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Welcome Friends of the Smokies To the Traveler's List of Sponsors!

Dec 1st - 16:29pm | Holly Demuth

From improving trails to saving hemlocks, sparking learning in schoolchildren and managing wildlife—bears, elk, trout, salamanders, and all—there is a lot going on in our Great Smoky Mountains National Park. National Parks Traveler highlights these important topics. Friends of the Smokies raises funds to support them. Thanks to all who help make it happen with your donations.

Dec 1st - 09:52am | Holly Scott

We are so proud to be affiliated with National Parks Traveler. I often share links to content from the Traveler in my e-blasts, and I always learn something about our wonderful park from the articles.

Dec 1st - 07:33am | Danny Bernstein

Hey, Welcome Friends of the Smokies: I'm proud to be a member and supporter of the "Friends". They fund projects in the Smokies that our taxes would never be able to pay for. Danny www.hikertohiker.com

Some Like it Hot: An Interview With Yellowstone National Park's Geyser Guru, Mike Keller

Dec 1st - 15:30pm | Alley Keosheyan

A delightful article - I particularly liked Mr. Keller's list of his favorite geothermal features in the park. Having just moved to Evanston, Wyoming from the Grand Canyon, Arizona area, I'm looking forward to exploring Yellowstone National Park with my family very soon. Perhaps we'll get to meet this very lucky man!

Reader Participation Day: Do We Need More Interpretive Rangers, Or Law Enforcement Rangers, in National Parks?

Dec 1st - 13:56pm | Anonymous

my response to that is try getting a county officer to do an ARPA case. Better yet, have the county do a 19 jj case. While looking at the significance of a LE Ranger, most of my contacts come from the general visitor who's making a simple mistake that needs to be educated about the park service in why we're doing what were doing

Dec 1st - 13:54pm | David Smith

This is such an important discussion - thanks so much for providing a forum!

Dec 1st - 13:15pm | pkrnger

What a great question! Back in the 1960's, park rangers were hired who had college education in the natural and physical sciences or in the cultural sciences. They were given on-the-job training to engage in law enforcement activities.

Dec 1st - 13:14pm | MomBug

I fully agree with this

Dec 1st - 12:15pm | Anonymous

I think an important distinction should be made between formal and informal interpretation. While I was stationed at Yellowstone I gave informal interpretation on the wildlife while working in a public safety capacity.

Dec 1st - 12:04pm | Bruce W. Bytnar

This is an overly simplistic question that will find people strongly aligned on both sides of the issue. I worked both in interpretation and protection during my 32 year career in the National Park Service. So here are my simplified views.

Dec 1st - 11:56am | MRC

I'm not interested in law enforcement rangers. And frankly, I never understood, why the NPS has police authority at all. Yes, the parks are federal land, but does that mean it needs federal police? On BLM land the primary police is that of the county.

Dec 1st - 11:23am | Anon

In an alternate reality where the NPS gets a healthy budget, why not get more of both? Then we'd have interp. rangers able to rove and meet the public as well as more than one l.e. ranger to cover 100,000+ acres alone.

Dec 1st - 11:21am | Julie Trevelyan

Great question, Kurt. I'm torn on this one myself.

Dec 1st - 11:21am | Lawrence J Caldwell

Given pkrnger's great answer, I must expose Pogo. I visited Yosemite this summer. I was fortunate to be there the week after their two busiest weeks ever. Every ranger I talked to expressed the need for a little breather. I'm not sure why my week was lighter. The weather was perfect. Nontheless, I think the record crowds were due in part to the Ken Burns documentary.

Dec 1st - 11:09am | Secret Yellowstone

Do you find yourself looking for an "LE" ranger when you're visiting a park, or wish you could find a park interpreter to help you better understand your surroundings?

Dec 1st - 09:33am | Shaina

Some parks could have the two ranger roles combined, but resource protection and law enforcement [traffic violations, domestic disputes] need full time attention in larger parks. It's really a individual park issue, not a one size fits all matter. Not to mention, there are many units where no law enforcement on staff.

Dec 1st - 09:15am | Anonymous

Maybe at Manassas, legal incidents are infrequent. The rest of the parks need more LE rangers. Gangs at Lake Mead, drinking and drugs at beach parks, drug smugglers at our border parks. We need to protect our parks first. Let's pose this question: Should Organ Pipe NM have more interpretive rangers or LE rangers?

Dec 1st - 05:57am | Lawrence J Caldwell

I went to Manassas National Battlefield about three weeks ago. Ranger Gregory Wolf relived the battle on Henry Hill for our small group huddled on that blustery cold knob. Afterwards I complemented him on his storytelling skills. His story and voice were as pleasant and moving as Shelton Johnson, the Yosemite ranger featured on the Ken Burns documentary.

National Park Mystery Photo 29: Pretty Fancy Headwear, No?

Dec 1st - 13:53pm | Park Service Kid

Headgear imposed on White House guards during the Nixon regime.

Group Warns About Move To Cut Funding for National Parks

Dec 1st - 13:24pm | d-2

When Smokie Mt Hiker says the taxpayer is tapped out, I think SMH illustrates one of the strangest perceptions going on by most Americans today. This is the idea that they are in the same boat as the richest Americans.

Dec 1st - 11:14am | Ada

Interesting, it is not just taxes that some special interest groups don't want to pay to support the NPS budget they are also curtailing their volunteer work.

Nov 30th - 14:37pm | Ron Saunders

I have always paid my share of taxes with no complaints, as have most others. Always glad to help fund and support worthwhile endouvers such as our national parks. But, I am one of a group of people that would say " cut funding to the National Park System ". They want or need more funding? Don't ask for my help.

Grand Canyon National Park's Watchtower Gets A Facelift

Dec 1st - 10:08am | Lee Dalton

This place is indeed a treasure and when I climbed into it for the first time a year or so ago, even my unpracticed eye noted the need for some work. This is good news.

Judge Tosses Surprise Canyon Lawsuit

Nov 30th - 17:29pm | d-2

For the purposes of RS 2477, a "road" for access for miners that Original Bigfoot writes about, is not the same as a public "highway" as RS 2477 sanctions. Miners have access to their mines. There is an constitutionally protected right of access. And, miners often improve their access roads. But is that a public "highway" in the meaning of RS 2477?

Nov 30th - 14:43pm | Anonymous

Off road vehicle users; 4WD extremists have no right to this wilderness as now covered in the expanded Death Valley park. I hiked up to Panamint City in spring 2007, and it is a unique area with actual water running out the mouth of Surprise Cyn.

Comments Show Opposition And Support For New Power Line Corridor Across Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Nov 30th - 15:44pm | Donna1234

Once the Delaware Water Gap is built up like this, it cannot be undone. 200 foot towers have no place in such a park. It is unspoiled wilderness in N.J. and Pa., a place my family has been enjoying year-round for thirty years. The access roads and resultant construction will disturb the wildlife and park users. I am against this, and I do not live in or near park.

Secretary Salazar Hopes To Negotiate R.S. 2477 Solution With Utah Officials

Nov 30th - 14:28pm | d-2

Anonymous: you are wrong. RS 2477 WAS repealed. All that was retained were the valid existing rights. In other words, if the right of way is already established, if the highway is already there, it has the right to continue.

Nov 29th - 16:29pm | Anonymous

"RS 2477 has been repealed for a long time." I don't know how to respond to this statement other than calling it a blatant lie. RS 2477 right were specifically maintained in Federal Law.

Contract Issued For "Missing Link" on Foothills Parkway in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Nov 30th - 14:22pm | Lepanto

What a shame that Superintendent Ditmanson lacked the skills to block further road construction in the Smokies.

Nov 30th - 08:06am | Jim Burnett

Linda - Here's some information from the park about the work earlier this year on the section of the Foothills Parkway between I-40 and Cosby, Tennessee:

Nov 29th - 21:42pm | Linda

Is the foothills parkway open to the public from interstate to cosby tn?

Comments Being Taken on Proposal To Stop Importation, Transportation of Burmese Pythons

Nov 30th - 13:56pm | retic/gator fan

These new laws an regulations do nothing more than make criminals out of responsible owners do little if anything to protect the public if were real looking at public safety then we should start with dogs far more dog attacks an deaths occurs every year than all forms of reptile keeping including alligators,large pythons an venomous snakes put together I find these laws to be nothing more than

Nov 27th - 09:15am | Michael O'Leary...

I agree with these three replies above. I am a snake breeder and I think that this new law will take a lot of business away from me and thousands of other breeders. But I do believe that importing wild snakes should, maybe not be stopped, but certainly restricted to a minimum. Interstate transportation should not be stopped at all, just more regulated.

The Living Classrooms of the National Park System

Nov 30th - 11:46am | Eric Trogdon

I have served as a Park Ranger and Naturalist. I learned if you want anyone to remember something, you have to impact them emotional to the information.

Trek to the Nation's Christmas Tree in Kings Canyon National Park on December 12

Nov 30th - 08:38am | Anonymous

We attended this event last year and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it!

Traveler's Checklist: Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas - Two Dream Sites For Children

Nov 29th - 23:52pm | Anonymous

Just visited St. Augustine earlier this month. Delightful place, full of unique history! Enjoyed a carriage tour with an excellent guide. I remember seeing the Castillo as a child; later took our children there. I agree - plan to be there when they shoot the cannon. Thanks for this article. I'm from Oklahoma, not Florida.

Nov 29th - 08:57am | Jon Merryman

Took my son to both places when he was six and we had a great time, as well as Timucuan (camping available) and Fort Caroline (the mosquitos were ferocious, no wonder the French fled the area).

Why Stop At Golden Gate National Recreation Area? What Other NRAs, Monuments, Etc., Should Be Renamed?

Nov 29th - 19:06pm | Glenn Eugster

I came across a discussion in your web-page that quotes me commenting on legislation proposed by Sen. Jackson. Although it has been many years since those discussions the dialogue you share is still timely and most important. I have found that most public and private leaders care about special places be they large or small.

Update: My Yahoo! Seems Rewired With the Traveler

Nov 29th - 18:20pm | DJ

Like Bogator above, mine is stuck at the exact same "Man's Body" post. I also have a couple of other feeds that are stuck, one for over a month, and Yahoo is completely uninterested in helping it seems.

Nov 29th - 09:30am | Kurt Repanshek

Seems to be bouncing off and on. It's on now....

Nov 29th - 08:43am | Bogator

After several days of updating properly, today MyYahoo slipped back three weeks to the "Man's Body Found Floating In Colorado River At Grand Canyon National Park" as the last post. It sure would be nice if Yahoo could get this fixed.

Conservation Groups Question Cape Hatteras National Seashore's Preferred ORV Management Plan

Nov 29th - 14:44pm | Anonymous

I hope that one day everyone realizes that this is not about ORV use, its about ACCESS period. These big conglomerate extortionists group have only used the ORV ploy as a way to get people to sympathize with their cause. And the cause is to deny ALL access. When a sign goes up and says to stay out (of a bird en-closer) it does not mean only four wheel drives it means pedestrians as well.

Nov 29th - 14:28pm | Anonymous

I've lived on this island my whole life and I've grown up going to the beaches and i can't believe you want to take that away from me.

Retrace Part of the "Journey of the Dead Man" on These New Trails

Nov 29th - 14:33pm | Jim Burnett

Anonymous - Thanks for the information. One of the interesting aspects of such names is fact that there are often multiple versions for the origin of the term from a variety of credible sources.

Nov 29th - 10:59am | Anonymous

Correction. The name Jornada del Muerto is not derived from the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It translates as the dead mans journey and is associated with the story of one Bernardo Gruber. He was a German trader that had been held in prison for two years at Sandia by the Spanish Inquistion and attempted an escape South along El Camino Real in 1670.

Nov 29th - 09:19am | Jon Merryman

Hmm, just got me to thinking whether NPS has been looking for ways to document the illegal migration of people south of the border to the US. One of these tunnels that have been discovered should be sealed off and set aside for a future historic site. And the overland routes, I suppose those are already contained within the NPS areas like Organ Pipe and others... something to think about.

"Christmas Past" To Be Celebrated At Herbert Hoover National HIstoric Site

Nov 29th - 10:27am | Carol Anne Carlucci

This sounds like something that I am going to regret missing. I visited the Library in 2005 and I am looking forward to visiting it again in 2011, but my biggest regret right now is not being able to see during Christmas Past.

Goodbye Paper Topographic Maps, Hello US Topo

Nov 29th - 01:13am | Anonymous

last time I checked, "most people" use Windows and don't have iPhones/iPads. Besides, who in the heck totes an iPad while hiking in a place where you'll need a topo map? Just saying.

Nov 28th - 12:05pm | Rick B.

Uh, "iPhone or iPad" does NOT equal "most people", unless you're talking about most people in a very small and entitled portion of Western Civilization. Most people in your world perhaps, 'anonymous 9:38pm', but not most people in THE world.

By The Numbers: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Nov 28th - 09:23am | CwB

Hi from Ga. . .I was glad to see BP on the job when we were visiting Az. We were 'checked' several times in Southern Az. Securing the border is one of the most important issues in this region. Like I said, glad they were on the job.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

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