone who has supported the NPS for long knows some of the best friends to parks and the environment have been Republicans, and there were Democratic Administrations and officials who hurt the parks.

Feb 16th - 09:57am | Anonymous

Michael and D-2

National Park Mystery Photo 32: What Object Might This Be?

Feb 16th - 22:23pm | Brenda_12

Mystery photo 31 is one of the Three Sisters lighthouses in Cape Cod Natl Park. We were there on vacation last year. Lest anyone think we're regional, we live in the midwest.

Feb 16th - 22:21pm | Brenda_12

My NP passport is nearly full. :-)

Feb 16th - 15:19pm | Kurt Repanshek

Not Acadia, but you're in the right neighborhood Steve.

Feb 16th - 15:10pm | Steve

Looks like painted wood shingles. Looks New England to me. I'll say Acadia somewhere.

Feb 16th - 14:24pm | Kurt Repanshek

I'm pretty impressed, we've got another correct answer, this one from Anonymous at 1:21 p.m. MDT. Obviously I didn't crop it tight enough. Of course, when the full photo is revealed tomorrow, some will disagree with that.

Feb 16th - 14:21pm | Anonymous

I'm guessing one of the Three Sisters lighthouses in Cape Cod NS.

Feb 16th - 10:41am | Bob Janiskee

It's not a cistern, Anon 11:35 EDT (9:35 MDT), nor is it located in Rocky Mountain National Park or any other place in the Mountain time Zone. I'm afraid you've made too much of that EDT/MDT thing.

Feb 16th - 10:35am | Anonymously-Yours

It's a cistern and it's in Rocky Mtn. National park (thanks for the clue that it was in MDT, otherwise I was going to guess Zion Park :-).

Feb 16th - 08:13am | Kurt Repanshek

Well, surprisingly (at least to me!), someone just nailed the answer. But they live in the neighborhood, so we're going to hold off on revealing it. But congrats to Anonymous 9:07 a.m. (EDT), 7:07 a.m. MDT!

Feb 16th - 08:07am | Anonymous

One of the Three Sisters Lighthouses at Cape COd National Seashore?

Public Comments Run Against Extension of Oyster Company Lease at Point Reyes National Seashore

Feb 16th - 16:20pm | Anonymous

ypw, Excellent background!

Feb 16th - 15:26pm | y_p_w

There was an interesting discussion on this back in 2009, featuring a lot of the principals in this fight, including Sen Feinstein, Kevin Lunny, Corey Goodman, Gordon Bennett (representing the local chapter of the Sierra Club), and Tess Elliott of the Point Reyes Light: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R906301000

U.S. Senator, Colorado Governor Lobby National Park Service To Allow Bike Race Through Colorado National Monument

Feb 16th - 14:33pm | John Foote

It seems to me that this is a blatant attempt to glean limited commercial benefits from Colorado National Monument, to the detriment of the purposes for which the monument was created.

The National Park System's Cultural-Historical Wing: America's Story in 10 Chapters

Feb 16th - 13:53pm | Anonymous 12:51

Bob,

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